Cultivating an Open Heart

In this meditation you are invited to connect with your heart as a way to create presence and openness. And, ultimately to connect with yourself and all beings.

Transcript

The following is a meditation on cultivating an open heart.

So if you would like to find a location in which you are comfortable and free of external distractions,

We will begin this meditation with the sound of three bells,

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

Beginning this meditation by coming into your body and noticing your posture.

If you are sitting,

Bringing awareness to the fact that you are sitting in an upright,

Alert,

And relaxed way.

If you are lying down,

Noticing that you are lying down,

Comfortable,

Relaxed,

And awake.

Whatever your meditative posture is,

Bringing awareness to your whole body and using the next few moments of silence to experience all of the sensations that can be known in your body in this moment.

Breathing in and breathing out and bringing awareness to the top of the head all the way to the bottoms of your feet.

Bringing awareness to the whole body provides you with a sense of groundedness,

A sense of presence.

Continuing this whole body awareness throughout this meditation allows you to be more attuned to your experience.

As you practice bringing this whole body awareness throughout your day,

It allows you to be more attuned to the life that you are leading.

Continuing to rest in this whole body awareness,

Now turn your attention to your heart.

Breathing in and breathing out,

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

Sensing the rise and the fall of the chest and the beating of the heart itself.

If you would like,

It might be helpful to place one hand or even both of your hands on your heart.

Connecting physically with your body and your own heart can be quite powerful,

Tuning you in to your 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.

A sense of longing,

Perhaps sadness or joy,

Regret,

Grief or even excitement.

All of these feelings that are associated with the heart.

Whatever is arising,

See if you can just let it be.

Not judging it,

Not needing to change it in any way.

Just continuing to connect with your heart and allow feelings to arise,

To be present,

To be known and to pass away.

Now take a few moments in the silence,

Connecting with your heart and allowing it to be just as it is.

And as you continue connecting with your heart just as it is,

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

Perhaps there's a softness or an openness or perhaps you notice that your heart feels closed or cool,

Off limits in some way.

Whatever the state of your heart is,

Try not to judge,

But instead offer your presence,

Offer your awareness and connection to your own heart.

And now bringing to mind someone in your life that has been good to you,

That has had your best interest at heart,

A benefactor of sorts,

That has loved and supported you.

Perhaps this has been a family member or a teacher or someone in the neighborhood in which you grew up.

Or if there's no person that comes to mind,

Perhaps there's been an animal,

A pet such as a dog or a cat.

Or even an important spiritual being.

Or if not a being,

Maybe a place,

A place in nature.

Somewhere that you felt relaxed and at peace.

Bringing this being or place to mind,

See if you can open your heart,

Continuing to breathe in and breathe out,

Visualizing and sensing your heart softening,

Opening.

And take a few moments of silence here to notice the experience of resting in this open-hearted awareness.

Now holding this being in your mind's eye as you breathe in and open your heart,

Breathe out and wish them peace,

Safety,

And to be free of suffering.

So breathing in and opening your heart and breathing out and wishing this person peace,

Safety,

And to be free of suffering.

Now allowing this being to fade into the backdrop of awareness,

See if you can bring an image of your own self to mind.

Maybe this is an image of you now or at a younger age.

With your hands on your heart and holding this image of yourself in your mind,

Breathe in and open your heart and breathe out connecting with yourself,

Wishing yourself peace,

Safety,

And to be free of suffering.

And in the space of silence,

Continue to practice this breathing in and opening your heart,

Breathing out and wishing yourself peace,

Safety,

And to be free of suffering.

Now allowing the image of yourself to fade into the backdrop of awareness,

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

This includes all humans,

All four-legged animals,

Insects,

Fish,

Birds,

Every living creature.

And really opening your heart wide and holding some image that reflects all beings,

Bringing awareness to your heart,

Opening up,

Breathing in and breathing out,

Wishing all living beings,

May we all be peaceful,

May we all be safe,

And may we all be free of suffering.

Opening the heart as wide as possible.

May we all be peaceful.

May we all be safe.

And may we all be free of suffering.

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

Wherever you are,

You begin by pausing and bringing awareness to your heart.

Breathing in,

You relax,

Soften and open your heart.

And breathing out,

You wish yourself and or others peace,

Safety,

And freedom from suffering.

As you practice opening your heart,

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

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.

Breathing,

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.

You can cultivate an open-hearted presence by connecting with your own heart.

And this way connects you to the life that you are already living.

Reviews

Beautiful..thanks❤️🙏

A differnt kind of loving kindness meditation. If you want to open your heart and try not to be fearful of being hurt...perhaps this meditation will help approach that subject and create sn opening to heal that sweet heart.

Thank you for bringing the opportunity to heal my heart.

Wonderful sensations! Thank you!

Enlightenment. Offers a new perspective. Thank you . 💖🙏🏻

Very nice and soothing. Namaste.💝🙏

What a wonderfull meditation. I will try to take this througg the rest of my day and past. Thank you so muc. Namaste

Thank you for the heart focus of this meditation. It was very refreshing.

Felt very peaceful

So beautiful!! My heart was wide open!!

Used within a group of care and support senior staff. Just fabulous. Thank you x

Lovely way to start the day🙏🏻❤️

The best awareness and spirit for beginning my day.

Excellent. Thank you!

So helpful. Namaste.

Beautiful. Namaste

Sound quality not great but message was very clear and helpful to me. Short, to the point and just what I was looking for.