The Power of Love Meditation from Yoga Journal's Yoga Basics

This four-part meditation clears the heart and quiets the mind.

By Mara Carrico

4. Continue to focus on the heart area while doing the following:

* Cultivate a friendly and accepting attitude toward yourself and your friends.

* Develop feelings of compassion and understanding for all those who suffer.

* Be joyful in your thoughts about a particular person who's important to you or a saint or guru you hold in high esteem.

* Maintain feelings of indifference and equanimity to anyone who has harmed you or anyone else. Don't get sucked into their mean-spiritedness or harmful deeds.

5. To complete your meditation, take three to five deep abdominal breaths. Open your eyes and slowly get up.

Allow the focus of this meditation to be the fourfold stages of opening your heart in order to clear your mind. Realize, however, that it also incorporates other elements common to all forms of meditation: choosing a stable and comfortable position, awareness of breath, use of affirmation, and imagery. It's all right if only one of the stages dominates the meditation. For example, you may be drawn to the concern for a friend who is in pain, or you may want to focus on the life's work of someone who inspires you. No better advice can be given here than to—literally—listen to your heart!

Page 1 2

See All Meditation Articles »