Hello and welcome to the Daily Insight.
My name is Annemarie Rowley and I am a meditation teacher in Melbourne,
Australia and it's a privilege to be with you here on Insight Timer.
This practice will allow you to step inside your heart and to encourage your mind to rest.
It is said that the longest journey one will ever take in a lifetime is from one's head to one's heart.
We exist in our head,
Especially today.
A mind chatters constantly,
Expounding all its impressions,
Arguments,
Rationales,
Assumptions,
Opinions and criticisms.
Let us consider this for a moment.
What is your mind telling you right now?
By being at ease you can quietly step inside your mind as though you are entering a doorway and you can see your thoughts flowing in and out of your conscious awareness.
Do this now for a little while.
Would you say at this very moment your mind is messy,
Constantly sorting through the melee of considerations,
Ideas and sorrows?
Is it confused or unclear?
One big melting pot of scrambled thoughts and ideas,
A plethora of conversations that start but never seem to finish.
On the other hand,
Your mind right now may be quiet,
Calm,
Orderly,
Structured and completely alert.
Or the mind may be somewhere in between.
How is your body feeling about this?
Is it stiff and sore and holding on?
Or is it soft and pliable?
How is it responding to your thoughts?
Do you ever want to scream out,
Stop,
Please thoughts,
Leave me alone?
Thoughts are simply movements in the mind and the aspiration of this practice is to simply quieten its restlessness.
You know we actually believe what our mind tells us and as it happens we believe it is best to ignore our heart.
But what we feel deep down in our heart is our truth.
It doesn't lie.
And as Carl Jung,
The psychoanalyst who famously founded analytical psychology once stated and so succinctly,
The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.
We need to reconnect with our inner self,
Our spirit,
Call it what you may.
But it exists deep within us.
And as one of my teachers often exclaimed,
It is a place we cannot reach by traveling anywhere.
We do not find it by moving,
But by being still.
So let us make the journey within.
Give yourself permission to step out of your mind,
To divert your trust to your heart.
Your eyes are softly closed.
Breathe with ease.
Release into the heart's core.
Feel it gently pulsing.
Its gentle call.
Melt into your heart's center as you inhale.
Do this again and again.
Count the breaths as you guide your attention to your heart.
Each breath finding a greater depth.
Breathing in,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Rest.
Breathing out,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Rest.
Breathing in,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Rest.
Breathing out,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Rest.
Breathing in,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Rest.
Breathing out,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Rest.
And now envisage a picture of your heart.
See it before you,
Gently pulsing.
Perhaps you can feel its gentle rhythm in the palms of your hands or the gentle rhythm at the crown of your head.
Pay attention to the heart.
What is it asking of you?
What does it wish to manifest for you?
Forget what the mind is trying to do drawing you away into its quandary.
What are you feeling deep within your heart?
Are you listening to it?
Slow down.
Pay attention to the pulse of the heart.
Be still within it.
Observe its messages.
Respect yourself.
Be kind to yourself.
Pursue your dreams.
Let go of what does not serve you.
Feel the body,
Mind and the breath merge into one.
Breathe in beauty.
Release.
Breathe in light.
Release.
Breathe in silence.
Release.
Breathe in love.
Release.
Breathe in silence.
Release.
Breathe in love.
Release.
As you inhale,
Feel as though energy is flowing from the tips of your toes,
Up and through your entire body.
As you exhale,
The energy recedes back down through your body into a peaceful and calm space.
And if you find you are bringing judgment into your practice,
Just draw your attention back to the heartbeat or the imaginings of it.
Rest.
Breathe with ease.
And enjoy these few quiet moments of deep connection to your heart.
And now gently draw your hands slowly towards your heart and place one over the other.
Scan your body and notice where it is beautifully calm and peaceful.
Can you sense the space in which you reside?
Can you sense the gentle pulsing?
And again in the words of Carl Jung,
Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart,
Who looks outside dreams.
Who looks inside awakens.
May your heart be your guiding light and your days glimmer with joy and prosperity.
May your heart be your guiding light and your days glimmer with joy and prosperity.
