To truly align with our purpose we must have emotional and mental clarity. We live in a culture with a strong focus on the head and intellect. Heart coherence, otherwise known as heart rate variability (HRV) is the communication and synching up between the heart, brain, and nervous system. Did you know your heart contains 40,000 neurons? Your heart sends more messages to the brain than vice versa. The electromagnetic field of the heart has been measured to extend 100x farther than the brain’s. This is why in Chinese Medicine it’s called the “heart-mind.”
This meditation can be done seated or standing.
- Inhale through the nose tensing all the muscles in your body.
- Hold your breath feeling the tension rise, then exhale with a double breath out the mouth (i.e. ha – haaaa). Repeat this three times.
- Now place your full attention and focus on your heart.
- Notice a shift in your energy and nervous system by placing your full attention on your heart.
- Imagine breathing from the heart as you inhale through the nose for five slow counts – hold – then exhale for five slow counts. Feel the heart expand and release with each breath.
- Repeat three to five times.
- Keeping your attention on your heart, conjure up a feeling of gratitude and appreciation. You can imagine a person, pet, setting, sunset, or time when you deeply felt these emotions.
- Once you have the feeling sustained in the heart, let go of the visualization and stay with that feeling as you continue to take slow deep breaths.
- If you lose focus, drop back to the visual.
- Feel the change in your body as you move into a state of clarity, harmony, and coherence.
- Hold this visualization for two to three minutes.
- To close the meditation, place your hands on your heart thanking your heart for its higher intelligence and wisdom.
The Heart Align Meditation calms the mind and helps to access emotions such as gratitude, appreciation, compassion, and joy. The more we can bring the light these emotions carry into our lives, the more the darkness begins to fade.
*Inspired by “The Hidden Power of the 5 Hearts“, by Kimberly Snyder. (I highly recommend this book).