We do so by repeating phrases such as: May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I be safe. May I live with ease. And then: May you be happy. May you be healthy, etc.
So, how does silently repeating these phrases help us? Studies show that repeatedly practicing positive feelings towards ourselves and others may literally change our brains.
It Changes The Brain For The Better
Particularly the brain activity in regions related to emotion, empathy, self-perception, and social cognition. A 2016 meta-analysis of 78 neuroimaging studies found loving-kindness meditation appears to engage some parts of the brain differently than other types of mediation.
Another study looking specifically at loving-kindness meditation found that expert meditators had altered activation and connectivity in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, areas tied to self-referential thinking and mind-wandering, when compared to controls with less experience meditating.
Perhaps more excitingly, one randomized controlled trial of 57 people found that just four weeks of compassion meditation led people to have higher activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex when listening to stories of others’ suffering, and this increased brain activity was related to higher levels of compassion.
Similarly, one randomized longitudinal study found that loving-kindness mediation was associated with an improved ability to understand others' feelings, and increased activation in the inferior frontal gyrus and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (brain changes that were predictive of increases in empathy).
And lastly, one 2025 study with people who had epilepsy (who were getting brain electrodes placed inside their brain to monitor their clinical symptoms) found that meditation was associated with altered activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during loving-kindness meditation practice, as measured by the wires actually inside their brain.
It Can Increase Positive Emotions & Well-Being
It may seem obvious, but researchers analyzed 24 studies with 1,759 participants and found loving-kindness meditation produced improvements in positive emotions when compared to controls. The benefits of positive emotion included feelings of warmth, joy, gratitude, and contentment.
Researchers examined how loving-kindness meditation impacted the well-being of 139 working adults. Compared to controls, people who started practicing loving-kindness meditation began to experience more positive emotions throughout the day. Those positive emotions were associated with greater mindfulness, purpose in life, social support, and other personal resources.
Those new psychological resources predicted lower depressive symptoms and greater life satisfaction. Researchers proposed that loving-kindness meditation created a chain reaction that boosted well-being.
It May Strengthen Social Connection
Researchers found that people who practiced loving-kindness mediation felt more connected to other people. These feelings of connection were linked to improvements in vagal tone, a measure of how well the body’s nervous system regulates itself.
The researchers described this as an “upward spiral,” where positive emotions helped people feel more socially connected, which was linked to healthier nervous-system functioning, which may in turn support more positive emotions. What makes the study especially interesting is that the effects weren't just psychological - there were also measurable changes in how the body was functioning.
It May Even Influence How We Experience Pain
Researchers recruited 43 adults suffering from chronic low-back pain. Half of the group was assigned to participate in an eight-week loving-kindness meditation program.
The loving-kindness meditation group experienced improvements in pain and psychological distress. On days when participants meditated more, they even reported experiencing less pain that day and less anger the following day.
Another experiment suggests that loving-kindness meditation can change how we view pain experienced by other people. Researchers exposed participants to loving-kindness language or control language.
When asked to rate how much pain others would feel during a procedure, participants who read loving-kindness passages rated others as feeling less pain.
The Newest Research Is Even More Encouraging
Researchers completed a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis looking at the broader meditation literature. They found loving-kindness meditation produced improvements in several mental-health outcomes:
- Positive emotions
- Self-compassion
- Mindfulness
- Overall psychological symptoms
The Beautiful Idea Behind Metta
One of the beautiful things about loving-kindness meditation is that you don’t have to feel it to practice it. You start by simply… practicing.
You practice offering yourself and others four or five simple wishes:
May you be safe.
May you be healthy.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
May you live with ease.
Now, pause for a moment and imagine if this kind of practice were taught in schools five days a week. Imagine children growing up learning not only how to read and write, but also how to understand themselves, recognize what others are feeling, and respond with compassion. How would this transform the world? Powerful thought, isn’t it?