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Hridaya (Hrdaya) is a sanskrit term that loosely translates to mean the “spiritual heart.” Differentiated from the relatively more material Anahata chakra (heart chakra, the fourth chakra), hridaya represents consciousness itself, the radiance that illuminates each of us and that connects/unifies all beings and all things.
To access hridaya, the vast spaciousness of the heart, the universal consciousness itself, start by taking a comfortable seat with an upright spine (ears over shoulders over hips) and close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Bring one hand to your heart and one hand to your belly. Draw low belly and low ribs towards each other to level your diaphragm so that you can breathe more fully down into your diaphragm.
With the hand on your heart make a loose fist. Your physical heart is the size of your fist but your universal spiritual heart is much bigger and more vast. It extends way past the parameters of your physical form and it cannot be contained.
See if you can feel for the space and the spaciousness around and beneath your fist.
Allow the breath to expand without pushing or trying to fix anything. Feel yourself softening with every exhale and swelling into, and even beyond that space, with every inhale.
Allow your breath to move past your own parameters and allow your physical heart to unclench as you soften your fist.
Keep your hand on your heart and allow yourself to be present for your next few cycles of breath.
You’re welcome to stay within your heart space for as long as you like. Feel for your connection to all of creation and to all creatures.
In connecting with our own hearts we connect with the universality, the shared space of all people and all things. This summer, in the season of the heart in Chinese Medicine philosophy, may you return to your own radiance again and again, and may you learn to live within the light.
May you bask in the sunlight of your own heart and the hearts of those around you.
Peace.
Feeling stuck? Trying to control, or micromanage, your breath or your experience? See what it’s like to soften instead. Acupuncture provides a safe place to uncover how you feel and what you need to live in connection with your own heart. I’m here if you would like to schedule an appointment or a free phone consultation. Just reach out.