Welcome.
My name is Laura Garrison-Brooke,
And I'm glad that you're here.
In this meditation,
We will focus on healing and opening the heart.
As we live in the world,
We can accumulate emotional bumps and bruises.
If we aren't deliberate about integrating and then letting go of these experiences,
This pain can become stuck within us.
This might result in us shutting down our hearts.
What might this look like?
Less joy,
Or maybe a resistance to being vulnerable,
Or having a hard time receiving from others,
Or feeling challenged by getting in touch with your deep emotions,
Whether they're painful or positive.
The central foundation of this meditation I learned from fellow Insight Timer teacher,
Carrie Sue Wall,
In her course Awakening Your Third Eye Chakra.
Let's start by sitting comfortably with both feet flat on the floor,
Without shoulder widths apart.
If it's more comfortable,
Feel free to lie down.
Rest your hands on top of your legs or at your sides.
Close your eyes or leave them softly open,
Faces relaxed with maybe a small smile on your lips.
Begin to focus on your breathing.
Let the belly expand as you breathe in and softly draw the belly back as you breathe out.
Play with the speed of your breath until you find a comfortable,
Soothing rhythm.
Let's get grounded.
Focus on your body,
Sensing the weight of your body resting on the chair and the floor underneath you.
Let yourself feel held and supported by the chair.
If you notice that your mind has gone elsewhere,
That's okay.
Just notice and gently guide it back to the awareness of your body.
Breath by breath,
Allow yourself to be right here in the moment,
Connected to this body.
Let's spend a few moments with our universe of abundance breath.
Inhaling,
See a pulse of energy flowing up and out of the top of the head,
A shining cord of light reaching up into the heavens.
Exhaling,
The energy flows down from the sky,
Entering the top of the head,
Filling up the body with light.
Everything in life is energy.
Will this energy fill you?
As you inhale,
Think I connect to the universe.
As you exhale,
Think I receive abundance from the universe.
As you inhale,
You think I connect and the light shines up out of the top of the head.
Beautiful radiant light,
As if you are reaching up with your energy,
Reaching out to connect to the universe.
As you exhale,
You think I receive and the light shines down onto you,
Bathing you in warmth.
Inhaling,
I connect to the universe,
Shine your light up.
Exhaling,
I receive abundance from the universe,
Light shines down,
Bathing you in abundance,
Bathing you in radiance.
Feel into your body.
Feel how you are present,
Grounded,
And relaxed.
Shift your awareness into your heart space.
Just notice with no expectation or judgment.
How do you feel?
With a soft or silent voice,
Describe how your chest,
Shoulders,
And heart feels physically.
Now shift to describing how you feel emotionally.
Just notice and narrate.
And now sit in silence.
Breathe in and out.
Allow yourself to settle.
I invite you to envision the beauty of this heart space uniquely yours.
Witness its tender,
Worn,
And broken places with eyes of compassion.
Rumi says,
Don't turn away.
Keep your gaze on the bandaged place.
That's where the light enters you.
Don't turn your eyes away.
See your heart.
Embrace your heart.
Love your heart.
Those cracks are where the light enters you.
Even if your heart is tender,
Bruised,
Or broken,
That's just proof that you have lived,
That you have cared.
You've taken risks.
You've fallen down.
You've failed.
You have loved and lost.
All of these things mean that you have lived.
You've put yourself out there.
You have been brave.
And that is something to celebrate.
Now that we're connected to the heart chakra,
Let's welcome our heart opening.
Bring the hands in front of the chest and lightly rub them together.
This simple action helps open the heart space and activates the palms.
Keep going.
Light friction.
Big belly breath in and out.
A few more moments.
And now pause and lightly float the hands apart,
Palms facing each other.
What do you feel?
Gently drawing the hands farther apart and closer in.
See if you can sense the energy coming off of the palms.
It might feel like your hands are being pushed apart magnetically.
Now lightly grip the left hand,
Massaging the left palm with the fingers or thumb of the right hand.
Smooth,
Steady pressure in circles as you focus on opening the left palm.
Keep rubbing.
The left side of the body is our receiving side.
We are readying our left hand to work on healing our heart.
Another breath,
Massaging the left palm.
And now gently settle the left hand over the center of the chest.
Feel the warm and nurturing energy that resides in this left hand,
Melting any tension or blockages.
Know that this hand acts as a catalyst and a portal.
Imagine that the left hand is like a magnet,
Drawing stuck energy out of the heart into the palm.
This energy center in the hand will then neutralize and release what you no longer need.
This is an invitation for you to let down your defenses.
Drop your walls,
Crack open your shell.
Allow your heart to breathe.
Give it space so that it can expand.
And if it's a thought of this,
Your heart trembles or falters.
Know that your defenses will still be here after the meditation,
But for now allow yourself to let go.
Bring more awareness into your left palm.
Feel the gentle attraction that your hand puts out,
How it draws what doesn't serve you into the palm,
Melting away past hurts and wounds.
