Guided Heart’s Love Meditation

Gita Matlock leads a 30-minute guided meditation to help you to open your heart to love.
She is a long time meditator and resident of Ananda Village.

[Below is a verbatim transcription of this guided meditation. Take into account the nuanced differences between spoken and written meaningful expression.]

Welcome to the meditation practice today friends, thank you for allowing me to join you in your sadhana.

Meditation Posture and Relaxation

To begin, let's find a comfortable seat. A chair is fine, the floor if you prefer. Wherever you sit, be sure though that you can relax in that position, so that we can move beyond the focus of the body into the focus of our energy in this practice.

Today, we're going to focus on the heart. I have two small kids at home, and the heart is what grounds me every day. So I want to share with you a little of what I've learned.

As we take our seat, first we start by drawing the spine straight upwards, you can tuck your chin just even the slightest amount to feel that upward movement of the spine.

And then draw your shoulder blades gently down the back only slightly, not with tension. But notice that as you draw your shoulder blades down, your heart opens, and in that opening, there is a receptivity.

Throughout this meditation practice, let's set an intention to draw love from the Divine Mother to that open heart. And then to raise that energy, raise that love here to the point between the eyebrows, the seed of the soul, where we can then offer it back in loving gratitude to the divine.

So sit up with that straight spine, draw the shoulder blades down the back, open the heart and begin drawing that love in through the heart and up to the point between the eyebrows.

We'll begin our practice today with an energizing breath. We're going to inhale with a lot of enthusiasm and tense the whole body until it vibrates with energy and then release. Releasing all the tension, all the energy to relax and feel with ease. We'll do that three times together to really get the energy moving into our practice.

(Breathing in and out while tensing and relaxing)

With that last exhale, relax every muscle in the body. Take a moment to scan from your toes to the crown of your head for any tension that may remain and try consciously to release that tension. Now move your gaze, your focus back to the point between the eyebrows, the spiritual eye.

Throughout this practice, go back to that place. Stay there as one-pointedly as you can. No matter what practice we do. The focus on the spiritual eye raises that energy up in offering to the Divine.

Prayer Before Meditation

We'll begin with a prayer. Repeat after me.

Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, friend, beloved God, Jesus Christ, Babaji Krishna, Lahiri Mahasaya Swami Sri Yukteswarji, and beloved master Paramahansa Yogananda, saints of all religions, humbly we bow before you all.

Dearest friend, God,

Be with us in our practice. Fill our hearts with your love.
Help us to share that love with all whom we meet today.
We are your children. Guide us home to thee.

AUM, Shanti, Amen.

Now we'll move into a chant together, you can sing along with me. Or you can silently sit with eyes closed listening. The chant today is about the sound of AUM, and AUM is the Comforter; AUM is the Divine Mother. Imagine that sound of AUM, which is the sound of all creation, filling every cell of your being, as we chant this together.

(Singing "Fill my body, fill my spirit, fill me with the sound of AUM" with repetition)

Continue to feel that chant as we move into our meditation practice.

Open the Heart Chakra Meditation

I have small children and throughout my pregnancy, that chant was my mantra. So much so that when my daughter arrived in the world, every cell of my being filled with that sound of AUM and that chant, without even trying, repeated itself again and again in my mind as she arrived. It was an incredibly heart-expanding experience.

That AUM is the Divine Mother, the Divine Mother in all of our hearts. So feel that AUM expanding your heart, draw the shoulder blades again down the back gently to open the heart chakra.

And begin to focus on the breath. Feel the breath. As you inhale and you exhale, bring in awareness. Notice the breath, the coolness of the inhale, the warmth of the exhale.

Allow that receptivity of the heart to then draw up energy, back up to the point between the eyebrows. Go ahead and touch that point. Then release your hand, and allow that feeling, that touch, to help you to draw your awareness there, creating a beautiful circle, receiving love to the heart from the Divine and offering it back through the point between the eyebrows.

Mindfulness Meditation

Now let your breath become natural. Don't force it in or out. Use a mindfulness practice. We'll use something called "Hong Sau" as our mindfulness practice today. Hong as a mantra on the inhale, the natural inhale of the breath. Say mentally "Hong" and with the exhale, the natural rhythm of that, mentally chant "Sau".

Hong Sau means I am Spirit. So with the inhale that chant Hong and the exhale Sau is affirming that connection to the divine. I am Spirit.

We'll do that practice together. Hong Sau.

Remember, as we mentally chant Hong, we keep our focus there at that point between the eyebrows and even as we exhale with Sau, keep that energy there at the point between the eyebrows always. The greater the focus of our energy there, the more open, the more uplifted, the more peace we can feel in the practice together.

Continue with Hong on the inhale, Sau on the exhale. Mentally chanting and holding that energy at the point between the eyebrows. Let everything else go. Let all the tension in the body release with each exhale and draw that sense of love from the heart to the point between the eyebrows with each Hong inhale.

As we come out of this meditation practice together let's repeat an affirmation of love.

Affirmation of Love

First, loudly and with great energy, then we'll repeat it in a speaking voice, then in a whisper, and finally, silently.

"I will love others as extensions of myself and of the love I feel from God."

"I will love others as extensions of myself and of the love I feel from God."

Now in a whisper: "I will love others as extensions of myself and of the love I feel from God."

And one last time, mentally only: "I will love others as extensions of myself and of the love I feel from God."

Healing Prayers After Meditation

We will close our meditation by sending healing prayers to all those in need. We'll share the blessings of this practice in doing so. Repeat after me:

Divine Mother,
Thou art omnipresent.
Thou art in all Thy children.
Manifest Thy healing presence, Thy energy, light, and love in all bodies, in all minds, and in all souls.

Now rubbing the palms together, draw the blessings of this practice. And let's chant AUM sending these blessings to the world.

AUM, AUM, AUM.

AUM, Shanti, Amen.

Namaste, friends.