Meditation for Dummies by Stephan Bodian

Author:Stephan Bodian
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781119251170
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2016-05-31T00:00:00+00:00

WHAT IF YOU CAN’T OPEN YOUR HEART — OR DIFFICULT EMOTIONS ARISE WHEN YOU DO?

If you don’t feel much of anything in your heart as you do the exercises in this chapter, don’t worry. Just as you may need to pump for a while before you get water from an underground well, you may find that you need to repeat your wishes and intentions for the well-being of others again and again before you get any noticeable results — and that your feelings fluctuate from day to day. Just keep going, with the confidence that you’ll eventually feel love arising in your heart. And if you don’t, that’s okay, too. Opening the heart and keeping it open poses a challenge even to the most loving among us, and no matter what you feel, your good wishes will have immeasurable benefit for everyone, including yourself.

Some people find that these heart-opening practices flush to the surface challenging negative emotions like grief, disappointment, fear, resentment, or rage. Based on losses and wrongs we experienced in the past, these strong feelings may form a crust over the heart that impedes the flow of love and compassion. To soften this crust and open the flow, you can practice meditations designed to cultivate forgiveness and gratitude (see Chapter 16).

The most important thing is that you’re bringing to awareness the unresolved and unintegrated emotions that have kept your heart closed. Just extend lovingkindness to yourself and to the emotions themselves, welcoming them into your heart as much as you can. Just as Beauty’s love turned the Beast into a prince, you can eventually transform your ugliest parts through the power of lovingkindness. (For more on working with challenging emotions, see Chapter 12.)

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