Heart Opening Mandala

Peter Maeck: Open Heart

You may remember that a couple of weeks back I shared with you an unfinished piece. After many many hours work, it is finally completed. It has been quite a journey, this one. I have tried to capture it as best I can with my camera, but the true colour and detail are proving elusive.

Last night as I put the final touches to this mandala, I experienced such an overwhelming opening of the heart. I could almost feel it expand in my chest. There and then I resolved to call the piece 'Heart Opening'. Then literally 2 seconds later, my phone lit up with a mail from a photographer friend, Peter Maeck. Peter shares a piece of his work every other day, and I love seeing his work come into my mailbox. I opened the attachment on the mail to find the photograph above entitled...you guessed it "Open Heart'!!

It always makes me smile the synchronicities that arise around this work. So this week it is all about opening the heart space. As many of you know, in Yoga, much emphasis is placed on opening the heart. And I believe that meditating on mandala and engaging with the geometries can also have a similar affect. So what does it mean, this opening of the heart?

Throughout our lives, things we have been taught, experiences that we may have had where we have been hurt in some way, cause us to put a protective barrier around our heart.  If you take the time to meditate, gaze at the mandala, close your eyes and tune inside. Take a deep, slow gentle breath in and fill your body with awareness. Begin to feel heart your heart radiating and your whole body tingle with aliveness. Allow your heart to fill with gratitude, even if it is for something as small as a hot cup of tea.

Allow yourself to breathe any toxins out and to let go of any hurt you may feel. Rest in stillness for a moment before breathing in again. Breathing deeply and easily you will feel yourself dropping inside, connecting and coming to inner peace. Feel the flow of life gently flowing through your body.

Our hearts are like a pipelines that carry life force energy and emotion through us. Our heart starts out very open as babies and usually closes down as we get hurt in big and small ways whilst growing up. With this shutting down we can lose our passion and aliveness. We become stressed and anxious and lose our connection to who it is that we truly are.

I read recently that Carl Jung on a trip to Africa was speaking to a shaman there, the shaman said 'You white men, you think from the wrong place.' Jung replied, 'How do you mean?' The shaman pointed to his head and said 'You think from here.' And Jung asked 'Where do you think from?' And the shaman pointed to his heart. (I think the book was Carl Jung by Claire Dunne)

So this mandala urges us to bring awareness to the heart space. If you find yourself too much in the head space, become aware of your breath and move awareness to the heart. It is a life changing habit to engage in!

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