your heartfelt desire – a practice
It can be useful to reflect and enquire, in your meditation, what’s most important to you in this life. Our weekly meditation sessions guide you through processes like these, to get to know yourself more fully and become more comfortable being with yourself, particularly in times of quiet and stillness. These meditation practices help throughout the day as you are not so caught up in having to busy yourself to avoid being with yourself. When you know what it is that’s most important to you, you can use this as your guide in making decisions, like a compass, pointing you in the right direction.
Below is a way you can practice this meditation on your own.
Set aside 30 minutes and give yourself permission to take this time to be with yourself and to tune in to your inner awareness. You can either read through and then practice, or read a section, practice that and then staying in the same, calm, mind space, read on to continue.
Take a few conscious and deliberately deeper and slower breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth, allowing yourself to settle in and be in this present moment.
Tune in to your soundscape, for a moment, allowing yourself to absorb the sounds around you without identifying them. sounds that are present, as you sit …..breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth….once more…
And acknowledging taking this time out for yourself. A moment of appreciation for deciding to take this time, for meditation. This time to get a little more comfortable with you, when there is no external stimulus or other things to do, to simply be. To be with you.
As you do, notice your soundscape… tuning in to sounds as far away as you can make out…. Sounds closer by, hearing sound, as sound, no needing to label; absorbing sound… and closer by, the sound of your breath… subtle… almost inaudible…
And the sensation of the breath as it moves in and out… chest, belly… whole body breathing…aware of the sensations of the inbreath… through the notsrils… the back of the throat….. the chest…. Belly…notice movement I sides of ribs, shoulders, absorbing yourself in the movement in the body, in response to the in breath and the out breath.
Inviting ease… into your body
Ease into your feet, wriggle the toes, gently, then let that go as you move your feet ever so slightly… and let that go, inviting in ease, into your feet, into your lower legs, knees, upper legs, hips, torso – front, back, arms, hands and fingers.. ever so gentle movement in the hands, fingers… and resting hands and fingers as you invite in rest, and ease….neck, full of ease, head, having permission to be easeful… sense of calm as you breathe in and ease as you breathe out… peace as you breathe in, quiet as you breathe out..
Inviting in ease into your whole body, into your whole experience, as you rest here. Allowing this to be your intention for this practice, permission for your whole body to be filled with a felt sense of ease.
Beginning to explore your heartfelt desire…… what you want most in life, what gives your life purpose, meaning and value..… what guides your decisions…..
Imagine yourself sitting in your favourite seat, many years from now, and reflecting back on the life you’ve lived.
Reflecting on the stages of life, those you’ve shared special times with, your work and service to others, your health, how you’ve expressed yourself creatively, and how you’ve grown over the years.
As you reflect back, consider
What has brought you most joy?
What has filled you with contentment?
What stands out as being at moment or time you felt really satisfied, deep within you?
What are the decisions you’ve made that shaped how you have lived and are living your life?
What would your friends say you valued? What have they noticed about how you’ve lived this life you’ve been given?
As you consider all the ways you’ve lived, notice if there’s a theme, some common values or guiding principles you followed.
Reflecting what comes to mind as the qualities you’ve embodied, the virtues you’ve felt fulfilled by?
What’s been instilled in your life? Maybe kindness, or compassion, love, authenticity, service, gratitude, integration, or freedom… something else….
Acknowledging what’s guided you in your decisions and given you most satisfaction in life. Exploring what’s most important to you, to consciously recognise this, if you haven’t been this aware before.
When we form our HFD, and it will evolve and can change… start with something that’s come up for you….
We reflect our heart felt desire in a positive sense and as though it’s already true. So rather than ‘I will be free’ it is ‘I am free’. You can add ‘in what I say and how I act’ to be more specific. Affirming this way is how we begin to be this way… rather than phrasing it as something ‘out there’, we take it as true, within us. When we speak this way the brain takes what we say as true, just as it is…. And we begin to operate this way in staying aligned to what we think.
And when you experience your heart felt desire, take a moment to notice the felt sense of this, in your body….what does it feel like ‘to be free’, or kind, compassionate…
Allow yourself to sit with this heart felt desire and it’s felt sense in your body for a minute, or as long as you can.
To come out of the meditation, feel the surface your body is resting on and notice the sounds around you once more. Take a couple of deeper, breaths, in through your nose and out through your mouth.
And take a moment of thanks to yourself for taking this time to stop and reflect on your heart felt desire, and remember you now have this in your conscious to guide you even more clearly in your decisions. Helping to direct you towards growth and fulfilment in this life.
Along with weekly meditation, for which this was one of our focuses this term, we offer weekly yoga in Parkdale & Mentone (Bayside Melbourne).
We also offer
· Learn to Meditate course in Mordialloc and Mentone
· Individual coaching in mindfulness and wellness
· Corporate workshops and programs in mindfulness and resilience
Get in touch with Nicky to find out more.