I’m continuing to work with the HeartMath program (see, for example, experiments 232 and 238), and continue to marvel at the centering power of the process.  Part of the HeartMath technique is to recall images and memories of places and times that generate a coherent, settled, and open heart (visit www.heartmath.com for more specific information about the process).

This morning, as I worked with the practice, I was reminded of how powerful it is to simply bring to mind images I carry of the trees in Central Park and how this small act immediately brings my heart into coherence.  Along with that, it settles my whole body-mind being even more deeply.  This kind of experience demonstrates the immense power of the images that we carry with us all the time – sources of the constant self-hypnosis we engage in every moment.  In addition, our internal self-talk, and the places we tend to put our attention, all contribute to our state of mind and sense of well-being – or lack thereof.

For this week’s experiment, I invite you to play with one of the aspects of the HeartMath program, which is to bring into your heart space moments of gratitude, affection, love, beauty: images that move and nourish you, recollections of sounds that elevate your sense of aliveness or well-being, and any other sources of inspiration, settling, expansion, and heart-nourishing experience that you may carry in your memory banks. 

It’s useful to practice bringing these sources of nourishment into your heart space awareness when you are settled and practicing outside times of upset.  In this way, you have an opportunity to build a skill and familiarity with the process so that it’s more readily available when you really need it.  For example, I was at the office one morning and had just gotten a distressing phone call.  I had someone coming for an appointment in just a few minutes, and found myself needing to calm down and recenter.  I shifted my awareness to my heart space and recalled my tree friends in Central Park.  I also began to do Tonglen breathing (see experiment 237) on the quality of my distress.  These two practices of shifting into my heart space recentered me and helped me to be fully available to the person who arrived a few minutes later. 

As with all the experiments, remember to play with this one.  The goal isn’t to be able to settle and recenter yourself immediately, on demand.  Rather, the invitation is to explore what helps you recenter and what supports an experience of moving through the day with an open heart space.  Remember, a heart that is open is actually much stronger and resilient than the vulnerability generated by a heart that is clenched and closed.