Sunny Side Up: How to feel better about those bad thoughts

When practising loving-kindness meditation, allow any obstacles or negative thoughts that arise come into your mind so you can accept them and then let them go. -- 123rf.com

Over the years that I have been meditating, the one type of meditation I struggled to come to grips with for a long time was loving- kindness – or metta – meditation. The aim of this practice is to develop kindness and compassion toward ourselves and others.

I first encountered metta meditation not in a monastery or meditation group but in a karate class when I was 16. At the start of the practice, I remember the instructor telling us how, if we’re not careful, our anger and frustration can get the better of us, especially in times of stress (which would include fighting).