Your hand is warm on your chest,
Open to receive.
It gives you permission.
Let go.
Relax.
Your heart expands.
In this moment,
Let go of whatever does not serve your highest good.
With tenderness,
Patience and grace,
Your left hand gently untangles your heart energy.
Breath by breath,
Your heart opens and begins to unfurl from its protective cocoon.
Whisper to your heart,
It's okay,
You're safe.
Let go of these hurts.
What's holding you back?
Choose to let that go.
What doesn't serve you any longer?
Choose to set this down.
Let's take a few moments of silence to let go and allow the left hand to purify your heart.
See again into your heart space.
Have things shifted?
Or maybe the walls a little lower?
Or are there now cracks in the shell around your heart?
Whatever you witness,
Rejoice in the fact that you have made a change.
Feel the grateful,
More open and lighter heart that you now have.
Bring the hands together again in front of the chest and rub the palms together,
Cleansing the hands,
Letting go of that stale energy.
And now shift awareness into the right palm.
Just as the left hand is the hand of receiving,
The right one is the hand of giving.
Using the left hand,
Massage the palm of the right,
Circling,
Opening up the palm.
While you do this,
Connect again to the universe of abundance breath.
Inhale,
Shine energy up out of the top of the head into the sky.
This connects you to the universe.
Exhale,
Receive healing energy from the universe down into the top of the head.
Release your massage of the hands.
Take another few breaths,
Just connecting to this flow of energy.
Up on the inhale,
Connect.
Down on the exhale,
Receive.
Place the right hand on the heart.
Envision the energy flowing down the central channel and then into the right arm,
Moving through the palm into the heart space.
Invite this energy to fill your heart space with love.
Know that the universe has unending abundance.
Set down all thoughts of scarcity and feel your heart filling up.
As if your right hand is a wellspring,
Channel this love into your heart.
Inhale,
Shining the light up out of the top of the head into the sky.
Exhale,
Drawing that light down into the top of the head,
Through the arm,
Into the palm,
And into the heart.
Let's do a loving kindness meditation together.
Bring a clear picture of yourself into your mind's eye and say,
May my heart be open.
May my heart be whole.
May I be loving.
May I be loved.
The right hand remains above the heart,
Energy pouring out of the palm into the heart space.
See yourself with your heart space glowing like a flame.
It burns bright and clear.
Next,
Think of someone you'd like to be more connected to.
Bring a picture of them into your mind and say,
May my heart be open to loving you.
May the love that I feel flow easily from my heart to you.
Again,
May my heart be open to loving you.
May the love that I feel flow easily from my heart to you.
See a gorgeous,
Glowing strand of love shine out of your heart into theirs,
Connecting you.
And now let's turn things around.
Keeping the same person in mind,
Say,
May I be open to receiving your love?
May your love flow easily into my heart.
Again,
May I be open to receiving your love?
May your love flow easily into my heart.
See a beautiful stream of loving energy flowing out in the world.
There you are,
Steady and rooted.
Envision your feet planted on the earth with your heart open.
See yourself taking in life,
Riding all of the emotions that course through your heart.
Some of these will lift you up,
And some might weigh you down.
They all have a place and are welcome here.
When we try to push things away or label things as bad,
That is when we close our hearts.
And that is when things get stuck.
Keep your heart open so that you can experience life deeply,
Soaking up joy,
Love,
And laughter.
And allow the other stuff to flow through you.
Try not to resist or hide.
We can't appreciate the sweet without the bitter.
Again,
See yourself out in the world,
Heart open.
Envision all of these sweet strands of energy flowing into your heart,
As if you're plugged into a web,
Sparkling,
Shimmering lines of energy,
Gossamer thin,
Connecting you to unlimited goodness,
Unlimited abundance,
Unlimited opportunity,
Unlimited love,
Unlimited potential.
It's all around you.
It's all around you.
Allow your heart to open and take it in.
See yourself out in the world,
Heart open.
Envision all of those sweet strands of energy flowing from your heart,
These sparkling,
Shimmering lines of energy sending out your unlimited goodness,
Your unlimited generosity,
Your unlimited love,
Your unlimited potential.
You have so much to give the world.
We are so lucky to have you in it.
Send out your beauty.
Send out the gift of you.
And now,
Allow yourself to rest,
Heart open.
Heart healed.
Heart strong and beautiful and free.
And then as you're ready,
In your own time,
Gently coming back to the body,
Please know that this is unlikely to be a one and done kind of meditation.
Even if you're feeling perfectly open and healed now,
Which would be awesome,
As you go back out into the world,
Stuff happens,
Right?
Things that might bring those defenses back up.
And that's normal and natural and okay.
You now have this tool at your disposal.
May you use this meditation as needed.
Or maybe you commit to doing this for a period of time,
Maybe 20 days or until you feel that your heart is full,
Open and healed.
Whatever you choose,
Please know that my spirit is shining loving kindness on you.
May your heart be full.
May your heart be open.
May you be loving.
May you be loved.
Thank you.
