a simple “spring cleaning” technique to tap into your heart center
This spring we’re making our way up through each of our energy centers through The Energy Series. Don’t miss out on our Friday meditation sessions (free!), classes, and social media posts as we harness the powerful, transformative energy of the season.
It is the perfect time to open the windows of your heart and “spring clean” by taking your practice outdoors. Especially since we've been spending so much time indoors — and perhaps alone — we can feel a little extra stuck and isolated right now. Reconnecting with nature as the grass turns green and the trees begin to bloom can balance these heavy feelings by opening the heart chakra.
These are simple rituals you can do in your own yard for five minutes before your day begins or in between meetings. I recommend standing on the earth and gazing at the sky can help us remember our own vast heart. Then, pausing to open your arms wide and breathe in the fresh, clean spring air invites the freshness and joy back into your being.
Heart-Centered Walking Meditation: Tap Into the Boundless Energy of Presence and Love
Throughout the week, you can also benefit from a short walking meditation. Walking meditation is very easy.... it takes little time, requires no formal training, and offers amazing health benefits. It is particularly valued for its ability to refresh your mind, give you an emotional boost, and help you feel more in sync with nature’s cycles.
What I love most about walking meditation is that it can be incorporated into my daily life and it helps me see things anew. For instance, I walk to the grocery store a few times a week. I know the walk so well I can do it with my eyes closed. And in a way, they are closed, as I’m often in a rush, on my phone, or mentally reviewing my list of things to do.
But… every now and then I walk more slowly. I notice my feet on the ground. I intentionally enjoy the fresh air and notice the conditions around me. When I walk slowly like this, I observe what’s around me as if for the first time. The color of a house, a collection of rocks in a garden, the peeling bark of an old tree, and the crack in a sidewalk where a flower is sneaking up. All of a sudden my daily trotted territory becomes a brand new landscape.
In a way, it’s as if I’m on vacation – in a new land. I’m interested and engaged in my environment which naturally refreshes my mind and mood. I’m also relaxed. For, as the mind rests in the present, enjoying the moment, it is released from the exhausting habitual rewinding, fast-forwarding, and jumping from thought to thought that it is normally occupied by.
I eventually arrive at the grocery store in a different state. With a mind that is clearer, and a mood more uplifted. This makes it more lovely to be in my daily life. So in the end, my mindful walk is good for everyone I come into contact with.
