Heartwarming Practice
“A heart meditation is a time to dwell with everything that is in your heart. We all need a way to enter the world of feeling and warm ourselves at the inner fire. This is a good practice to do toward the end of the day. Be in a cozy place. Light a candle, or settle yourself in front of a fire in your hearth. You can be sitting up or lying down.
This meditation is about cultivating the sense of warmth and light in your heart, thus healing the cold and frozen places. You can do this practice a hundred times and every time have a different experience.
Begin by thinking of someone or something you love without reservation. Notice the sensations in your heart as you remember your love. You may feel lightness, expansion, aching, or melting. You may feel joy or sorrow. Breathe with those feelings. Allow yourself to be with whatever is there.
When we love someone or something, we want to pay attention and we delight in paying attention. Attention, in essence, is love. Let your love teach you how to pay attention to the flow of life within you.
Now bring your hands to your heart. Rest your palms on your chest. You will feel a place that wants contact. As you breathe, you may notice a rising and falling motion under your hands, the soft flow of breath. Let your fingers and palms ride those gentle waves.
Feel the warm contact of your hands against your chest. Imagine that warmth penetrating deep into your heart. You may feel your heartbeat.
The heart is designed to love, to express, to give and receive. Notice your longing to be in the presence of what you love. Let your heart be warmed by your love. Let the warmth melt any cold or frozen places, any part of you that is aching, afraid, grief-stricken, lonely, disappointed, or bitter. Let the flame of your love warm you from the inside.
Make a humming sound, such as “mmmm,” “home,” “huuum,” or “ohhhhmmm.” Keep saying it over and over, feeling how the sound vibrates your chest. In a causal, exploratory way, send the “hum” into your heart. Continue making the “hum,” letting the sound become quieter, just a whisper. Gradually let it become an internal sound you are thinking or remembering. Then let the “hum” fade away, knowing you can return to it at any time.
Once again notice the contact of your hands on your heart. Slowly open your arms outward, as you would to embrace someone. Take a few breaths in this open-arm position, and then slowly, very gently, bring your hands back to your chest. You are returning to your heart, bringing that embrace into your own heart essence.
Repeat this movement several times with great leisure, as if you want to make the motion last as long as possible. This movement is an expression of the give and take of your love.
Sometimes we ache because we are not receiving enough love, and sometimes we ache because we are not giving enough love. This simple motion of in and out from the heart—opening to give and drawing in to receive—is a yoga of the heart, a way of expressing balance in giving and receiving.
Bring your hands back to your heart and pause. Simply breathe and savor the sensations. When you’re ready, take another few breaths, open your eyes, and gently make the transition into your outer life.”
Intention: I am awake to love. I am ready to give and receive. I am in the flow of love.
Source: Meditation 24/7, Practices to enlighten every moment of the day by Camille Maurine and Lorin Roche, PhD.
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