How To Open Your Heart

In this guided meditation, an accessible way to connect with the heart and open it is explained, in the sense of starting to feel the heart and open to its basic warmth. Use the breath to breathe into the heart, arouse that energy, and stay connected to it. This is the basis for many other potential heart practices, like feeling and connecting to specific emotions that are felt in the heart, like compassion and gratitude.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation. In this guided meditation we will be practicing with connecting to and opening the heart. It is the idea to keep this kind of meditation as a basis in a very simple way. Just to be able to make that base connection to the heart. But it is important or it's difficult really to put it properly into words how beneficial this can be. Learning to feel the heart, You can really feel first of all a very basic feeling of warmth in the heart or arouse it if it's not there. For many of us we might have been really kind of cut off of that feeling so we need to reconnect in a way. And once we are able to connect to it. We can from there also start to connect to a larger variety of different emotions that we can also. . . In a similar way feeling their heart, But they might feel different too. And for many of us that very basic feeling of warmth to connect to that, Just to connect to how the heart feels, Is already a very big step. So we can also be gentle with ourselves when we notice that it is not easy or it takes time. That is really absolutely fine. Whatever effort we make in that direction is helpful and supportive and we take it at our own pace. So we can start by taking a moment to check in with the body as a whole. How does the body feel right now? Does the body feel heavy or light? How is the energy in the body? Is the body energetic? Then in the same way we check in with the heart. How does the heart feel right now? You can check in with the heart, Where it is, In the chest. How does it feel right now? And in case you might not view anything there, That's also completely okay. But for some of us we might be able to connect to a degree of warmth in the heart. And if it's difficult to connect to that or feel anything in the heart. What we can do is we can gently breathe into the heart. So we breathe in and when we breathe out, We aim that breath at the heart. And when we do that, We might feel that it can bring some energy into the heart region. And sometimes you can really bring that warmth right away. But maybe a degree of it. Whatever happens, Just keep breathing into the heart. Of course if we are able to feel the warmth then we can direct our mind towards feeling that warmth itself. We don't have to keep breathing into the heart if we feel the heart already. How does the heart feel right now? And if you don't feel much in the heart, Just take your time and patiently keep breathing out into the heart. But if you do feel warmth in your heart and openness, Keep staying with that. And if the heart is warm and open we can connect to further things that can open the heart. I think of people or animals that we care about. Especially when it's a quite a pure kind of caring so If we know there's many other emotions come up it's maybe not helpful but. . . Just a very simple, Basic way of caring for certain kinds of animals or people that we know. Can further use that to connect to a feeling of warmth and openness in the heart. And also you can experiment with focusing more on the heart or on that feeling or. . . Just holding it in a more gentle way, So being aware of the body and feeling the heart within that context, Not being too focused. But the main thing that we try to do is connect to and deeply feel that warmth from the heart. And again, If we struggle with that or we don't feel anything, We just patiently keep breathing into the heart. For some of us that might be quite a process to connect to the heart and that's really fine. There's no rush. There's no right or wrong. We are all in our own process. Now we are slowly coming to the end of this guided meditation. And I want to encourage you. Dead. This is something you can really do in your day-to-day life. Whenever you remember to take a moment and check in with the heart. Connect to the heart, Connect to a sense of warmth in the heart. And we can learn to stay better connected to our heart in this way. But of course, You're also very welcome to come back to this guided meditation to help you remember and help you practice. And in that way, This guided meditation can connect you to your own practice in your daily life. But you're always free to come back here. So with that, We come to the end of this guided meditation. Keep practicing and I wish you all the best.