Guided Visualizations
HEALING YOUR HEART
Begin by taking three deep breaths in and holding each for five seconds and then exhaling: breath in, hold it, and breath out; breath in, hold it, and breath out; and one more deep breath in, hold it and release. Relax every part of your body starting with your feet, working your way up to your head, notice if your shoulders are arched or tense, and relax them. Put aside the cares of the day.
Now from this settled place, connect with your heart. Try to be your heart rather than your mind. Set aside the mental-mind side of you for the moment and imagine you inhabit your heart. From inside your heart, ask your heart to show you what you may be holding on to that is causing you a heavy heart, creating a burden that needs to be released. Allow yourself to become as aware as possible of any and all physical and emotional sensations that you experience when you ask your heart to show you what you may be holding on to that you need to unburden yourself of. Do not judge yourself. Do not reject what your heart tells you that you need to release on the grounds that you can’t do it. For now, simply receive what is coming to you from your heart. The “how to” is a separate step. In this moment focus on listening to the heart and being fully aware of what needs clearing.
Having identified what needs clearing from your heart, send your heart love and tenderness, focussing on releasing and healing that which weighs on your heart. Surround your heart with warmth, kindness, and a soothing glow of light. Visualize yourself as light hearted from letting go of your heart’s burden.
Bring your meditation to a close by thanking your heart for what it shared with you during this meditation and begin to ease yourself back from the meditation. When you are ready, open your eyes.
After the Meditation: Steps for Follow-Up
To reinforce this meditation you can put together a collage of images, cut out from magazines or that you drawn, that communicates to you what your new state of light heartedness enables you to be and do – how you are different as a result of a healed heart and how your life will be different. Place your collage somewhere that you can see daily as a reminder of your new state and allow yourself to be uplifted by it each time you see it.