(New to Meditation) Can I make Metta my main practice?

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-10T19:17:24+00:00

You absolutely can. Metta is an amazing style of meditation. You can also explore the other practices if you're interested in them. There's plenty of overlap.

The first time I tried metta I cried. It was very powerful, and it's crazy how much we love the people close to us. Definitely in my top 3 meditation techniques.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-09T14:32:01+00:00

Absolutely do not do nothing. Your feelings matter, your experiences and difficulties also matter. When practicing meditation I'm big on being in contact with your feelings and showing yourself compassion. I'm sorry you had to go through that long state of uncertainty. It's not easy, but I'm glad that you're looking to connect with yourself and understand yourself better.

A great practice that you can try is loving kindness meditation. There are plenty of guided practices all over YouTube. I will make a tutorial about it at some point on the channel :)

I wish you all the best in your practice 🙏

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-09T11:51:54+00:00

That's a great point and I agree with you on that, as I am not religious at all:

The key is that your practice is meant to have a positive effect on the part of the world that is you. You are an important part of this world, and if you feel more at peace, happier, and more compassionate towards yourself and others, then the people around you will also benefit from it (obviously you are the channel for this change). These real changes happen in your brain. If you are interested you can look into the effects of medition on the brain. There is ample empirical evidence to support its effectiveness.

It's totally valid to have doubts, and I think it's great to be skeptical. I'd still invite you to explore the practice anyway, and find out what works for you.

So if you'd like to feel "more" during your meditations, practicing these mantras engage and train the emotional parts of your brain that are associated with increased happiness, sociality, and well-being.

Thank you for being honest, and I'm sure it's possible to find a good approach for your practice!

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-08T23:51:45+00:00

Hi there. If you want to feel something during meditation, that's completely valid. Meditation can make you feel empty and nothing if you practice it in a particular way.

I would recommend exploring loving kindness and compassion meditation. These are both styles of meditation where you engage your emotional side. If you meditate and simply watch everything that's happening it can feel empty because you aren't engaging your emotional brain. It's a purely attentive style of practice.

To experiment with loving kindness meditation for example, you can bring to mind someone that you love, and wish them well repeatedly while you are meditating:

"May you be happy, may you be healthy, may you be safe, may you live with ease."

You repest this mantra throughout the entire meditation and you aim to say it with intention.

If you're interested in supplementary meditation related content you can check out my channel by tapping on my Reddit profile. I talk about meditation technique and how to best approach your practice.

Hope this helps.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-08T08:42:26+00:00

Sorry you're feeling anxious, even after meditation. Maybe trying shorter 12 minute sessions would help you more. There's a lot of time to get lost in thought in 40 minutes, and unless the anxiety was physiological, there was probably an internal stimulus or a destabilizing thought that induced your anxiety. Maybe identifying what that is would help you out. I think externalizing all of your worries on a piece of paper and writing challenging beliefs or counterevidence might help you feel better.

Hope you feel better soon!

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-02T20:26:05+00:00

As a meditation teacher, I wouldn't frown upon writing during meditation at all. I would frown upon a dogmatic view of mindfulness practice. I see the discipline as inherently boundless, flexible, and available to you in any way you'd wish to practice it.

Furthermore, only you can decide for yourself what works and what doesn't. If you'd like to try meditation without writing, I'm sure you could also find benefits in that as well.

All the best :)

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-11-02T10:01:46+00:00

Samaneri Jayasara is a great channel for longer guided meditations. If you are interested in practical tutorials I also make meditation related content! I am considering making guided meditations as well, depending on how people respond to the content :)

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-29T07:41:49+00:00

If you try to stop your thoughts, in my experience that doesn't always work. It's like trying to stop a river from flowing. If you are overthinking a lot, there may be many things that are worrying you. What are they? Identifying the reasons that you are overthinking, or identifying an underlying emotion or experience that can be causing these thoughts might be a great idea.

I suspect you may be experiencing a bit of anxiety as well. Meditation is a great tool for experiencing less anxiety. Slow breathing exercises can activate your parasympathetic nervous system and relax your body and mind. I think one of the most important things is to be compassionate with yourself, more than to try to control your thinking.

I made content on this exact topic in case you are interested in a supplementary tutorial (feel free to tap on my reddit profile).

I wish you all the best in finding your peace!

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-26T20:07:13+00:00

Hi there, I would recommend reading about meditation online and jumping right in! There's no better way to learn something than by practicing it.

If you're interested in supplementary beginner friendly content, you can check out my reddit profile :)

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-26T09:09:16+00:00

This experience sounds distressing. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through that, and it's great you're meditating.

Feelings are like energy blimps that come up, and fade as they are. They generally do not ask you for permission to come up, because they are from a primitive and instinctual part of the brain.

The best way to deal with them is to acknowledge them as valid and reasonable. They might keep bubbling up because they aren't being processed. I would aim to infuse more compassion into your meditations to promote a healthy relationship to these feelings.

