Meditation is often perceived as an activity for your mind. But what happens when you base it around your heart?
The results are impressive, and you should see them yourself.
Heartfulness meditation is a practice that aims to connect with the light in our hearts and evolve into higher consciousness. It helps unlock your physical and spiritual potential by using Divine energy as the source of light and love.
The benefits of heartfulness meditation range from improving sleep quality to reducing aging and keeping negative emotions at bay.
Besides, you can even boost your brain function without relying on complex medication!
This article will walk you through the principles, benefits, steps to practice, and more details on heartfulness meditation.
So, enjoy the read!
What Is Heartfulness Meditation?
Heartfulness meditation was previously called Sahaj Marg, and it is rooted in Indian meditative practices centered around cleansing an individual’s mental impressions or psychological imprints, called samskara.
It involves establishing positive affirmations as a means of rejuvenation in the cleaning process.
The practice started in the early 20th century with Shri Ram Chandra as the founder and first guru of the Sahaj Marg organization.
Heartfulness meditation promises self-realization to all individuals.
Hence, not one individual is more privileged than the other.
All can attain enlightenment through divine energy.
God, the divine power, is the ‘Master’ of heartfulness meditation.
Because the heart has a deeper connection to the Divine than any other, the practice uses it as the sole guide.
Principles Of Heartfulness Meditation
Meditation alone cannot guarantee spiritual growth, but incorporating lifestyle changes will help accelerate the process.
Follow these simple principles and incorporate them into your life for the best spiritual experience:
- The heart is the sole guide: Much as our physical forms have a center (the heart), our spirits also have an element that connects the physical and spiritual worlds. And according to Hinduism, it is the heart that forms this link.
This ancient tradition of regarding the heart as the center of the spirit is the basis of heartfulness meditation.
Its primary purpose is to discipline our minds to attain the highest spiritual awareness.
If the practitioner seeks it, divine energy aids man in attaining spiritual growth and enlightenment.
- Social transformation begins with self-transformation: If a man wishes to transform his society, he should first begin by transforming himself.
The process includes cleaning the mind of conflicting and harmful thoughts and using the divine energy for yogic transmission or transformation.
- Surrender material attachment and pursue wisdom: When you let no physical entity rule over you, your spirit is free and closer to the Divine.
Keeping yourself free of material attachments can significantly boost your journey in attaining spiritual growth.
To be a practitioner of heartfulness meditation means to regard wisdom as your primary goal.
With this wisdom, you should seek to serve wherever and whatever the divine energy directs you to.
Techniques Of Heartfulness Meditation
Heartfulness meditation is based on the heart’s ability to channel divine energy. There are four key steps to its technique:
- Relaxation: First, you must relax your mind to be able to control it. So, relaxing your mind and body is critical to starting a successful meditation routine.
- Sit in a comfortable position and gently close your eyes.
- Start by wiggling your toes and relaxing them.
- Then, feel the energy surging from the ground to your toes and up to all parts of your body.
- Relax all your muscles as you feel the energy filling you.
- When the energy reaches your face, begin a full-body scan by checking for any areas that still feel tense.
- Immerse yourself in the natural energy and remain in this state until you are ready to exit.
- Follow this routine whenever you feel tense and need to bring your system in order.
- Meditation: A successful meditation technique involves centering your consciousness on the light within your heart. This helps unlock love, light, and everything positive.
By blocking external distractions, you can achieve a higher spiritual awareness.
You will learn more about the steps involved in meditation in the following sections.
- Rejuvenation: Rediscovering your heart by clearing your mind is essential in heartfulness meditation. It helps alleviate stress and rejuvenate your physical being, using your heart as the guiding force.
- Connection: Connecting your mind and heart helps you understand the power of the Divine and its significance in human life. Daily remembrance of the Divine is the key to establishing a lifelong connection.
Benefits Of Heartfulness Meditation
Heartfulness meditation benefits your mind and body when properly incorporated into your lifestyle.
You should find improvements in many areas, even from the first few days of practicing it.
Physical Benefits:
- Heartfulness meditation boosts the immune system.
- It improves sleep quality by cranking up your metabolism and keeping you feeling light and refreshed throughout the day.
- It makes you less sensitive to pain by activating your brain’s natural opioids.
- A 2015 study reveals that the daily practice of heartfulness meditation can help reduce aging by keeping a check on the brain’s gray matter.
Mental Benefits:
- Heartfulness meditation increases the limited attention span that our brain has. You will be able to concentrate on intricate details and challenging concepts more quickly.
- It creates moments of pause to help you connect with your inner self through the heart and establish a balance between wants and desires.
- It helps alleviate stress levels. You will notice better clarity of thought, enabling you to focus better and tackle inconsistencies efficiently.
- As your mind widens and processes better, you will have more time to see the bigger picture of life and have a more positive approach to life.
- Practicing heartfulness meditation regularly significantly improves your cognitive health, which is responsible for your brain’s overall functions.
Emotional Benefits:
- Heartfulness meditation effectively alters the brain’s neurochemical balance to maintain healthy emotions. It is beneficial for replacing negative emotions and mental disorders with positive ones.
- Happiness is a byproduct of heartfulness meditation. When you cleanse your heart of negative energy, you ultimately become more aware of the good surrounding you.
