Meditation to Open the Heart
Nayaswami Diksha guides you in this 17- minute meditation. She is a long time meditator and teacher at Ananda's Expanding Light Retreat.
Journey into deep relaxation and heart-opening with this guided meditation. From a prayerful beginning to calming breathwork and visualization, experience inner freedom and healing.
Transcript
Nayaswami Diksha:
Welcome, and thank you for joining me.
I will guide you through a meditation to help you relax, calm your mind, and open your heart.
Preparation and Invocation
First, find a comfortable sitting position. You can sit on a chair or on the floor.
Sit upright, with your spine erect and your body relaxed.
Let's begin with a prayer:
Heavenly Father, Divine Mother, Friend, Beloved God, Great Masters of Yoga, Saints of all religions, we bow to all of you.
Bless us in this meditation. Help us to calm our minds, open our hearts and release all worries and stress. Infuse us with Thy love and joy and make us channels of Thy blessings to all.
AUM, peace, Amen.
Chanting and Physical Posture
Now we will sing a chant by Swami Kriyananda; it is called, “Rise in Freedom.”
The words are, “Nothing on Earth can hold me, rise, o my soul, in freedom, nothing to fear anymore.”
You can close your eyes and join me in chanting:
Nothing on Earth can hold me,
Rise, o my soul, in freedom.
Nothing on earth can hold me,
Rise, o my soul, in freedom.
Rise, o my soul, in freedom,
Nothing to fear anymore.
Rise, o my soul, in freedom,
Nothing to fear anymore.
Nothing on Earth can hold me,
Rise, o my soul, in freedom.
Nothing on Earth can hold me,
Rise, o my soul, in freedom.
Rise, o my soul, in freedom,
Nothing to fear anymore.
Rise, o my soul, in freedom,
Nothing to fear anymore.
Nothing on Earth can hold me,
Rise, o my soul, in freedom.
Nothing on Earth can hold me,
Rise, o my soul, in freedom.
Continue to sit upright with the spine erect and the body relaxed, palms upward at the junction of thighs and abdomen.
Chest is lifted, shoulders relaxed, chin parallel to the floor.
Keep your belly soft and soften the muscles of your face.
With eyes closed, lift your gaze just slightly above the horizon, without strain.
Try to keep your gaze lifted throughout the practice.
Relaxation and Breathwork
Let’s tense and relax the body with the double breath:
Inhale and tense [double inhale through the nose, tense the whole body]
exhale and relax [double exhale through the mouth, relax the body]
Again. [repeat double inhale through the nose, tense the whole body, then double exhale through the mouth and relax the body]
And one more time.
Inhale and tense [double inhale through the nose, tense the whole body]
exhale, relax [double exhale through the mouth and relax the body]
Allow your body to relax completely.
To calm and interiorize the mind, we’ll practice equal count breathing.
We'll inhale through the nose to the count of six, hold for six, and exhale through the nose to the count of six. We'll practice four rounds.
Let's begin:
Inhale (2,3,4,5,6) hold (2,3,4,5,6) exhale (2,3,4,5,6)
Inhale (2,3,4,5,6) hold (2,3,4,5,6) exhale (2,3,4,5,6)
Inhale (2,3,4,5,6) hold (2,3,4,5,6) exhale (2,3,4,5,6)
One more round:
Inhale (2,3,4,5,6) hold (2,3,4,5,6) exhale (2,3,4,5,6)
Now, take a natural inhalation [through the nose] and complete exhalation [through the nose].
Let go of the breath and allow it to flow in and out naturally, without control.
Become a silent observer of your breath.
Notice the sensation of the breath in your nose, wherever you can feel it.
Avoid breathing deliberately or forcing the breath.
Surrender to the natural flow and remain an impartial observer of your breath.
Mantra Meditation with Hong Sau
To deepen your concentration, we’ll add the mantra, “Hong-Sau”.
As the breath flows in naturally, mentally only chant, “Hong.”
When the breath flows out naturally, mentally chant “Sau.”
I'll add also the movement of the right index finger.
As the breath flows in, naturally mentally chant, “Hong” and close the right index finger,
only slightly, toward your palm.
When the breath flows out naturally, mentally repeat, “Sau” and relax the finger out.
If your mind wanders, gently bring it back.
Watch your breath, repeat the mantra mentally, and move the right index finger.
As you've watched the breath, without control, I'll begin to slow down.
Enjoy the pauses between breaths, natural pauses of stillness.
[Practice several rounds of natural breath.]
Releasing Technique and Breath Control
Now, we'll release the technique.
Gently inhale through your nose and exhale three times through your mouth, in quick succession:
HA HA HAAAA
Leave the breath out as long as it's comfortable.
When the breath wants to flow again, let it do so, but don't pay attention to it.
Sit in the silence, enjoy the stillness as you gaze upward with relaxation.
Visualization for Heart Freedom
Now bring your awareness to your heart center.
Visualize your heart as a balloon with many strings of attachments:
to people, to things, to circumstances.
To free your heart, visualize a golden scissors and willingly cut all the
strings of attachments, allowing your heart to become free.
See the balloon rising upward into skies of eternal freedom.
Feel the lightness in your heart in the freedom, the feeling of freedom from all attachments.
Affirmation and Absorption in Inner Freedom
Next, keep your gaze lifted to the point between the eyebrows and mentally affirm:
“Nothing on earth can hold me.
My soul, like a weightless balloon,
Soars upward through skies of eternal freedom.
Nothing on earth can hold me.
My soul, like a weightless balloon,
Soars upward through skies of eternal freedom.”
Sit in the silence and absorb yourself with the feeling of inner freedom.
[Sit quietly in meditation for several minutes.]
Healing Prayer for the World
Now, before we end the meditation, let's do a healing prayer. Sending love and joy to the whole world. You can pray along with me:
Divine Mother, Thou art Omnipresent, Thou art in all Thy children. Manifest Thy healing presence in all bodies, in all minds, in all souls.
Rub your hands together, and we'll send three AUMs to the whole world.
Take a deep breath:
AUM
AUM
AUM
AUM, peace, Amen.
Gently open your eyes.