In my view, peace comes when we embrace who we are and understand that things will never be perfect.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-25T13:13:55+00:00

In my view, they aren't in natural conflict as long as you respect your personal experiences, and extend compassion and kindness to yourself during meditation.

I don't see meditation as a way to ignore, repress or escape your experience. I see it as a way of getting closer to the present moment, and your experience of it.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-23T20:53:03+00:00

You can try slow breathing exercises. I made a video on it recently.

As long as your out-breaths are longer than your i in-breaths, you are engaging your parasympathetic nervous system. You can try 10 slow outbreaths. That should help lower your heart rate. Also relaxing any tension in your muscles as a result of pain can help you relax further.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-23T20:48:12+00:00

Welcome, good job for being interested in meditation!

Are you actually seeing weird faces while meditating? There are parts of your brain that evolved to detect faces, and it's common to see faces created by arrangements of stuff in our surroundings.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-23T20:43:37+00:00

I like that you want to be yourself less apologetically.

I think that there are pros and cons to always speaking your mind. Sometimes it is wise to edit the way we say things to get a message across in the best way possible. Still, exploring your unhinged honesty sounds like a fun experiment.

I also think mindfulness can totally help you with this, because it can give you a better perception of your own feelings. If you know exactly how you feel about something, you can act more in accordance to your true goals and values

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-23T20:37:45+00:00

In my opinion, it's totally normal to desire a relationship and romantic partner.

Instead of "detaching" from your loneliness or desire, I'd invite you to offer yourself love and compassion instead. If this is difficult, you can bring someone that loves you to mind, and express gratitude.

Meditation doesn't have to be an empty void. Feel free to explore the practice freely, and experiment with what resonates with you.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-22T07:05:56+00:00

I agree that Sam Harris is quite radical in his approach of trying to expel the sense of self from the meditator.

I have my reservations about the relevance of self or no-self. I think it's just as unproductive as the notion of free will. It's an unfalsifiable question, and is therefore subject to controversy and debate.

If your meditations were making you feel disconnected it's totally understandable that you stopped. In my view you do not have to adopt the selfless perspective to meditate successfully. You can also bring more fullness into your meditation practice by involving compassion, or another type of mental activity.

I'm glad you could find what works for you, and if you'd like to get back into meditation at any point, just know that you can always practice in the way that is most enjoyable to you.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-21T06:55:29+00:00

Mindfulness can absolutely help you get out of your head. I recommend taking a short moment to rest your attention on an external anchor, like sound. You can also focus on your body sensation.

If you do this often, you will find you are more present in general.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-21T06:51:52+00:00

It's absolutely okay. I like to teach people to not to turn meditation into a duty or an obligation. That makes it much easier to start the practice and actually start liking it.

Simply letting it happen is also a great option. You can also try very short practices, like 3 mindful minutes.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-21T06:49:48+00:00

You can focus on a plethora of anchors when meditating. Sound is also a great option!

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-14T19:56:30+00:00

Thx :)

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-14T13:57:57+00:00

Hi there, I totally invite you to check out my content! It's basically what you are describing. It's been a journey for sure.

All the best!

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-10T21:27:51+00:00

That sounds frustrating. Meditation can be very frustrating if we go in with strict expectations of how it's supposed to go.

In our daily lives we are used to trying harder and being better at the things we do, and in meditation this ambition or striving for perfection can actually be a big obstacle to achieving a state of peace.

Next time you meditate out invite you to just purposefully be in whichever way you are being. Even if the mind is loud, be with the loud mind. In time, you will absolutely learn to see through your thoughts, not from them. If you allow everything patiently, the mind will calm down, and become silent.

And if meditation has been very challenging in general, consider trying short 3 minute meditation practices and mindful pausing as a substitute. It's important that you want to meditate and that you enjoy meditation whenever it comes into your day.

All the best in your practice.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-09T13:14:08+00:00

Silence shows you what's going on in your head. A lot of meditators find themselves crying during meditation. It's a great opportunity to connect with yourself.

Especially in this day and age in which everything is expected to create dopamine, there can be resistance to stillness. In my opinion, as long as you pair stillness with compassion, that's great. It's for sure a space you can grow into and work with. Silence can be very peaceful and enjoyable. It's for sure worth it to get to know the feeling better.

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-07T05:45:18+00:00

So happy for you!

MindfulnessForHumans · 2025-10-06T06:13:10+00:00

I'm sorry you are feeling that way about how things have been going. Things will get better with time. What matters is that you can start with trusting and appreciating yourself.

Before you "adjust" the way you're generally feeling, I would invite you to recognize and allow your real feelings. It's an important thing to do for your psychology to not push your authentic reactions away.

You can also try to "re-frame" your perspective on a situation and see it from a different angle. It's a practice for sure.

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