Welcome to this Balancing Heart and Small Intestine Meridian Meditation.
In ancient Taoism,
The fire element corresponds to four principal meridians.
During this meditation,
We are going to focus on two.
The heart meridian and its partner,
The small intestine meridian.
The elemental heart organ governs the blood and circulation.
It is a place of wisdom and tenderness.
It stores our shen.
Shen translates as our spirit.
Emotionally,
The heart is associated with joy.
When it's imbalanced,
This can increase to agitation and mania.
The small intestine is associated with feeling lost and vulnerable.
When the heart and the small intestine meridians are balanced and in harmony,
We have a calm mind,
Good memory,
Clear senses,
Restful sleep and a robust complexion.
We are fully present with ease.
We are happy,
Joyful and radiant.
So let's nourish these meridians together.
Remember,
Where your attention goes,
Your energy flows.
So please take a few moments to find a comfortable position.
If you're sitting,
Sit open and upright.
If you're lying down,
Lie balanced and symmetrical.
Your palms are open wherever they're resting.
And I invite you to start with a big face-stretching yawn,
Gifting yourself with an audible release as you exhale.
And allow this audible release to help you relax and let go that little bit more.
Let's try that together.
Allow the muscles of the face to soften.
Draw your shoulder blades in and down your spine to help open your heart space.
And let's take one more delicious deep belly breath,
Allowing the breath to sink down,
Down into the belly.
Relaxing,
Awake and alert.
Please remember there's nothing you need to achieve or accomplish during this guided meridian meditation.
This is your time and you might like to follow my words or you can just gently allow them to sit in the background.
And I invite you now to begin to draw your attention to the space in front of your closed eyes.
It's like a field of darkness and perhaps there are some muted shapes or colors there,
But we're not looking for anything.
We're just simply resting our attention in this space with relaxed eyes and a soft gaze.
And I invite you to begin to draw your attention to sounds now.
Begin with sounds coming from further away,
From outside.
And just listen with a gentle curiosity.
Allow the sounds to come and go without resistance.
Now draw your attention to sounds inside the room.
Perhaps you can begin to listen to sounds coming from inside your body.
Your breath,
Digestion,
Heartbeat,
Just listening.
Allow the sounds to help call you into the present moment.
And I invite you to begin to draw your attention further to the breath.
So not only the subtle sounds of your breath,
But also to any sensations associated with your breath.
Feel the gentle movement of your chest and your belly,
Rising with the in-breath and falling with the out-breath.
It's just your natural breath.
It's just your natural breath.
Notice the gentle softening of your body as you breathe out.
And feel the flow of air passing by your nostrils.
Cool as you breathe in and warm as you breathe out.
And as your breath continues to settle,
Know that it calms and settles your body,
Heart and mind with it.
Calming and softening.
Center yourself with the breath.
Allow your natural breath to help anchor you into the present moment.
I invite you now to begin to remember the ancient meridian lines of the heart and the small intestine.
Beginning with visualizing the external heart meridians emerging from the middle of each armpit and then flowing down,
Down the inner edge of the arms.
Both of the arms flowing down,
All the way down to the tips of the little fingers.
And this is where they connect with the small intestine meridians.
So the external small intestine meridians start at the tip of the little fingers.
They run along the outside edge of the palms and up the back of the arms,
All the way up,
Up to the back of the shoulders.
And they zigzag along the back of the shoulder blades.
And flow up the sides of the neck to the head.
And here they branch into two.
One branch flows to the inner corner of each eye.
And the other branch flows over the cheeks to finish in the ears.
And I invite you to visualize free flowing energy flowing through these meridians.
And visualize this free flowing energy as a bright red ruby light.
So again let's start with the external heart meridians.
Starting in the middle of the armpits.
There's bright red ruby light flowing from each armpit.
Down,
Down,
Along the inner arms.
Down,
All the way down to the little fingers.
Perhaps you can begin to feel a warmth or a tingling flowing down the arms.
And visualize a glowing ruby red colored light flowing from each little finger up the external small intestine meridians.
Along the outside edge of the palms.
Up,
Up the back of the arms to the shoulders.
Up along the sides of the neck.
And here the bright red ruby light branches.
And one branch flows up to the inner corner of the eyes.
The other branch flowing up to the cheeks and into the ears.
And again starting at the external heart meridians.
Visualizing bright red ruby light flowing from the armpits.
Down the inner edges of the arms.
Down to the tip of the little fingers.
And then ruby red light flowing up from the tips of the little fingers over the outside of the palms.
Up along our small intestine meridian.
Up the back of the arms to the back of the shoulders.
Zigzagging along the back of the shoulder blades.
Up the sides of the neck.
This ruby red light flowing freely and then branching at the face.
One branch flowing over to the inner corners of the eyes.
And the other branch flowing over the cheeks to finish at the inner ears.
And as you feel this subtle sense of energy,
This subtle sense of aliveness flowing through these meridians.
Through the arms,
Shoulders,
Neck and head.
Feel the flow of your breath.
And if you notice your mind wandering or becoming caught up in a stream of thought,
That's okay.
That's what the mind does.
Just gently and kindly redirect your attention back to your body.
Back to these ancient energy lines of the heart and small intestine meridians.
Draw your awareness back to the space in front of your closed eyes.
Notice sound.
Notice your centering breath.
Let's rest for a few moments now.
Observing and feeling.
And as we come towards the end of our practice together today,
You might like to join me in dedicating its value and its virtue and sending some kind thoughts.
So as we breathe in,
Say silently to yourself,
May I be joyful and radiant.
And as you breathe out,
May you,
May others be joyful and radiant.
As you breathe in,
Allow your heart to fill with this intention.
And as you breathe out,
Visualize an individual or a group of people and send these kind thoughts out to them.
So breathing in,
May I be joyful and radiant.
Breathing out,
May you be joyful and radiant.
May we all be joyful and radiant.
May we all be fully present with ease.
May we all give and receive love with ease.
Let us slowly start to reactivate and re-energize the body now.
Perhaps a little wiggle of the fingers,
A little wiggle of the toes.
If you're lying down,
You might like to give your knees a squeeze and give yourself a little low back massage by slowly rocking one side and then to the other side.
We can all give ourselves a big loving hug,
Wrapping our arms around ourselves,
Bringing a small,
Gentle smile to the face.
And then when you're ready,
Let's all come together in a comfortable seated position,
Bringing our palms together in front of our heart,
Our physical heart.
And with a slight bow of the head,
Draw the thumbs up between the eyebrows to the third eye centre.
As a gesture of honour,
Respect and the deepest of gratitude to ourselves,
To each other and to the practice we've shared together today.
Namaste.
The light in me sees the light in you.
Thank you.