- Having a divine connection allows you to understand that negative emotions ruin your spirit. So, you will be able to prevent your emotions from running loose and cleanse them from your system.
How To Practice Heartfulness Meditation
Heartfulness meditation requires no specific qualification but demands only your willingness and commitment.
You must set up a suitable space and follow a daily meditative routine there.
Setting Up A Meditative Space
- Choose an area free of noise and other disturbances and ensure it is clean and free of distractive elements. Keep the space minimal with only things that you need during the meditative process.
- Also, ensure you have access to clean and fresh air through this spot. Fresh air will ensure that nature’s breath constantly replenishes your body as your spirit engages with divine power.
- Use this space as your meditation space every day at the same time. You may not realize this at first, but following a uniform time and place allows your mind to focus better, resulting in a more successful routine.
Steps To Practice Heartfulness Meditation
Heartfulness meditation focuses on transforming your spiritual self for overall improvement.
A proper routine involves four steps that you should follow daily:
- Morning Meditation
Morning meditation prepares your mind, body, and heart for the day’s activities.
It leaves you with a spirit that attracts light and positivity while staying clear of negative forces.
- Sit in an upright and comfortable position in your meditation space.
- Gently close your eyes and focus all your attention on your heart.
- Picture your heart filling with light and love, and imagine this light reaching all corners of your body.
- You will experience your negative energy release from you and feel refreshed by the end.
- Practice this for 20 minutes every morning.
- Evening Cleaning
Evening cleaning helps rid the spirit of unattended emotions and negative actions and reactions collected throughout the day.
It ensures that the effects of morning meditation persist in improving and transforming the innate self.
- Sit in a comfortable position in your meditation space.
- Close your eyes and imagine all the binding thoughts and negative energy getting released through your back, as if by a gust of wind hitting you.
- Direct your attention to the soul within these binds and picture it filling with light and replacing the void left by the darkness.
- Once you feel the light radiating from your body, affirm that the process is successful.
- You will feel light and calm at the end of the process. This proves that you have successfully let go of the day’s impressions.
- Practice this cleaning for 30 minutes every evening.
- Prayer Meditation
This is a crucial step you should follow before the morning meditation and after evening cleaning, just before bedtime.
Prayer meditation helps develop and maintain a healthy link to the divine energy.
You can learn the prayer through this YouTube video.
Reciting this prayer affirms the power of the Divine and is a plea to be released from the obstacles we, as inferior beings, brought upon ourselves.
It is a reminder that mankind can attain enlightenment only through Divine energy.
- Remembrance
The final and most crucial step in attaining a high spiritual consciousness is always remembering that the Divine rests within and around us.
This mindset helps you balance your physical and spiritual forces.
The key is to center all activities, decisions, and thoughts around the supreme so that we are not led astray by worldly attachments.
Doing so helps achieve what’s best for the spirit.
Heartfulness meditation teaches that remembering the Divine can blossom love deep within the human heart even without external effort.
Tips For Beginners
- As a practitioner of heartfulness meditation, you want to relax and meditate, not force your body to do it. So, keep comfort a prerequisite in every step.
- Breathe naturally; focusing on your breathing will redirect your attention from the heart, which is the core focus in heartfulness meditation.
- Be kind to yourself when your mind wanders, as maintaining long periods of focus requires practice. Remember to bring your focus back to your heart whenever your mind is distracted.
- Keep your eyes lightly shut; don’t apply pressure on them, or you’ll have trouble concentrating on your heart.
- Avoid the stereotypical crossed-legged ‘meditation posture.’ Keeping your limbs crossed isn’t beginner-friendly. Simply sit on a chair or follow other comfortable meditation poses that put less strain on your body.
Common Misconceptions About Heartfulness Meditation
Do the practice and pious nature of heartfulness meditation overwhelm you?
Initially, it may seem challenging and unattainable, but that’s just one side of the story. In fact, the misconceptions are too far from the truth.
Here’s a breakdown of common myths surrounding heartfulness meditation and the facts that you should know about:
- Myth: Heartfulness meditation is a religious practice.
Fact: Heartfulness meditation may have Hindu origins, but it does not involve strict religious practices besides connecting with your inner self.
The process is as simple as clearing your mind and saying a short prayer daily.
- Myth: Heartfulness meditation is only for people who are already spiritual or “enlightened.”
Fact: Anyone interested in attaining a higher spiritual consciousness can practice heartfulness meditation. It helps all individuals to become ‘enlightened.’
- Myth: Heartfulness meditation is too difficult or time-consuming to be practical.
Fact: Heartfulness meditation is the same as any other meditative process where you focus your mind on a single object.
The only difference is that you focus only on your heart for 20 minutes daily.
Conclusion
Heartfulness meditation is based on the heart and focuses on achieving spiritual growth and heightened consciousness.
The Divine energy enters your spirit through the heart for a complete transformation.
Eliminating darkness and negativity and replacing them with light and positive thoughts is crucial to this practice.
But the steps and techniques involved are often viewed as too demanding.
However, they’re only myths and shouldn’t prevent you from taking your meditative routine further.
After all, you only need a comfortable space and mental willingness to become a practitioner.
So, why not try heartfulness meditation? There’s nothing to lose but your negative energy!
