There’s no wrong way to do metta or lovingkindness. Sometimes the practice of cultivating lovingkindness is simply to radiate love without words. Sometimes it’s to begin by holding yourself with kindness.
Lovingkindness can be an antidote to anxiety and fear. We become more gracious with the difficulties of life as we open the heart.
After exploring many categories of beings to eventually send mettā to all beings, we can now approach each conception of single or many mettā subjects to be places of collected, restful mettā samādhi (loving kindness concentration). It's more simple and humble than many expect it to be.
This style of meditation practice is designed to support both the strengthening of mettā (loving kindness) and samādhi (concentration). The kind and benevolent tone of the brahmavihārās (sacred dwellings) carries a deep beckoning of our hearts to be whole and steady, so these are wonderful and meaningful qualities to use for samādhi/concentration. After many days of practicing we can taste our hearts becoming whole and can better see the possibility of letting go of old habits based in greed, insecurity and hatred.
