Welcome to Part 2,
Unbreak My Heart,
In the four-part meditation and breathwork series for heartbreak,
Healing,
Loss,
And grief,
In the daily practice section of the Self-Study Portal.
In the first meditation,
We discovered the physiology of love,
Developing a keen understanding of love's impact on the body and mind,
And more specifically,
What happens to our brains,
Bodies,
And nervous systems when we experience heartbreak,
Grief,
And loss in love.
In this meditation,
We will not erase the pain.
Instead,
We will mend the pieces,
Holding them with compassion,
Softening into resilience,
And remembering that your heart is not broken beyond repair.
It is alive.
It is strong.
It is whole.
Heartbreak is not just an emotional experience.
It's a neurological and physiological one.
Studies show that the brain processes heartbreak in the same region that registers physical pain,
The anterior cingulate cortex.
This is why heartbreak can feel like a weight in the chest,
A knot in the stomach,
Or a general sense of exhaustion.
MRI studies by Dr.
Ethan Cross at the University of Michigan have shown that the social rejection triggers end the same neural pathways as a physical injury,
Explaining why emotional wounds can feel so visceral.
This is also why we use words that associate heartbreak with violent and graphic words such as shattered,
Broken,
Ripped apart,
Torn into,
Crushed,
Cut deep,
Gutted,
Heart ripped out,
Wounded,
Devastated,
Destroyed.
Heartbreak is not only emotional.
It's deeply psychological.
The brain registers heartbreak in the same region that processes physical pain.
That's why the breakup,
The friendship ending,
The loss of a loved one,
It can feel like actual pain.
That's why it's called heart break.
That same research shows that social rejection lights up that same brain pain circuitry.
So the stress hormones like cortisol surge impacting your sleep,
Your digestion,
Your immunity,
The body is actually responding as if it is wounded.
And so just as all wounds in the body heal,
So too can the heart and the nervous system.
If offered tenderness and patience and care.
I'm finding your comfortable meditation posture now.
Lying down supported by pillows or seated with a spine tall but relaxed.
And closing your eyes down if you haven't already done so.
Bring awareness to your breath.
Notice where your body is making contact with the ground or the chair beneath you.
And allow yourself to be held and supported.
Take a slow inhale through the nose.
And let it sigh out through the mouth.
Do this two more times as though each exhale is melting the heaviness from your body.
Exhale to release.
Last one.
Make it big.
Inhale.
Exhale and melt the heaviness from your body.
Before we move into the imagery in this practice,
We'll spend some time with a breath pattern designed to soften the body.
Begin to gently regulate your nervous system.
Begin by noticing your natural breath.
No need to change it here.
Just observing.
Seeing if it feels tight in some spaces and fluid in others.
Feeling how it wraps around your ribcage.
Feeling how it lands in your chest.
Maybe even feeling it on the backside of your body.
Just feel.
And shifting now into a 4-4-8 breath.
We will inhale slowly through the nose for four counts.
So it's one.
Two.
Three.
Four.
And hold the inhale for a gentle four counts.
Not straining.
Just pausing.
And then exhale softly through the mouth for eight counts as though you're fogging a window.
This extended exhale is key.
It activates the parasympathetic nervous system signaling the body that it is safe to soften,
Safe to rest,
And safe to release.
And so let's take a few rounds together here.
Inhale for four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Hold.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Exhale.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Inhale.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Hold.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Exhale.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Inhale.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Hold.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Exhale.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Inhale.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Hold.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Exhale.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Release.
Feel the body settle.
With every long exhale here,
Sense tension dissolving.
With every inhale,
Imagine new life force entering your body.
Let your exhale be fluid as if releasing sorrow through your breath.
Every time you exhale,
Imagine tension leaving your body like smoke drifting into the air.
And with each inhale,
Imagine drawing in peace,
Warmth,
And healing.
Bringing your attention to your heart space now.
Place one or both hands over your chest.
Feel the rise and fall of your breath beneath your palms.
And now visualize your heart as a great ancient tree.
Perhaps it has been struck by lightning or scarred by storms.
See the cracks and the wounds on the bark.
Yet notice how it still stands.
Its roots run deep.
Its branches reach upward.
Life still pulses through it.
Breathing here.
Recognizing your own resilience.
Whisper softly to yourself.
My heart is wounded,
But it still beats.
My heart is strong.
My heart is whole.
See golden light pouring into its fractures.
Mending them with the gentle touch of time.
Picture every tear you have shed as a cleansing river.
Washing away sorrow.
Carving a new path for love to flow.
Feel the warmth of your own hands cradling your chest.
Offering solace like a mother to her child.
Imagine standing at the edge of an ocean.
Imagine being in the middle of the ocean.
Waves carrying away the remnants of past pain.
Leaving behind only smooth polished sand.
Step into the water.
Feeling its gentle embrace.
The rhythm of the waves reminding you of your own resilience.
Your ability to rise and fall and rise again.
Watch the sun setting on the horizon knowing that as one day ends,
Another is already beginning.
Your heart too is in transition.
Moving towards healing,
Towards light.
Imagining now a warm golden light beginning to pour into the fractures of your heart.
Not forcing or rushing.
Just a gentle radiance seeping into the cracks like sunlight after a storm.
See this light filling the broken places.
Mending them with patience.
Feel warmth spreading across your chest,
Softening any tightness.
With each inhale draw that golden light deeper in.
With each exhale release pain that no longer needs to be carried.
Now picture all the tears that you have shed.
Whether physical or silent.
As a river flowing gently at your feet.
This river does not drown you.
This river instead cleanses.
It washes away sorrow like water carving smooth stones over time.
Let yourself imagine placing your pain into this river and watching it float downstream.
Notice how even as you release,
Love remains.
The river does not take your capacity to love.
It simply carries away the heaviness.
Whisper,
I release with tenderness.
I release with love.
That river now it turns into the ocean.
And you're standing here at the edge of that ocean.
Waves rise and fall before you.
Steady,
Unrelenting,
Eternal.
Step into the water.
Feel its coolness wrapping around your feet.
Your legs.
Your whole body.
With each wave imagine fragments of heartbreak being carried out to the sea.
With each retreating tide you feel lighter,
Freer,
Renewed.
Notice the rhythm of the waves matching your breath.
Rising and falling.
Releasing.
Returning.
And now watch the sun on the horizon.
It begins to set.
Painting the sky in hues of gold and rose.
As one day ends,
Another begins.
This is your heart.
Shifting.
Healing.
Moving toward.
And if your hands have dropped,
Bring them once more to your heart.
Feel its steady beat.
Alive beneath your palms.
Whisper softly.
My heart is strong.
My heart is whole.
My heart is love.
Take a deep inhale.
Rest here in stillness for as long as you need.
Allowing the music to hold you.
The breath to soften you.
And love to mend you.
