A 5 Minute Loving-Kindness Meditation for Moms

We don’t need to tell you that this motherhood stuff is rough – long days and nights, lots of worry, lots of guilt. You meet with many emotional obstacles in both pregnancy and during motherhood as your pre-pregnancy life and identity shifts and you encounter the challenges of the journey to motherhood. We all could use a little grace and compassion, and sometimes the most obvious place to seek that is within. 

Loving-kindness is a type of meditation designed to help cultivate compassion for yourself and others. It’s an important aspect of meeting the challenges of motherhood with an open heart and an open mind.

Try this guided loving-kindness meditation (thanks mindful.org!) anytime you need to give yourself some grace.

1. Start with expressing loving-kindness to yourself
   After finding a quiet place to sit, repeat the following affirmations: “May I be filled with loving-kindness. May I treat myself with kindness in good times and in hard times. May I be well and live with ease.”  
   
   
2. Then share that loving-kindness with your growing baby within (if you’re a mama-to-be) or the child in your arms (if you’re already a mama)
   Repeat the affirmations: “May my baby be surrounded with loving-kindness. May I respond to my baby with kindness in good times and in hard times. May my baby be well and live with ease.”
   
   
3. Hold each affirmation in your attention and let its meaning sink in
   Your mind will wander. That’s okay! When you realize your thoughts have wandered, focus on bringing them back to yourself and your baby.  
   
   
4. Welcome the love and care of the moment
   Fully experience the connection to yourself and your baby: ““May I be filled with loving-kindness. May I respond to my baby with kindness in good times and in hard times.”