Heart Chakra Exercise

The one area I continue to come back to repeatedly in my personal work is further opening the heart chakra. Any time I'm having trouble, pain or fear in my life, a little love can go a long way. I have learned a lot of ways to open the heart chakra over the years, but sometimes I forget and get caught up in the BS. Below is a simple set of exercises I found that are similar to what I've always done.

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To begin please focus on these three concepts:

1. The universe is already perfect.

And that includes people and situations that you may feel you are intolerant of. They exist by design, for a reason: what you think is imperfect is part of the prolific mosaic that is creation to help you grow. You can learn about yourself from others’ experiences, qualities or situations without having to go through them yourself!

2. Judgement creates conflict. Just let it go.

By judging people and situations, you are creating a conflict for yourself. Yet another ball and chain to stop you from moving forward on the path of healing and spiritual growth. Consider whether it is your own vulnerabilities that are being exposed, when you react to situation or a person that seem intolerable. Being critical of others is your lower ego’s way of deflecting attention away form it and onto others. In the process you will be judging yourself or punishing it subconsciously for that. It's all just your brains way of making things wrong. The nice part of this, is you don't have to do anything "right", all you have to do is let go of the make-wrong. The universe takes care of the rest.

3. Compassion is a conscious act- that is contagious.

The more compassion you exercise consciously, the more you will activate and expand your heart chakra, affecting others and the world we live in. It is the feeling deep within ourselves -a "quivering of the heart" that is often likened to opening the heart or compassion. The heart is the seat of the soul, the womb of guidance and spiritual growth. The Dalai Lama proclaims that both the self and the world can be transformed by the cultivation of compassion.

Exercise to open your Heart Chakra

Your breathing should be normal, but deep.

1. Sit erect in a straight-back chair. Shut out all sound as best as you can and prevent interruption.

2. Close your eyes and turn your attention toward your heart.

3. In your imagination, enter your heart.

4. To your surprised, you are now standing on a green plain in the countryside. The sky above you is bright pink. In front of you is a green, grassy hill, and on top of the hill is a temple. This temple is your heart. Hold this visualization.

5. Now climb the hill. You walk up the grassy slope to the temple. You climb the steps of the temple and enter the center doorway. Observe the appearance of the temple. Is it swept clean? Or is it covered with dust?

6. Walk into the dimly lit interior and approach the central adytum. As you near, you can see a flickering light within. The flame grows brighter as you approach. It swells and recedes rhythmically with your own heart beat in the bowl-like depression in the center of the room.

7. Gaze upon this flame. Send it your energies. See it respond to your energies, watch it grow bright and strong as it reaches up to touch the ceiling 40 feet above. You are feeding the flame of your heart. You are stimulating it to growth. Breathe deeply and realize in the depth of your being that your heart center is coming alive.

8. Open your eyes and sit in quiet meditation for 5 minutes before rising and terminating the exercises.

References:

http://www.dhyansanjivani.org/kundalini/opening_your_chakra.asp
http://www.psychicsahar.com/artman/publish/article_197.shtml