A loving-kindness meditation is usually built around three or four well-wishes that you repeat to different recipients. It may be that you wish them good health, that they will be safe, happy, loved, etc. In Loving-Kindness Meditation with My Favorite Phrases, Sophie Grace Meditations shows that only your imagination sets the limit for how to shape the mantra the meditation is built on. She has chosen four phrases that make her personally feel really good. Instead of saying “May you be…” as the custom is, she has chosen to say “May youfeel…,” since you may be loved and safe and still not be able to feel or understand that you are. You start by directing the well-wishes to yourself, then to someone you care about, then to someone you do not know very well, and then to every sentient being on this earth, thinking of everyone as a collective—including yourself.

Loving-kindness, ormetta bhavana, is originally a Buddhist meditation technique, but when listening to it you will not find it religious in any way. It will feel more like an exercise for practicing and cultivating empathy and kindness. Over the last few years, science has found that there are many mental and physical benefits from regularly practicing loving-kindness meditation—even for just a few weeks. The reason may be that feeling a sense of connection with others is important to our health and wellbeing.

The English edition is based on the second edition in Swedish.

Sophie Påhlsson, who is the person behind Sophie Grace Meditations, is a Swedish meditation instructor. Her goal with the meditations, relaxation exercises and sleep stories she creates is to help you relax or fall asleep with the help of guided relaxations that you also enjoy listening to. Products in Swedish and English are narrated by Påhlsson herself. (Swedish pseudonym: Sophie Grace Meditationer.) The titles available in other languages have been narrated by voice-over artists.