Opening Your Heart

Today my first husband would have been sixty years old. Every year on this day since 1990, the year after he died, I somehow, no matter what else is going on, think of how he would have been on this day.

What milestones in our lives he didn’t live to see!  So many amazing things, I think, that seem to accelerate and mount up with each passing year . . . our first daughter’s marriage . . . our second daughter graduating college and studying to be a composer on a special scholarship in grad school . . . our son, who was just 4 when he died, finishing his junior year of college . . . so many things . . . the practice he helped me start that he was so instrumental in supporting, now in its eighteenth year.

Life Goes On and On No Matter What

Life goes on and on no matter what.  He was 43 when he died and I was 39.  So young, I think, and he would have turned sixty!  I can’t conceive of how he would have looked, how he would have been, at sixty.

He died of undiagnosed coronary artery disease.  His heart was blocked off, and nobody knew it – not   even the doctor who had given him a clean bill of health not long before I found him dead on our living room couch.

We Can Not Afford to Close Our Hearts

In his memory, in honor of his great laugh, his honesty, his willingness to change and acknowledge his mistakes, and most of all, his amazing, lovely children that I have had the equally amazing good fortune to see come of age, knowing he did not, I dedicate guided meditation which follows these additional thoughts, on opening your heart. 

We cannot afford to close our hearts - not for long on all fronts if we hope to survive.  The world conspires on so many equally corresponding fronts to seem to close our hearts, but we have the power to affirm and open all the loving dimensions of who we are and what we are, no matter what.

The Strongest Organ We Possess

It is a delicate commodity, a heart, and the strongest organ we possess.  Go figure, I say, knowing that despite terrible cultural conditioning, figuring hasn’t a thing to do with it.  Feeling, however, does – and the willingness to let go and let be, and listen.

So now, are you ready to begin this adventure into the deepest part of yourself?

Settle Back Comfortably

Settle back comfortably, close your eyes, and take five full, deep, easy
breaths.  Imagine your flowing breath extending right down into your hands.

Open your palms, and then place them comfortably over your heart.  As you continue to breathe, say to yourself five times, “I open my heart”. 

What happens?

Experience Whatever Happens

Experience whatever happens until you feel complete with it for now,
and then gently return to full waking consciousness.

Record your sensations.

What Choice Are You Moved to Make Today From Your Open Heart?

Commit to making this choice as a spiritual experiment, and record the results.