Wisdom Wednesday: LOVE

by Catherine Madsen
Bliss Crafter, Austin Yoga Tree

Love. It’s the reason you are excited to go home after a long day at work. It’s the reason the first thing you do when you wake up is smile. It’s the reason you laugh and it’s the reason you cry. Love is universal but no two people have the same love. To me, love is cuddles with the four-legged love of my life, the feeling after a sweaty yoga class, and Sunday brunches with the best friends a girl could ask for.  What is love to you? Write it down. Reflect and remember it often.

Love is all around us; it is an integral part of our everyday lives. However, no matter how much love we are surrounded with, we could always use just a tad more. A little extra love can help us act selflessly, live courageously, and love completely. A little extra love can go a long way but unlocking that love is easier said than done.

We must dive deeply into the depths of our hearts, to the parts that we keep hidden. We must accept the fact that we may get hurt and that it won’t be easy. It will be scary but it will be worth it. We mustn’t be afraid to love, to show it, to feel it. Love until you have no love left, then love just a little bit more.

In order to open ourselves up to selfless, courageous, and complete love, we must first open our hearts.

At heart center, we find a swirling ball of energy known as our anahata chakra, or heart chakra. The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disc. In our bodies, there are 7 major chakras, or energy centers. The chakras align the spine, starting at the base of the spine and ending at the crown of the head. Each chakra is associated with certain organs, nerves, and emotions. In order to have a healthy and happy body, the chakras must be open and balanced. When there is a blockage or deficiency, energy cannot flow smoothly throughout the body. This can lead to physical, psychological or emotional problems.

Yoga philosophy states that one way to keep the chakras open and balanced is through the practice of meditation. Meditation allows us to focus on the energy centers individually so that we can give each chakra the attention that it needs.

The heart chakra is our source of love and connection. It unifies us with other beings and allows us to be compassionate, caring, generous and kind. When our anahata chakra is open, we love others and ourselves. Our love is free of judgment and restrictions; it is universal and all encompassing. Love keeps the world turning, keeps people smiling, and keeps us all connected. Love is life, and life without love is no life at all.

The following is a meditation that is catered to our anahata chakra. This meditation will help release any blockages located at our heart center and will help bring warmth and joy into our lives.

“Do everything with so much love in your heart that you would never want to do it any other way.”

Heart chakra meditation:

• Start by finding a calm, quiet area that is free from distractions. This can be a corner in your bedroom or maybe a spot in your backyard. Make sure that the space is meaningful and soothing. 
  
• If you are new to meditation, sometimes it can be helpful to set a timer before you start. This will ease any anxiety you might be feeling about meditating for too long or not enough. A 10-minute meditation practice is a good place to start.
  
• Find a comfortable seated position. Feel free to place a blanket or pillow underneath your sit bones. This will keep your knees and hips happy while you meditate.
  
• Begin to lengthen your spine. Drop your shoulders away from your ears and release your jaw. Slightly tuck your chin into your chest to keep your neck long. Slowly begin to close your eyes.
  
• Start by checking in with your breath. Notice your inhales and exhales moving through your nose. Feeling your belly expand with your inhales and fall with your exhales. Be grateful for this breath. 
  
• If any stray thoughts begin to arise, imagine your thoughts as clouds. Notice that they are there but just let them pass. Do not dwell on them, return to your breath. 
  
• Begin to bring your awareness to your heart center. Check in with your heart, feel it beating on the left side of your chest. Let go of any emotions that might begin to arise.
  
• Keeping your awareness on your heart center, begin to visualize a rope that is jumbled with knots. This represents your heart. Each knot in the rope is one experience in your life that you are holding on to. These negative experiences are no longer serving you. 
  
• Focus on one knot on the rope. Bring to mind one negative experience in your life that you are holding on to. This experience can be old or new, big or small. It is something that you still think about when you know you shouldn’t. Remember how this experience made you feel, let those emotions flood back into your heart. As you inhale, mentally repeat ‘let’. As you exhale, mentally repeat ‘go’. Watch as this knot slowly begins to unravel. All of the negativity you were holding on to has been released.
  
• Repeat this sequence with the remaining knots on the rope. Watch as each time a knot is unraveled, your heart begins to feel lighter. Eventually the knots are all untied and the rope fades away. In it’s place you see a bright, white light. 
  
• Let this light fill your heart. This white light represents the purity that now resides in your heart. You exhaled negativity and can now inhale positivity. 
  
• Replace this white light with a flower. It can be any flower, as long as it is meaningful to you. Observe the pureness and radiance of this flower; know that this flower will forever exist inside your heart. 
  
• Slowly let the image of the flower fade away. Take 3 deep breaths in this stillness. You can stay here for however long you need.
  
• When you are ready, bring your hands together at heart center in Anjali mudra. Bow your head to your heart and repeat the holiest of mantras:
  

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

***If you are interested in meditation, check out the link below. The website/app is like a gym membership…. for your mind!

https://www.headspace.com