16 Science-Backed Benefits of Loving-Kindness Meditation
By now, you have likely heard of the countless potential benefits of meditation. When we think of meditation and its benefits, we likely think of mindfulness meditation. And for good reason! A lot of the research surrounding meditation looks at mindfulness-based practices or Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
However, there is a growing body of research into the benefits of loving-kindness meditation. Loving-kindness meditation focuses on cultivating feelings of goodwill or gentleness toward ourselves and others. Sharon Salzberg, a pioneer of loving-kindness meditation in the West, is the author of Real Happiness, perhaps the best guidebook on loving-kindness practice. She says:
“Metta is the ability to embrace all parts of ourselves, as well as all parts of the world. Practicing metta illuminates our inner integrity because it relieves us of the need to deny different aspects of ourselves. We can open to everything with the healing force of love. When we feel love, our mind is expansive and open enough to include the entirety of life in full awareness, both its pleasures and its pains, we feel neither betrayed by pain or overcome by it, and thus we can contact that which is undamaged within us regardless of the situation. Metta sees truly that our integrity is inviolate, no matter what our life situation may be.”
Sharon is using the word metta here, the Buddhist term for loving-kindness. This passage from her book is a great explanation of what loving-kindness is and outlines some of the potential benefits. But let’s look at what the actual scientific research says.
Mood and Wellbeing
Improved Life Satisfaction and Positive Emotions
In 2008, Barbara Frederickson and her colleagues found several benefits of loving-kindness meditation (Frederickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008). In their study, the practice increased feelings of love, happiness, joy, gratitude, and interest. These emotionas then went on to produce secondary effects such as increased mindfulness and better social support. Study participants who practiced loving-kindness experienced more life satisfaction and a reduction in symptoms of depression.
Increased Vagal Tone
Another study by Kok et al (2013) investigated the baseline vagal tone in participants with a meditation intervention vs a control group. The participants that had a loving-kindness meditation intervention had increased vagal tone, which leads to less stress response and increases in positive emotions.
Decreased Depression and PTSD Symptoms
In a study by Kearney et al (2013), veterans diagnosed with PTSD underwent loving-kindness based interventions. After a 12 week loving-kindness course, individuals had significantly reduced symptoms of both PTSD and depression.
Improved Emotions in Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders
Johnson et al. (2011) investigated loving-kindness meditation in individuals experiencing schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. They found that individuals experiences a decrease in negative symptoms of the disorder and increased positive emotions.
Physical Wellbeing
Decreased Chronic Pain
This pilot study by Carson et al. (2005) worked with individuals experiencing chronic pain. When compared to the standard care, the individuals who underwent a loving-kindness intervention had greater deacreases in psychological distress, anger, and overall physical pain.
Decreased Migraine Symptoms
In one of the more recent studies on this list, Tonelli et al. (2014) found immediate positive effects of loving-kindness meditation. Individuals experienced a reduction in migraine pain and decreased emotional tension in regards to the chronic migraines.
Effects in the Brain
Increased Empathy and Emotional Processing
Research by Hutcherson, Seppala & Gross (2014) found that loving-kindness meditation recruited the media prefrontal cortex, which is implicated in thinking about ourselves and others. This study suggests loving-kindness practice engage parts of the brain responsible for emotional processing and caring for others.
Increased Gray Matter in Brain
Leung et al. (2013) found that loving-kindness meditation increases gray matter in parts of the brain responsible for emotional regulation. This was also found by Lutz et al. (2008) and Lee et al. (2012).
Stress Response
Slowed Biological Aging
We know that stress can decrease telmore length (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8920518/). The shortening of these chromosomes serve as a biological marker of aging. Hoge et al. (2013) actually found that women who practiced loving-kindness meditation had longer telomere length than non-meditating women of the same age.
Increased Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia
In this study from Law et al. (2011), just ten minutes of loving-kindness had an immediate measurable effect. They looked at RSA, or Respiratory Sinus Arrythmia. This is an index of parasympathetic cardia control, or the person’s ability to enter a relaxated state. During this study, the ten minute meditation resulted in increased RSA, showing a more relaxed state and slower respiratory rate.
Social Benefits
Increased Empathy
Klimecki, Leiberg, Lamm, and Singer (2013) found that loving-kindness meditation increased empathy in participants. This was true when faced with the distress of others, but also in positive affective experiences.
Increased Compassion
A review of research on mindfulness-based interventions from Boellinghaus, Jones & Hutton (2012) found that loving-kindness may actually be the most effective meditation practice for increasing compassion for the pain or difficulties of others.
Increased Social Connection
Loving-kindness meditation was found by Kok et al (2013) to increase positive emotions. Participants also reported increased perception of social connection with people around them.
Decreased Implicit Bias
Kang, Gray & Dovido (2014) looked at loving-kindness meditation and implicit bias. Participants who practiced loving-kindness had decreased implicit bias against minorities when compared to the control group.
Improves Pro-Social Behavior
Leiberg, Klimecki, and Singer (2011) looked at loving-kindness and pro-social behavior. Compared the control group, the people practicing loving-kindness showed increased pro-social behavior in the form of increased helping behavior in a game.
Relationship with Self
Decreased Self-Criticism
A study into self-critical individuals by Shahar et al. (2014) found that loving-kindness reduced self-crticism and depressive symptoms, improved self-compassion, and produced more positive emotions.
Longevity of Effects
A study by Hutcherson, Seppala, and Gross (2008) found that just ten minutes of meditation was effective at increasing social connection and positivy of effects. Cohn et al. (2011) found that over a third of participants continued to meditate and experience enhanced positive emotions 15 months after the intervention. In the above study (#16) by Shahar et al. (2014), effects were observed three months after the intervention finished.
Interested in getting started with loving-kindness meditation? Here are a few resources I recommend:
Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation - A 28 Day Program by Sharon Salzberg
Loving-Kindness Guided Meditation from One Mind Dharma
Loving-Kindness Meditation from Berkeley’s Greater Good in Action