Hello my friends.
Today we're going to spend a bit of time together concentrating on the heart.
And so as we often do,
I want you to find a comfortable position.
A comfortable position that allows connection to your heart.
So typically I would say on your back or your belly or seated,
But today,
Maybe just your back or seated so that you can gain access to your heart space.
And then once you arrive,
You might invite your eyes to close and we'll just take a big breath together.
So big deep inhale and full exhale.
Go ahead and place one hand on your heart space.
Slow down your breathing and then I want you to bring to mind someone that you love very deeply.
Hold them in your mind's eye and just notice without trying,
Without cultivating any specific feeling,
Notice what happens in your heart space.
Notice that there's probably a tendency for the chest to burst open or for that space around your heart to feel like it grows.
Your shoulders might not feel as heavy,
Maybe not as much constriction in the throat or the jaw or even the eyes as you think about this person that you love.
And then I want you to shift something for me.
I want you to shift to someone that you might not have such an affinity for.
Shift to someone that maybe presses your buttons or rubs you the wrong way.
Maybe it's someone that you were in a fight with or a quarrel with.
Maybe it's a coworker that you just don't often get along with.
I want you to bring them into your mind's eye and again,
Without cultivating something specific,
Just notice how the heart responds.
Very often as we bring a person like this to mind,
Our heart begins to feel closed,
Closed off and tight and constricted.
Your shoulders might curl in,
Your jaw might even feel tight.
Notice the reaction that your heart had to someone you love and to someone you maybe didn't love.
It is important to recognize this closing and opening of the heart and we can make it our job to really,
Truly be aware of that space.
Sometimes our heart closes out of intuition,
When we come up against something that doesn't serve us or that we should turn away from,
But sometimes it's our own prejudice,
It's our own judgment and criticism of another person that closes our hearts.
And we know in truth that everyone deserves love,
So I want you to try this with me for a moment.
I want you to bring that person to mind again,
The one you had just before,
The one that maybe presses your buttons or rubs your edges the wrong way.
Bring them to mind and even if your heart automatically closes off,
Even if you feel that constriction and tightness around your heart space,
I want you to sit there and breathe into it.
Sit there and breathe into it and see if slowly,
Slowly,
Even as this person comes to mind,
You can begin to crack open the doors of your heart.
See if you can feel or invite the shoulders to soften and the jaw and the neck to do the same.
Maybe just by reminding yourself that everyone is deserving of love,
You can start to soften around the area of your heart.
Holding this person in mind,
Maybe you can just offer them gratitude for being here on the planet,
For being a part of this growing community of humans.
And it might be the most challenging thing that you do today,
But you might offer them compassion and kindness and you might feel the edges of your heart that were curled in begin to fold outward.
Try and give yourself a few breaths here in this place and then I want you to bring to mind once more someone you love,
Someone that you are fond of or connected with and see if you can just open the edges of your heart a tiny bit more,
Let it grow and radiate from that chest space.
Maybe allow it to curl up the corners of your mouth and then really softly let your hand fall away from your heart.
Take a really big breath in with me,
Deep inhale and full exhale.
Pay attention my friends to the signals of your heart from that sacred space of mine to yours.
Namaste.
