Open Heart Meditation

An Open Heart Meditation that was published on the Oprah.com website in June as part of the article, "Listen Up! Why Being in Your Heart is Better Than In Your Head."

This opening heart meditation comes from Ed and Deb Shapiro, authors of Be The Change, How Meditation Can Transform You and the World.

You may want to record the meditation so you can listen to the words and not focus on reading them.

Opening Heart Meditation

Settle your body in an upright and seated posture.
Bring your focus to the natural flow of your breath as it enters and leaves your body.
Just watch your breath as your mind settles.

Now bring your attention to the heart space in the center of your chest.
And just breathe in and out of this space.


With each in-breathe feel your heart gently opening and softening; with each out-breathe release any tension or resistance.

Silently repeat, "My heart is opening and softening."
You may experience great joy or even sadness.
Let the feelings come and go, while you just keep breathing into your heart space.

Stay here as long as you wish.
When you are ready, take a deep breath and let it go.
Gently open your eyes and take the peace of your heart with you through your day.


May you feel more peaceful after finishing this meditation.

Read more of the Listen Up! Why Being in Your Heart is Better Than In Your Head article at the Oprah.com website.

Source: Shapiro E. 2010. Listen Up! Why Being in Your Heart is Better Than In Your Head. Oprah.com

Image: Mary R. Vogt. Garden Fence. Morgue File Free Photo.

More Resources, More Versions Loving Kindness Meditation

This week you've already seen a couple of video posts on Loving Kindness Meditation, the first, a Loving Kindness Meditation Podcast, and the second, "How To Practice Buddhist Loving-Kindness Meditation."

Both of these resources have slightly different versions of the words used for a Loving Kindness Meditation.

Four additional resources have good information on Loving Kindness Meditations.

The first comes from "The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society" and is entitled, "The Tree of Contemplative Practices - Loving Kindness Meditation."

The second is a PDF File of a Patient Handout used by the University of Wisconsin's Integrative Medicine/Department of Family Medicine entitled, "Loving-Kindness Meditation"

The third is a series of links to MP3 audio files to different Mindful Meditations from MARC or the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. One of the resources includes a link to a Loving Kindness Meditation. (MARC is a part of the UCLA Cousins Psychoneuroimmunology Institute.)

The final resource is from Ron Rink of the Buddhist Belief Blog and is entitled, "Buddhist Belief – Metta Meditation — Loving Kindness."

Online Meditation Video - Zen Garden

Another online Meditation with music from Kokin Gumi and Zen Garden. This video clip also features Japanese Proverbs.

Relax and Enjoy

Meditation Music and Image Video - Zen Garden

Beautiful Buddhist Meditation with Zen Garden Music from Kokin Gumi.

A way to relax for a few minutes.