Welcome to today's meditation,
Opening to Love.
And as you find your position for our practice,
I'll just start by saying a few words.
That no matter how many times you have been hurt,
Or burned,
Or have grieved,
Or been let down,
Your heart is still and always capable of love.
Our tendency after enduring pain and heartbreak is to close the heart and to resist the love that others try to give us,
Or the love that life tries to give us.
And that protective measure is useful for a time while we heal.
But you'll know when it's time to begin the journey of opening again.
And even though you may do,
We all still need some help.
Whatever position you've found yourself in,
I invite you to bring one hand over the heart and then the other hand on top.
And as you lay your hands over the heart space,
Take a deep breath in and then a full breath out.
Taking two more in that same way,
Slowing it right down,
Feeling the expansion and then softening and release.
One more.
And you're welcome to keep the hands here or to bring them down into the lap or wherever is comfortable as you wish.
And I invite you to relax the body as much as you can.
And if you're treated and you'd rather come and lie down at this stage,
Please do.
The more we relax the physical body,
The more we allow for the free flow of energy around it.
And in this practice,
We're going to be visualizing ourselves as a container for love.
So I want you to be really comfortable.
I'm really relaxed.
And feel free to take a few more deep breaths and to slow and lengthen your exhale if you're still feeling like there's a little bit of resistance.
And for those of you with your hands still over the heart,
Check in and notice what's the temperature or the mood or the texture even of the heart space as an energetic field.
As you glance down into the heart,
Is there a color or a material that comes to mind?
What visual representation is coming up in your mind's eye,
I wonder.
And our practice here asks us to be non-judgmental.
So being curious instead,
Curious about what arises.
And if you don't see or notice much,
That's okay.
For those of you for whom there might be some internal resistance or a feeling of stick,
Stickiness,
Darkness,
Pain,
You may well notice a scratchiness,
Darkness.
And I want you just to again deepen the breath a few times and to take that energy of the breath in your mind's eye down into those parts of the heart.
What we're doing here is just visually melting resistance.
Being oh so tender with yourself,
Really gentle,
Really loving,
As if you're attending the heart of a child that you love or a dear friend.
Take your time.
And then when you're ready,
Again you're welcome to keep the hands on the heart or you can release them.
Remaining in a really comfortable position,
Again the option to lie down if you prefer.
And if you're lying down,
You may even explore bringing the soles of the feet together and opening the knees out wide in a butterfly shape.
For those who want to work with support,
You can bring rolled up blankets or a bolster underneath the knees.
And maybe take the arms out into a T shape or a surrender shape,
Like a cactus.
If you're lying down,
Let the backside of the body melt into the ground.
Feel how the ground rises up to hold you.
Let's take a deep breath in together.
And this time as you inhale,
Send the breath into every cell in your body.
Feel as if those cells are lighting up with your breath.
And as you exhale,
The light dims and slowly passes out of them as you soften and release through the back body into the ground.
Doing that one more time,
Inhaling into every cell,
Filling it with light and energy.
Exhaling,
Letting that light dim as the breath leaves and the body releases.
And let's keep that rhythm of breath now.
Inhaling into the heart and the entire body,
All the cells.
Exhaling,
Letting it just melt down through the body.
And as you continue breathing in the same way,
Connected to body and breath,
I want you to imagine that you are breathing in love from your surroundings.
And that love and that light are combining to fill the cells.
So that you begin to glow like a lantern.
There's no rush to fill up because you're confident that every additional in-breath that you take brings more love and more love and more love to your body.
And all you are really doing is opening yourself to receive it,
Like the vessel that you are,
The container for love.
And surrounding you is an abundance of love.
Above you,
Below you,
And on all sides of you.
And I want you just to visualize that loving energy,
Whether it shows up as a light or a color,
Permeating the atmosphere.
Coming towards you from all angles,
The heavens,
The sky,
The ground,
The walls of the building that you're in,
The air that you're breathing.
Everything that you touch and sense is love.
And as you continue your breathing practice here,
Drawing that love in and illuminating the cells of your body,
Allow yourself to fully receive the love.
Absorbing it into the body.
And calling it yours,
Yours to keep and hold and of course share outwards with others.
Keep seeing this love moving around you,
Driving towards you,
Wanting to join forces with you,
Destined for you.
And allow yourself to be the vessel,
The container that you are for love,
Because it wants you.
It wants to find you and it wants to live in you.
And for anyone for whom there is resistance in receiving,
Know that you're not alone.
You can continue to breathe into the parts of yourself that want to pull back from this love.
And in breathing into those parts of you,
You find space and you make a room for this love.
Know that this is the practice for you to come to anytime you feel depleted,
Alone,
Lost,
Lonely or hurt.
Know that you can generate love inside from beyond and share it both with yourself and others.
Stay here for as long as you like,
Continuing the cycles of breath and the visualisation of love making its way into you.
And if you're ready to come out of the practice,
Take your time to find a way back to a seat.
Lifting the spine and lifting the heart,
You may like to inhale,
Taking the arms overhead.
And to exhale,
Bring the thumbs down to the heart centre with the hands in prayer position.
Feel how the whole of you lights up like a lantern of love.
And as we give thanks,
Bow the head towards the heart.
Namaste.
.
