Cultivating An Open Heart

This meditation invites you into your heart space. It begins by grounding you in the body and inviting you to experience the foundation of the meditation posture and the strength of the breathing body. Next, some time is spent connecting with the felt sense at the heart. Breathing in and out, you have the opportunity to open to the sensations in the heart and to any emotions of the heart that may be arising and passing. Once settling into connection with your own heart, the meditation begins to use phrases to connect with a benefactor or a caring loving person, your self and the world at large. Through the use of the phrases, you focus on offering yourself and others care, love, and the wish for the end of suffering. The meditation ends with some time spent sensing the interconnectedness of life, recognizing that we all want the same thing, to be happy and free of suffering.
*picture provided by Nicole Keating

Transcript

The following is a meditation on cultivating an open heart.

Included will be guided instructions as well as periods of silence.

These periods of silence will allow you to connect directly with your own body,

Mind,

And heart.

In these silences,

There can be an intimate touching into your own heart.

And the life that is here,

Internally and externally.

So if you'd like to find a location in which you are comfortable and as free as possible of external distraction,

We'll begin with the sound of three bells.

And we will also end this meditation with the sound of three bells.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

As the bells fade,

We can shift awareness and begin to come into the body.

Taking a moment to notice your posture.

If you're sitting,

Noticing that you're sitting in an upright,

Alert,

And relaxed way.

If you're lying down,

Noticing that you're lying down,

Comfortable,

Relaxed,

And awake.

Whatever your meditative posture is,

Bringing awareness to your entire body,

And using the next few moments of silence to experience all of the sensations that can be experienced in this moment.

Noticing breathing in and breathing out,

And bringing this open awareness from the top of your head all the way down to the bottoms of your feet.

And it's very common for the mind to begin to wander a lot and for you to notice this.

This doesn't have to be a problem.

Just keep coming back to the body.

Keep noticing this lying down or sitting posture,

This breathing in and out,

Just resting in this awareness.

And bringing awareness to the whole body can provide you with a sense of groundedness,

A sense of presence,

Being here.

And it's with the foundation of this groundedness that we can begin to work with the heart.

And continuing this whole body awareness through this meditation and throughout your day allows you to be more attuned to your experience and to the actual life that you're leading.

So I invite you now to continue to rest in this whole body awareness and also turn your attention to your heart.

Breathing in and breathing out,

Beginning to make contact with this precious organ of the body.

Noticing the rise and the fall of the chest and perhaps even the beating of the heart itself.

And as you continue to bring your awareness to this heart space,

If you would like,

It might be helpful just to experiment with this.

Take one of your hands and place it on your heart.

Sensing that contact,

Touch,

Relaxing the body,

Making contact.

And if you'd like,

You can even take your other hand and place it on top of the other hand.

Just resting here for a moment,

Continuing to bring your awareness into the heart space.

And you can continue to leave your hand or hands here if that's comfortable and useful.

Or you can just return them to your lap.

Connecting physically with your own heart can be quite powerful.

Tuning you into this emotional self and giving you a feeling of being home.

It's not uncommon as you make contact with your heart to be aware of the arising of various feeling states.

Joy,

Sadness,

Longing,

Regret,

Grief,

Or even excitement.

What's here?

Whatever arises,

If anything,

See if you can just let it be.

Not needing to change it in any way.

Just allowing the feelings to arise.

And as you continue to bring awareness to the heart space,

Notice as they pass away.

Feelings like much of our experience is vaporous.

And when we can rest in this open awareness,

We begin to notice how feelings simply arise and pass.

They change,

Melt into something else.

And when we can stay in this steady awareness,

We can be here,

Touching into these places.

So invite you to rest here for just a minute,

Noticing whatever's here,

Without judgment,

And with a sense of kindness,

If possible.

Softness,

A welcoming to the life that can be known right now in the heart space.

An opening to each emotional experience with a relaxed body,

An open mind,

And a sense of kindness.

We begin to see what's possible.

We begin to get to know our own heart space without having to shut down,

Without the need to protect if a difficult emotion arises,

Without the need to grasp and cling if a pleasant emotional experience arises.

Just resting and letting whatever is here in the heart space be known.

So just taking a few more moments in the silence to be with your own heart,

This precious,

Precious organ that not only beats for us,

Providing life from birth to death,

But also allows us to connect,

To reach out,

To be a part of.

And as you continue this connection with your heart space,

Just as it is,

Without trying to change it,

You may also begin to notice some of the qualities of the heart space.

Perhaps there is a softness or an openness.

Or perhaps you've noticed that your heart feels closed off,

Off limits in some way.

It's really important that whatever the state of your heart is,

To try not to judge it,

But to offer it your presence.

Offer your awareness and connection to your own heart.

See if this is possible.

And now as you've spent some time cultivating this connection to your heart,

This ability to get lost,

Drift away,

Come back,

Practice being with whatever emotions are connected and present,

Becoming aware of the sensations in the heart,

An openness or a protectedness.

