Ignite healing in your heart
Who among us has not experienced heartbreak? Hearts are both magnanimous and sensitive by nature. We open our hearts with love, generosity, and trust, but at some point, something happens in one relationship or another that hurts. And if the wound is too big, or hits an unhealed older wound, that wide open heart just might close up tight.
A gentle technique to support your process of healing heartbreak is this simple meditation:
Stand or sit comfortably upright, so you're both relaxed and alert. If you're sitting, place your hands, palm up on each thigh. If you're standing, the hands can just hang naturally, relaxed and open.
Your eyes may be either closed, or open with what's called a soft gaze - not looking at anything in particular. If the visual world is distracting you, or you find yourself fixating on a visual object, please close your eyes instead.
Set an intention that this practice will be for your longterm benefit, and for the good of all.
Become aware of your breath, and let it smooth out and slow down. Let the exhalations lengthen a bit. Feel free to linger after the exhalations, but please not after the inhalations.
Then direct your attention to the very tips of your middle fingers. Imagine you are breathing through the tips of your middle fingers.
It can be helpful to add the visualization of light. Imagine a white light entering the tips of the middle fingers as you inhale, and a grey smoke exiting as you exhale. Alternatively, you might try inhaling the gentle pink of sunrise, and exhaling a dark red, like the color of an old scab. Or you may feel sensations as you inhale and exhale. Choose the method of meditation that feels most natural, enjoyable and calming - just breath, sensation, white/grey light, or pink/dark-red light.
Keep the attention right at that point. No need to draw the Qi/light/attention anywhere else right now. Just keep it localized right there. Continue for as long as you like. I recommend setting a timer for 2-5 minutes.
To come out of the practice, return your attention to the breath itself. Notice if it's changed at all.
Extend some gratitude for this space and time of practice. Take a moment to notice and more fully receive the benefits of the practice. Smile if it feels natural, and imagine the benefits rippling out to the good of others.
"Central Hub," a.k.a. PC9 is on the fleshy end of the middle finger, where the red dot is.
This meditation works with an acu-point called Central Hub, also translated as Rushing into the Middle, the last point on the Pericardium (PC) or Heart Protector meridian (HP).
In Chinese medicine, there are a couple aspects of the heart. There's the Heart (HT) itself, which houses our Shen, or the part of our spirit that lights the way to our destiny. In the West, this is similar to what a lot of folks call their "higher self." In this system, the Heart is the sovereign of your being, a spiritual side of the heart more than an emotional facet of the heart.
The aspect of the heart that is more involved in experiences of love and heartbreak is the Pericardium. This is both the physical sack that surrounds the heart, and also an aspect of self that is like a bodyguard to the Heart. The Pericardium opens the doors wide when there's strong resonance and a sense of safety, and closes them when there's a lack of resonance or safety. When we end up hurt or betrayed, it's the job of the Pericardium to get in the line of fire and take the hit, keeping the Heart itself safe. The Pericardium is also a part of us that is playful, and connects with others through laughter. The Heart Protector is strong and tough, but also a good time pal at a party.
The last point on the Pericardium meridian, PC9, is an excellent point for healing relationship induced trauma. It's both the tonification point on the meridian (the wood point on a fire meridian - wood feeds fire), and the Jing Well point, where Qi can enter and exit the meridian easily. In Qigong practice, we use these distal points to flush out "old Qi." Then new Qi is naturally drawn into the emptiness because as Henry David Thoreau said, "Nature abhors a vacuum."
This point can help rebuild a healthy vision/sense of self that's been damaged through hurtful relationship experiences. It also anchors the mind into the Heart, where the Shen, the knower of one's true path resides. Your path and right relationship are interrelated. When you're on your true path, you choose your relationships appropriately, and set, maintain, and adjust healthy boundaries. Appropriate relationships in turn support you in walking your path with greater ease, and most importantly, with the joy of good friends beside you.
May your heart and path sparkle with bright Qi and good friends,
Rae
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