This meditation practice is for healing your heart.
So to start with,
I invite you to find a comfortable position that allows you to be alert and relaxed.
You can be seated.
You could do this meditation by lying down.
And here I invite you to feel the contact that your body is making with the surface on which you either lay down or on which you are seated.
Just for the next minute,
I invite you to observe your own breath,
Noticing where do you feel the breath the strongest in your body.
Could be as you are breathing in and out of your nose,
You might feel the breath moving in and out of your lungs,
Your chest,
Your belly.
And focusing on the breath feels overwhelming for you,
Feel free to move your attention to your hands or your feet.
Now,
I invite you to allow the energy from the head and the mind to drop down into your chest and your heart.
There's a saying that goes like this,
The longest journey that you'll ever take is the one from your head to your heart.
See if you can gradually allow yourself to focus more of your attention on your heart.
This feels supportive,
You can also place one or both hands on your chest.
Just feeling the contact that the hand is making with your heart.
From here,
We're going to start to explore what is present around your heart,
Inside your heart,
Remembering to be gentle and kind with yourself,
Releasing aggression,
Forcefulness,
Trying to accomplish something and simply approaching your own heart with a sense of curiosity and open-mindedness.
We're going to start by simply exploring the physical sensations that come forth into your awareness as you focus your attention on this part of your body.
Just checking in to see,
Does this part of your body feel tight,
Contracted,
Hard,
Numb,
Warm,
Cold,
Soft,
Tender,
Heavy,
Light?
And just silently naming the sensations to yourself or out loud if you wish.
Knowing that there is no need to fix what you are becoming aware of,
Simply bringing unconditional acceptance to your experience,
Saying yes to the tension,
To the coldness,
To the warmth and learning to stay present.
And if your mind starts to go into stories,
To the past or the future,
It starts to wander off,
Just gently invite your mind to come back to yourself,
To the present moment.
And also remembering that if something becomes overwhelming for you,
You can always stop the meditation,
You can open your eyes,
Shift your posture and if you choose to,
You can come back to it at a later time.
Now we're going to move into a layer of the emotions.
So as you are moving through the physical layer,
We invite you to start exploring the emotional content of your heart.
Can you sense what emotions are currently present?
Is there a sense of sadness,
Grief,
Joy,
Excitement,
Fear?
If it's difficult to name the exact emotion,
Then think of your heart as having a weather report.
So if you were to ask yourself the following question,
What would the weather report show?
Just listen for the response coming from your heart.
If no response comes,
Then you can also notice what is the color that is linked with your current emotional state.
Is it yellow,
Red,
Brown?
I'm just kind of finding these little clues that point you in the direction of your emotional state.
Let's see if we can simply accept the emotions,
The feelings.
Not judging them as bad or good,
Not trying to fix them or change them in any way.
Simply allowing them to be here,
Making space for them.
Also noticing if you can breathe through the emotions of your heart.
You breathe through the sadness,
Breathe through the grief.
And if you can't,
Just becoming aware of that.
There's no need to manipulate the breath.
Sometimes just simply inviting the heart to soften,
To let go of resistance,
To open,
Can create a bit of movement inside.
If that feels helpful,
Feel free to use that,
If not,
Just set that aside.
Now I invite you to move into a deeper layer of your heart.
It's just called the spiritual heart.
It's the part of you that is always here.
It's deeper than your personal heart.
This is what is the quality of your spiritual heart.
You might tap into a feeling of compassion,
Unconditional love,
Understanding.
You might see light.
Or you might feel the presence of the divine as you simply connect with the spiritual heart.
See if you can just allow your personal heart to sink into that spiritual heart,
Allowing it to be held in a deeper space,
Deeper container,
As if they were loving hands holding your heart.
And you could simply surrender into them.
Allowing your personal heart to be healed by greater love.
Greater compassion.
Your wisdom.
And also noticing how are you breathing in this moment.
Are you holding your breath?
Is your breath full and deep?
Is it shallow?
Just inviting your breath to deepen if it's possible.
If not,
Just letting that go.
You might like to continue simply being in this place,
Feel free to continue with the meditation.
If you feel like you are complete for right now,
I invite you to gradually bring your attention back to the present moment,
Feeling your feet,
Your hands,
Maybe allowing your body to stretch,
Remove in a way that feels good to you.
And if your eyes were closed,
I invite you to gradually open your eyes and just reorienting yourself around the space in which you are in.
And the objects in the room,
If you are outside,
Noticing nature.
Just remember that your heart is always here for you.
And sometimes it's just as simple as placing your hand on your heart to be able to reconnect with your own wisdom and your own love.
