Welcome to this guided visualization practice in which we shall focus upon the heart center to open,
Expand and flourish.
Just like the lotus flower rising from its murky depths,
Spreading its petals and gifting its beauty to all that are in its presence.
Lie down for this practice.
Ensure you're warm,
Comfortable and in a quiet place.
May I suggest you place a blanket or wrap over you and perhaps something beneath your knees.
Close down the eyes and for a few settling moments breathe in fully.
Suspend the breath for a few seconds as you do this.
Let go in the body.
Imagine you are relaxing from the crown to the toes and then release the out breath slowly.
This may take a few minutes to get used to so just practice breathing in fully,
Holding,
Relaxing and then releasing.
You will hear my voice soon again.
And now bring your awareness to the crown of your head.
Can you sense a gentle vibration at the crown of the head?
Perhaps you can feel a pulsing sensation across and through the skull as though your fingers are gently massaging your skull.
Lower your awareness down to the forehead.
And as you relax and smooth out the forehead,
Notice how the sides of your face let go.
Your jaw softens,
Your cheeks release and that your awareness is drawn towards the centre of your face now dwelling upon the movement of the breath in and out of the nostrils.
In and out.
In and out.
As you whisper to yourself,
I am relaxing my face.
I am relaxing my face.
My face is relaxed.
Allow your awareness to pass down through your throat,
Wafting down and soothing the muscles,
Cartilages and soft tissue down,
Down and down through the centre line of your chest to reach and settle at the heart.
In the world of yoga,
There is a symbol for the heart of the twelve-petalled lotus flower.
Manifest this image in the centre of your chest.
The lotus flower is always emerging from a body of water and from murky,
Muddy depths.
What can you see in your imagination?
What colour is your lotus?
Is it large or small?
Fully opened or just in the throes of opening?
Is the water dark or clear?
What is the temperature of the air surrounding this flower?
Warm or cool?
Barmy?
Perhaps hot?
The lotus flower is unlike any other flower.
It is unique in many,
Many ways and is so much more than a simple flower to be used as a decoration,
As beautiful as it is.
The lotus flower is symbolic and as such is honoured by many cultures.
It literally goes to sleep under water and is astonishing in its ability to start from a seed and rise up from underneath muddy pond waters to bloom.
And it blooms in such perfection as though it's been completely untouched.
It is so beautiful that often when I have focused upon them,
I have found it challenging to believe that they are real.
This heart centre is known as the Anahata Chakra,
Described in yogic philosophy as the centre of vital energy and translated from Sanskrit as unhurt,
Unstuck,
Unbeaten.
It is known as the seat of the divine self and meaning unbeaten in Sanskrit,
It is known to control the energy of love and to survive detriment and angst.
If one says the word very slowly,
One realises it is also the sound of the beating heart.
Anahata.
Physically this chakra or energy centre responds to the heart,
Lungs,
Immune system and muscles etc.
On a deeper level opening the heart chakra fills you with love,
Forgiveness,
Compassion and more.
And again what can you see in your imagination?
What colour is your lotus?
Does it change its hue?
Is it large or small?
Fully opened or just in the throes of opening?
Is the water dark or clear?
What is the temperature of the air surrounding this flower,
Warm or cool,
Balmy or perhaps hot?
Can you imagine that you are the lotus?
A person who adds grace,
Beauty and honour to the universe's design.
An ornament in the firmament.
A gift to those around you.
Rising from pain,
Strain,
Negativity,
Anger,
Worries that we all experience.
Rising from the gloomy,
Murkiness of life to fight your way through the darkness and swampy surround and lifting above the water in all its transformative glory.
These beautiful words by Debbie Ford express this concept as such.
Like the lotus flower that is born out of mud,
We must honour the darkest parts of ourselves and the most painful of our life's experiences because they are what allows us to birth our most beautiful self.
The symbolic twelve petals represent the divine qualities of the heart,
Such as joy,
Peace,
Harmony,
Love,
Understanding,
Empathy,
Clarity,
Purity,
Unity,
Compassion,
Kindness and forgiveness.
Can you sense these qualities?
Can you direct these qualities to yourself,
To those you love,
To those in need of restoration and to the world at large?
Rest at this heart centre and sense something that makes you joyful at this moment.
Radiate this joy to those you love.
Share your joy with those whom you know are in need.
Dominate joy to the world at large,
To those you don't know.
Rest at this heart centre and reflect upon an image or thought that grants you peace and harmony.
Radiate this peace and harmony to those you love.
Share your peace and harmony with those who are in need.
Emanate peace and harmony to the world at large.
Rest at this heart centre and sense the feeling of love.
Radiate this to all in your world.
Share your love with those who you know are in need.
Dominate love to the world at large.
Rest at this heart centre and sense the feeling of understanding and empathy.
Grant understanding and empathy to those you love.
Share your understanding and empathy to those who are in need.
Emanate empathy and develop a deep,
Deep understanding of the world at large.
Rest at this heart centre and envisage the petal of clarity.
Are you clear in your relationship and promises with those you love?
Are you clear in what you can do to assist others?
Are you clear in what you shall leave as a legacy to this earth?
Rest at this heart centre and how do you perceive purity?
Are your intentions pure with those you love?
Are your intentions pure when you are beside those in need?
Is your life one that is ethical,
Honest and refined?
Rest at this heart centre and how do you perceive unity?
Being as one with your partner,
Your friends,
Your pets,
Nature?
Getting up for,
Standing by,
Standing strong for those in need?
Are your days detached from judgement and criticism of others and the world at large?
Rest at this heart centre and focus upon the compassionate and kind aspect.
Can you be kind without expectation of reward?
Would you consider reverting to compassion even when another projects their poisonous emotions onto you and over you?
This world and all its creatures need the highest level of compassion and support to heal.
Perhaps the most challenging of the petals to unfold is forgiveness.
Can you truly forgive those who have left you in a wake of sorrow?
Can you detach from the pain and accord compassion to the bearer of grief?
Can your forgiveness strike a universal chord?
Reflect upon so many incidents and nations that have treated their citizens so cruelly.
Can you forgive and move on and do all that you can help to heal?
Remember the greatest leader,
Mahatma Gandhi once stated,
An eye for an eye and the whole world would be blind.
The lotus flower embodies a person's life journey from a tiny seed at the bottom of a pond to become a glorious bloom,
Albeit having to push and scuffle through grimy sludge.
Is it clearly representative of the struggles of life itself and the feeling of being cleansed,
Awakened and free of emotional burdens,
Once it emerges to bloom above the melee?
Yes,
It disappears below the surface again and again,
But keeps ascending to discard the facade,
Negativity,
Addictive desires and constant collation of material things.
Lotus statues are often sitting in a lotus flower,
As it is believed that the way water slides off lotus petals represents detachment and letting go of all that binds us,
Allowing us to thrive unencumbered.
And in the words of a motto,
If you feel lost,
Disappointed,
Hesitant or weak,
Return to yourself to who you are here and now and when you get there,
You will discover yourself like a lotus flower in full bloom,
Even in a muddy pond,
Beautiful and strong.
And now simply bring your hands to your heart and be aware of how you are feeling.
Sense the warmth of your hands to your heart and your heart to your hands.
This is Anne-Marie wishing you love,
Peace and harmony as you rise from the depths of the waters to transform and glow.