Now we're going to do a little heart work,

Beginning with bringing to mind someone in your life that has been good to you.

So just continuing to connect with your heart,

But beginning to let your mind scan your life's history.

Looking for someone that has had your best interest at heart,

That has loved and supported you.

Perhaps this has been a family member,

Or maybe it was a teacher or someone in the neighborhood in which you grew up.

Or if there is no person that comes to mind,

Perhaps it's been an animal,

A pet,

Such as a beloved dog or cat.

Or even an important spiritual being.

And if it hasn't been a being,

Perhaps it's been a place in nature.

But bringing this being or place to mind,

Holding this image,

See if you can open your heart,

Continuing to breathe in and out,

Visualizing,

Sensing your heart softening and opening.

And if it feels natural,

Perhaps allowing a slight smile,

Just the turning up of the corners of the mouth.

And just take another moment or so of silence here to notice the experience of resting in this open-hearted awareness,

Allowing the connection to flow between yourself and this kind,

Caring being.

And now as you breathe in,

Wishing them peace,

May you be peaceful.

Wishing them safety,

May you be safe.

And may you be free of suffering.

Now allowing this being just to move into the backdrop of your awareness.

And the invitation now is to see if you can bring an image of your own self to mind.

Perhaps this is an image of you now,

Or maybe it's an image of you at a younger age.

This isn't always easy for us.

And it's okay if you don't feel a lot,

Or if it's even difficult.

Just see if you can be with it.

See if you can hold this image of yourself,

Preferably with your hand on your heart.

Breathing in,

Relaxing your body and opening your heart.

Breathing out,

Connecting,

Wishing yourself peace.

May I be peaceful.

Wishing yourself well-being.

May I live with well-being.

And wishing yourself happiness.

May I be happy.

And may I be free of suffering.

So just taking a few more moments here.

Repeating the phrases silently to yourself.

May I be safe.

May I be peaceful.

May I live with well-being.

And may I be free of suffering.

And now allowing this image of yourself to move into the backdrop of awareness,

Joining your benefactor or caring being.

And see if you can bring to mind an image of all living beings on this planet.

This is a really,

Really big category that asks our heart to expand as wide as possible.

This includes all human beings,

All four-legged animals,

Domestic,

Farm,

Wild.

All insects,

Fish,

And birds.

Every living being,

Breathing creature.

This is big.

Just relaxing the body,

Opening the heart.

And it may be helpful to see an image of the Earth from space.

The Earth as the big blue marble.

Opening the heart to this Mother Earth.

Or maybe you've traveled and connected with other humans from far away places,

Animals,

Sentient beings.

Or maybe you can just envision life on each of the continents.

Take your time.

Find an image that can work for you for just now.

This image can change frequently.

But just finding an image that's comfortable in this moment.

All living,

Breathing life on this beautiful planet we call home.

And holding this image,

Bringing awareness to your heart.

Breathing in,

Opening your heart.

And breathing out.

And wishing all living beings peace.

Well-being.

And happiness.

May we all be safe.

Just repeating that silently.

May we all be peaceful.

May we all live with well-being.

And may we all be free of suffering.

You can bring this open-hearted awareness to your life at any time.

Beginning by pausing and making contact with your heart.

Breathing in,

Relaxing,

Softening,

Directing awareness to the heart.

Opening.

Breathing out.

And wishing yourself and others peace,

Happiness,

And the end of suffering.

And as you practice opening your heart,

You begin to recognize your connection to all other living beings.

We're not so separate.

Just like you,

Everyone wants to be happy.

No one wants to suffer.

As you begin to open your heart,

You can recognize that we are all in this life together.

Softening.

You can see more clearly the challenges of being human.

And with practice,

You can even begin to forgive yourself and others for mistakes and wrongdoings.

Ultimately,

Cultivating an open-hearted presence by connecting with your own heart connects you to the life that you are already living.

And in this connection to your own heart,

Practicing this self-compassion,

You also become a part of a much larger compassionate force.

A heartfelt presence that is as wide as the world and that can hold each of us in this love and wish for peace on earth.

May there be peace.

May there be peace.

May there be peace.

May there be peace.

May there be peace.

Reviews

I wish I could give this 10 stars. So wonderfully grounding and orienting. Really grateful. 💕

Just what i needed this morning. Thank you 🙏🏼

This is truly beautiful. So much love pouring out of your heart through your soft voice and the images made me open my heart too. This meditation brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much. From my heart to yours. 💖

Very nice, approachable meditation. Great for people new to metta practice, with lots of warnings and introduction to each section. I like how the introduction focuses on experiencing our hearts before beginning the well-wishing component of metta, it’s a good use of time and something I’ll try to integrate into my silent metta practice.

Thanks and metta to the author 🙏❤️

Yes May there be peace. My one regular wish. Namaste 🙏🏼

Really nice.. starting your day with love for the world

Truly enjoyed and prepared me for a wonderful day. Thanks

Very supportive and helpful in encouraging a heart connection. I love that there is no music and also the periods of silence. Thank you 🙏🏽