heart chakra meditation to create conditions for love & care

I just returned from leading a retreat in Costa Rica. I was there for two weeks, and in the week before the retreat started, I’d intended to work on my upcoming new book.

Life had other plans.

As the plane touched down, my ears popped, feeling more like a piercing of my eardrums. By the time I picked up my luggage, the acute pain was subsiding, but the congestion was rapidly building in my sinuses. It was like I was hearing underwater.

My next plan to nap during the 2.5-hour taxi ride to the retreat center was interrupted by an excessively chatty driver and the unpaved, bumpy terrain. I arrived at the center feeling depleted. On top of that, my laptop quit working—there went my intentions for writing! But that was the least of my issues.

I wound up losing my smell and taste, and my hearing remained completely muffled. (Negative on three COVID tests, by the way.) Exhausted, I felt like I was suspended in a bubble with a thick barrier between my sensory experience and this beautiful, vibrant jungle-meets-seaside destination.

Here’s what was so interesting: I’d never felt so unwell and in some ways disconnected due to the loss of my senses… and simultaneously so attuned to my heart and surroundings.

I was in fact doing a lot to support my healing. But I noticed that while I was caring for myself, I wasn’t fighting the conditions. Or berating myself, or blaming myself (or anyone else), for my sickness.

I’m not exactly sure how I arrived at being so accepting of the conditions I was in… I’d like to think it was my seasoned practice (and maybe it was, : ) ) but truthfully, I just sort of organically welcomed this state of mind.

And, to be honest, I didn’t have an ounce of energy to waste fighting my condition, or feeling angry or upset about it. I found myself just going with the flow. I didn’t push myself; rather, I slowed down… a lot. And once the retreat started, I adjusted the schedule to take things a bit more slowly.

If you know me and my usual go-go-go disposition, this shift was groundbreaking. It was what my heart needed.

I’m not sure if the group slowed down to meet me where I was, or if I finally met the prevailing pace of the collective… but we were all feeling more spacious. As I tuned in and tended deeply to my heart, something incredible began to happen: I began to feel even more connected to the hearts of our environment and our retreat community.

from the heart chakra: meditation to create conditions for love & care

As I arrived home and started a healing process for a probable sinus infection, I began preparing for my online studio class on the heart chakra—a divine alignment because my exploration into anahata was in direct parallel to my experience.

I’d love to share with you the 10-minute meditation inspired by the last few weeks. It’s a short adapted metta practice to meet ourselves with kindness and spaciousness… so we create conditions to meet each other with the same.

The first 20 minutes of the video shares my story and more wisdom from the heart chakra, and then we’ll meditate: