Meditating On the Heart Chakra

Created over 5000 thousand years ago, the Indian science of Ayurveda describes seven main energy centers in the body known as chakras. Each chakra corresponds to different parts of the body, as well as different emotional experiences. It is believed that emotional trauma and grief disrupts the flow of energy within the chakras, causing distressing mental and emotional patterns, and even contributing to physical disease. By practicing a simple meditation of focusing on the heart, you can learn to heal emotional wounds, and bring greater balance back into your life.

How Meditating On the Spiritual Heart Creates Healing

A fundamental aspect of Ayurveda is the belief that a subtle spiritual energy pervades all of life. By cultivating greater spiritual awareness, we can harness this energy and create healing in the body. The heart chakra exists in the center of your chest, and is the greatest source of healing energy within your body. In order to allow the love from within your heart to bring greater healing into your life, you need to practice keeping your attention on this energy center. One of the laws of subtle energy (often called the law of attraction) is that whatever you focus your attention on will grow in your experience. So when you spend a great amount of time thinking, you will notice more thoughts always arising, and you may find yourself feeling confused, distracted, or overwhelmed. On the other hand, when you consciously disrupt your thought process, and bring your attention to your heart chakra, this subtle energetic field will also increase in your experience. As you do this practice you may also notice your thoughts diminishing, as less energy if focused on the mind. As the energy of love from the heart chakra fills your body, it naturally harmonizes and heals emotional wounds and energetic blockages.

Beginning the Meditation On the Spiritual Heart

Find a quiet place to sit where you will not be disturbed, and allow your body to relax with every exhalation. You can either sit in a chair or on the floor, being sure to choose a position that is comfortable and does not require any strain to maintain. Close your eyes and bring your attention to your breath. Continue focusing on your breath, allowing your body to relax and become still. Once you have relaxed, bring your attention to your hands or feet, feeling for any subtle vibration or tingling sensation. Keep your attention here, allowing the vibration to grow in your awareness. Allow your awareness of this energy to spread to other parts of your body, slowly shifting your attention to the center of your chest, feeling for any warmth or vibration in the area of your heart. As you bring your attention to this part of your body, you can also focus on your breath to keep your attention fixated here. If your mind starts to wander, bring your attention back to your breath. Stay in this meditative state for as long as feels comfortable. Initially it will take practice to keep bringing your attention back to your heart. What is important in this meditation is to keep interrupting your thought process and returning focus to your heart. By disrupting the habit of compulsive thinking, you can begin creating a new pattern of allowing more loving energy into your life simply by focusing your attention on your heart.

Challenges Of Meditating On the Spiritual Heart

One challenge that many people experience during this meditation is either not feeling any energy in their heart, or feeling emotions other than love, such as sadness or anger. This is very common, and it is important that you bring acceptance to whatever you experience during this meditation. Many people continue to hold onto repressed emotional pain from their past, and as you begin meditating on the heart, you may notice unresolved emotions coming to surface. Allow yourself to release any emotional energy that comes up, either by crying, or through deep breathing and relaxing (even if it disrupts your meditation). In order to connect to your heart, you have to first clear away old emotional energy.

Techniques and Tips For Meditating On the Spiritual Heart

You can do this meditation as often as you like. The more you practice moving your attention away from your thoughts and down into your heart, the greater the benefits will be. Experiment by keeping a portion of your attention on your heart while you go about your daily activities, such as while interacting with others, working, proofread my paper or homework, exercising, preparing food, or driving (always making sure to stay alert and present). If you have a hard time focusing on the heart, bring your attention to your breath, feeling the flow of air in and out of your lungs. It may help to take slightly deeper and slower breaths.

The more you practice meditating on the heart chakra, the more you will begin to notice subtle shifts in your experience, perhaps feeling more love or inner peace, and even greater health in your body. It may take some time to cultivate your focus, but the results are well worth the effort, and can be life changing.