Valentine’s Day Self-Guided Meditation
For Accessing Your Heart Chakra
Feel free to take a moment to stretch, add in some gentle movement, make any physical adjustments for comfort, or simply stay put if that’s what your body is asking for. Allow for whatever is needed as you settle in for this 10-minute self-guided meditation. The invitation is to read a few sentences, pause, and let the words sink in before proceeding on to the next few sentences.
In the spirit of heart-opening, the intention for this meditation is accessing your heart chakra. It’s okay if you have no idea what that means, I invite you to call in a sense of curiosity or wonder or openness to this experience.
And when you’re ready, simply notice your breath. Notice where you feel your breath on your body. You may notice the cool air entering your nostrils or your stomach gently rising and falling. Just be with this for a moment. If you’d like an extra bit of relaxation, you may want to slow down your breath. Extend your inhale, and extend your exhale. Breathe in - three - two - one, and out - five - four - three - two - one. And in - three - two - one, and out - five - four - three - two - one. By slightly lengthening the exhale, you’re activating the parasympathetic nervous system, known to help us rest and digest. And when you’re ready, allow your breath to return to it’s natural pace, and simply observe it. Take note of any sensations in your body, any areas of tension or discomfort, and send some calming energy to those places. Take note of how your seat feels below you, how your clothes feel against your skin. Bring your attention to your heart space. You may want to explore placing a hand over your heart, offering yourself this gesture of love.
The seven chakras are known as the main energy centers of the body. When there are no blockages and energy can flow freely, we feel like our best selves. When there are blockages, you may notice emotional or spiritual unease.
The heart chakra represents our ability to love and to receive love. It controls feelings of love, joy, and inner peace. With an open heart chakra, it is said that you can achieve true compassion, empathy, unconditional love, and forgiveness - for yourself as well as others. It is the source of deep and profound truths that cannot always be expressed in words.
When the heart chakra holds stuck energy, one may feel unhappy, lonely, insecure, easily hurt, cold-hearted, or unable to give or receive love. Sometimes it is then that we grow distant from others, put up walls, foster resentments, or shut down emotionally. When in this state, one may find it difficult to develop or keep healthy relationships.
Moving air through your body through deep breathing is one way to help clear out stuck energy in this chakra. Take a moment to come home to your breath.
A second way to clear out stagnant energy from the heart chakra is to focus on a mantra. As I offer various mantras, imagine a beautiful flower blooming from your heart space, and imagine the petals opening wider and wider. From this space, notice which of the following statements resonate for you this evening:
Love is my guiding truth, and I follow it.
I am united with all beings.
It is safe for me to love and be loved.
I create loving and supportive relationships.
I choose to see myself and others in a compassionate light.
My heart is filled with joy and gratitude.
I deeply, and completely, love and accept myself.
I am love.
Love is surrounding me.
My heart is open.
I honor the guiding of my heart.
I am worthy and deserving of the purest love.
I forgive myself and others.
I am fully open to giving and receiving love.
I live with gratitude and generosity.
I direct love and light towards myself.
I release and let go of all resentments.
I forgive myself for my mistakes and I grow from them.
There is an infinite supply of love.
I love myself unconditionally.
And now, if it serves you, you are invited to visualize anything that makes your heart expand - a loved one, a special place, or a warm ray of white light emanating from within you. Feel what it feels like to be in that presence. Whatever image comes to mind, send gratitude it’s way. Practicing gratitude is a third way to open your heart chakra.
When our heart center is open, our love is free-flowing. We will feel more connected to the world around us. You will be able to truly connect to yourself, love yourself, and accept yourself. By practicing this meditation, you are already on the path towards inner peace.
To end this meditation, I’d like to share a poem written by Mark Nepo:
My soul tells me
we were all broken from the same nameless heart,
and every living thing wakes with a piece of that original heart
aching its way into blossom.
This is why we know each other below our strangeness,
why when we fall, we lift each other,
or when in pain, we hold each other,
why when sudden with joy, we dance together.
Life is the many pieces of that great heart loving itself back together.
