This is the seventh post in the year-long series of the monthly meditation gatherings called Walking the Path of Heartfulness. This is part 2 of The Connected Heart, check out part 1 from last month. The theme is Embodying Love.
You are invited to engage in two practices. The first one is a version of the Hand In Hand Practice. This practice will guide you in reflecting on ways you have experienced connection and disconnection as a way to inspire our exploration of embodying love via interconnection. It will prime the heart for the longer meditation. Do this before moving on!
Take a moment and contemplate the following questions:
What does it mean to embody love?
What does it mean to connect with the heart?
What does it mean to live from a place of connection?
What does it mean to believe our nature is belonging?
While I have tried, I cannot simply answer these questions through the intellect. We are conditioned to live apart from our bodies, to see our bodies as separate. The is the outcome of believing the myth of separation. We believe we can think our way into everything as if we are simply heads walking around. This is a limiting view of our lives. So much wisdom is within our bodies if we can access it.
We must remember that the mind and body are not separate. And so moving from the head to the heart/body is the only way to experience embodied knowing. One of the most enlivening benefits of meditation is reconnecting with the body.
It is through this reconnection that wisdom of interconnection arises naturally, without effort. We begin to access the truth of our existence – that we are individuals that are integral to the whole and vice versa.
Wise poet and writer, Mark Nepo, poignantly states, “What we reach for may be different, but what makes us reach is the same.” What makes us reach? Love. Happiness. Belonging. It all exists within us and through us.
Let’s practice embodiment as defined by meditation teacher, Dawn Mauricio: practicing mindfulness in a way where we are not thinking about the practice but instead tuning in to how it feels in the body.
The following meditation is a loving-kindness style practice. It taps into our shared humanity to awaken the heart to interconnection.
For those who are new to loving-kindness practice or need a refresher, it is a practice of intention. We offer phrases of well-wishing to ourselves and others. Our intention is to offer unconditional kindness or friendliness. This offering is free of judgment. It is not magical thinking or manifestation. In fact, let go of any effort and release any need to force a feeling. Simply bring gentle curiosity as you engage in this practice.
Because we are tuning into how the body feels as we engage in this practice, please know that there is no right or wrong way to feel. You may feel open and peaceful. You may feel awkward or irritated. You may feel tender and warm. You may feel ambivalent. Welcome it all!
The Practice: Here are the 5 phrases I use in the meditation, but you can make up your own. The practice begins with offering loving-kindness to a friend or loved one, then a neutral person, then a challenging person (minor annoyance), then yourself, and then all beings.
May you/we/I be safe and protected from inner and outer harm
May you/we/I be happy and peaceful
May you/we/I be healthy and strong
May you/we/I accept life just as it is right now
May you/we/I awaken and be free
