Hello,
This is a piece on heartache.
Heartaches can be deeply isolating no matter how many friends we have and how much we try to count our blessings.
But we are not alone,
Each one of us is on our own journey.
It can sometimes be fraught with shattered dreams and losing battles.
No matter how pretty a picture we paint to the world,
There are days when the feet of pulling the blanket off of our faces and getting out of bed is a testament of our grit and resilience.
We hang on to unrequited emotions for fear of losing our sense of identity.
We cling to the security of an arbitrary reference point,
The yearning of a resolution.
We are afraid of being forgotten,
Archived,
Our existence buried.
It is easy to focus on others validation of ourselves and hard to sit with hopelessness,
Paradox and ambiguity.
But what if we take a pause,
Look around into the eyes of the people who truly love us unconditionally?
Will we even contemplate the possibilities of non-existence?
What if we sit for a while without moving left or right or tend to the pieces within us with cool loneliness?
Will we be able to bask in the solace of not knowing?
Let's sit for a little while.
Take a moment to settle into wherever you are.
Just feel the contact of the chair or the ground that you are sitting on.
Feel how it is supporting you.
Take a moment to just sense into how much weight you are able to yield into this surface.
And when you are ready,
Just allow the spine,
Which is a soft midline,
The base of support to grow slightly taller.
So you can feel the space around you is extending towards the sky above you.
Sense into your breath now.
Just feel the difference between your inhalation and your exhalation,
Which is longer.
Then as you begin to notice the unfolding of each breath,
Just observe its changing quality without actually trying to control how you are breathing and just watching how the consciousness begins to unravel through your breath.
Just allow the gaze from behind your eyes,
If your eyes are closed or open,
Just allow your gaze to soften as if you are coolly watching the horizon.
Allow your tongue to soften into the soft palate.
Let the jaw unhinge.
Now feel your breath again.
Notice anything shifted.
Sense into the space on your sternum,
The centre of the heart space.
Feel the rising and falling of your breath emanating from this centre into the rest of your being,
Maybe even beneath your skin,
Beyond your skin,
Outwards.
Feel how it always comes back to the centre,
A returning home to the seed of the heart.
And then bring your palms together in front of this heart centre of yours.
Feel the space between your palms,
Feel the warmth between your palms,
Feel the pulsation between your palms.
And begin to just gently wrap your palms together,
Allow the temperature between your palms to rise a little bit more.
And then gently cup your palms over your eyes and take a breath and soak in this warmth.
Exhale out gently through your mouth.
Flink open your eyes and release your hands and look at this world with fresh eyes.
Thank you for this practice.
Namaste.
