Welcome.
I'm Kate.
In this short meditation,
We will be exploring the beautiful and deep tributaries of the physical and metaphysical heart.
So I invite you to find a comfortable seat and gently close your eyes.
Begin to soften into this moment,
Allowing the body to melt just a little.
As you exhale,
Soften,
Let go,
Relaxing now and letting go.
The universe moves in incredibly beautiful ways,
Mysterious and enigmatic ways,
In ways that make you stretch your understanding,
Make you hunker down in the deep ravines of the heart.
It moves in ways that might oscillate your faith like a subtle quake,
Asking you to go ahead and stand completely still on the shaking ground and trust that all is truly well.
The universe is always on the move.
It is always afoot.
And either we lean into it,
Press ourselves cheek to cheek with it,
Slow dance it around the floor of life,
Or we wait for a better song.
The better song is now.
The better song is right here,
Right now.
Draw your awareness to your breath.
Begin to deepen the breath,
Deepening the breath with each inhale and each exhale.
As you inhale,
Feel the gentle sway of the body,
The ever so subtle shift in the belly,
The movement of the ribs and the gentle movement on the exhale,
Surrendering,
Falling,
Letting go.
As you breathe,
Feel the dance of the universe in the breath,
The sway of the inhale,
The flow,
The surrender of the exhale,
The letting go,
The slow dance of the breath in the body,
Breathing exquisitely deep.
Place your hands over your heart center.
Can you feel the song of the heart?
Can you feel the steady pulse of life singing within you?
Just listen,
Listening to the heart.
With your hands over your heart,
Imagine your physical heart as an emerald green sphere,
A beautiful vibrational sphere of light and luminosity.
Listening for the song of the heart,
The rhythm of the heart.
Begin to have a felt sense of the heart.
Notice the front of the heart,
The back of the heart,
The sides of the heart,
The top and bottom of the heart.
Imagining this beautiful emerald green sphere and noticing how the heart sits within your body.
Notice the protection offered by the ribcage,
How it sits behind the sternum.
Noticing how it is held deeply in the center of your being.
This heart will beat over 2 billion times in your lifetime.
This beautiful heart nourishing,
Supplying,
Offering life to every cell and fiber of your being through a vast network of tributaries,
Flowing like rivers in constant supply,
In constant flow.
Feel the river of life within you with all of its many tributaries.
Be present now to the sensation of flow and aliveness that arises from the root of your heart.
Breathing deeply,
Take your awareness now to your spiritual heart,
What the yogis and mystics called Sridhaya,
The secret cave.
Draw your awareness to the center of the heart.
Notice any sensations,
Feelings or emotions that might be arising.
Just noticing.
See the heart now as a beautiful lotus flower,
Hridayapadma,
A heart lotus.
As you breathe deeply,
Visualize Hridayapadma,
The heart lotus at the center of your being,
Opening fully now.
Opening Hridayapadma,
The heart lotus at the center of your being,
Fully opening now.
And allow yourself to be with your spiritual heart,
Fully open,
Breathing into the center of Hridayapadma.
Be here in the essential nature of your being,
The ineffable dimension of your being,
Fully present,
Fully present.
The Sufi poet Rumi has said,
In the middle of my heart,
A star appeared and the seven heavens were lost in its brilliance.
Allow yourself to be lost in the brilliance of your heart.
Fully open the lotus of the heart Hridayapadma,
Fully open.
Cultivate deep gratitude now,
A deep appreciation for the heart,
For its unabashed generosity has cradled the heart in your mind.
In this state of gratitude and appreciation,
Allow feelings of love and connection to flow through your heart to your hands.
Love and connection.
Slow dance around the dance floor of life,
Allowing the tenderness of this feeling,
This love and appreciation to expand in ever increasing waves outward.
Seek any part of yourself that would benefit from this love,
This appreciation,
This unconditional acceptance and allow the dance of the heart to saturate and permeate every aspect of your being.
Fully present with a fully open heart.
Continue sitting quietly a few minutes more,
Absorbing the nectar of your practice.
May this practice serve you in beautiful and wonderful ways.
And as it serves you,
It serves so many others.
I am so grateful for your practice.
Until next time,
Aum and blessings.
