“It’s all about the heart.”  Those words came to me some years ago during a meditation.  At the time, I felt it meant that one should live and act from the heart.  Be kind, caring, helpful to those in one’s life.  Now, some years later, I have come to know that there is a greater, deeper meaning to those words.

Being kind, caring, and helpful to others in our lives is important, but it goes beyond that.  It includes being kind, caring, helpful and loving to ourselves, to our families, to those we know, and those who are unknown to us as well.  It is about giving loving kindness to all of humanity because we all come from the same energetic spark of  love, the spark that connects us, makes us all one.   It doesn’t matter how we look on the outside.  It doesn’t matter what country we come from or what religion we profess, or for that matter, if we have no religious affiliation.  What matters is the energetic spark of love that’s on the inside of all of us.

But how do we begin to love all of humanity?  How do we strengthen our heart connection to all of humanity?  It is easiest to begin with those closest to us, which includes ourselves.  Swami Kripalu, the namesake of Kripalu Yoga, once said, “Let’s focus our efforts on loving the members of our own family.  After first learning to love our own family, it will become simple for us to love the entire world.  If we devote our heart to loving our family, then the heart will be engrossed in love.  And the heart engrossed in love will spontaneously love the entire world.”  (Faulds 2004 69-70)

One way to begin would be to gift yourself with moments of silence, meditation, during your day.  This intentional act provides you with time to settle into your heart space, the place of your Soul, and feel the love that is ever present there.  Being with this energy of  love will soften you, fill you up with radiant light that will shine through you out into your world.  Transformational, it will color the way you act and interact in your life.  It will slow you down and bring more presence into your living.  Even pausing for just five minutes will make a difference.

How do you settle into your heart space?  Very simply, use the breath to take you to this quiet place within.  To begin, sit with a long spine, shoulders relaxed downward.  If  you are on a chair, sit forward with your feet planted firmly on the floor, hip-width apart, spine elongated out of the waist through the crown of your head.  If you are on the floor, sit on a cushion to elevate your hips, and elongate your spine as described.   Place your hands over your heart center in the middle of your sternum.  (This will help direct your breath to this area.).  Using dirgha breath (complete breath), inhale, bringing the breath in through the crown of your head to your heart center.  .  Exhale the breath into the heart center and bring your awareness there.  If you find that you don’t make it to your heart center on the first inhalation, just breathe in again and imagine the breath going to your heart center and then exhale into it.  Continue breathing normally while your awareness is in your heart center.  Notice what it feels like in this sacred space.  Bask in the energy of love.    When you feel complete, pause, notice your state-of-being.  Do you feel more at-ease?  Do you feel greater connection to yourself, to others?  Then, with intention, leave your heart space and move on into your day.  Follow the instructions on the audio below to practice this technique with me.

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This practice refreshes your connection to the energetic spark of love that you are and that is always there for you.  It will assist you in living from your heart and feeling the energetic connection that you have with those in your family and in your world.  But what about those whom you do not know?  Remember what Swami Kripalu said, ” . . .the heart engrossed in love will spontaneously love the entire world. (Faulds 2004 70)”  As  the love inside you grows, you begin to see life, all life, as part of you, and in so doing, your love connection, awareness expands gradually reaching more and more of humanity.  Just the simple act of connecting to and cultivating your own love ripples out to all corners of the world.

As you open your heart, your connection expands, and your acts of loving kindness will expand as well.  How that looks will depend upon who you are, your preferences, and  personal situation. You might donate time or money to a relief effort.  You might send prayers or energy healing to others in need or heart energy to people in crisis in your country or across the globe.  You might support your local food pantry.  You might watch your freind’s child for awhile so she can go to the doctor.  What matters is that you are connecting to others, to humanity, seeing yourself in them and offering your heart-centered assistance, whatever that may be.

It’s all about the heart.  Perhaps the well-being of our planet rests in the hands of our collective heart.  I think the Beatles were right on when they sang, “All you need is love, love.  All you need is love .  . .  .”

From my heart to yours,

Sandy

Faulds, Richard.  2004.  Sayings of Swami Kripalu:  Inspiring Quotes From a Contemporary Yoga Master.  Greenville, Virginia: Peaceable Kingdom Books.