Unlock Compassion Through Loving-Kindness

(mouse clicks) (gentle music) Headspace Studios. Hi friends, it's Rosie here. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Monday. This week, we're starting off with a theme of loving kindness. And I wanna start by telling you something I've been involved with over the last few years. I've been involved in rehabilitation and community building prison project called ReEvolution. It's been a longtime passion of mine, given my history and background growing up in East LA in an environment that was overrun by gang violence and having people close to me impacted by incarceration. It's the reason why I decided to become a mindfulness teacher. I'm deeply involved and devoted to helping others find a sense of compassion and self-worth. Working with incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated individuals has truly been a life-changing experience. It has shown me the profound impact that loving kindness can have, even in the most challenging environment. This experience has reinforced my belief that everyone deserves compassion and that it starts with us. Loving kindness or metta is about developing a spirit of friendship toward ourselves and others. It's a practice that is thousands of years old and truly time tested. It's about unconditional compassion, not just love that's dependent on conditions. It's about a deep sense of connection with ourselves and others. It's about recognizing our interconnectedness and the value of everyday life. Everyone counts. The promise of the practice is that, by practicing consistently, you can begin to break down the barriers that often keep us isolated or stuck in negative patterns. You can open your heart to a more profound sense of empathy, not only for others, but also for yourself, fostering a kinder, more understanding approach to life's challenges. In one of my sessions at the prison, I encountered a young man who we will call Johnny. He had been incarcerated for eight years and struggled deeply with feelings of unworthiness and anger. Johnny was at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. His backstory was heartbreaking. Both his parents had abandoned him and he had been raised in foster care. Unfortunately, this is a consistent theme and story with many individuals inside. When Johnny first joined the group, he was distant with a hardened exterior that seemed impenetrable. He was resistant to the exercises and hesitant to engage, a wall of anger and mistrust standing between him and the rest of us. It was clear that life had taught him to protect himself, to keep others at arm's length. But over time, as the sessions continued and we practiced loving kindness meditation, something began to shift. Slowly and over time, Johnny started to soften. He began sharing his story with the group, expressing his regrets, and his deep longing for connection, something he said he had never experienced before. It was as if the practice of sending loving kindness to himself allowed him to feel something new, something he had been deprived of for so long, a sense of...