By: Lavene Gass
When you think of love, who do you think of?
As the thought(s) ran across your mind, did YOU come to mind? Self-love isn’t solely about expressing love for yourself; it’s also about demonstrating it too: setting healthy boundaries, resting, forgiving yourself, being kind to yourself, pampering yourself, finding time for yourself and the list goes on.
One way to truly tune into yourself is through meditation. Each day, take a moment (approximately 5 minutes) to find time to journey within yourself. In this moment of solitude, gently close your eyes and place both hands on your heart. As you breathe in and out, connect with each beat of your heart. On the inhale, silently say LOVE to yourself and on the exhale, silently say LOVE to yourself as well.
With each inhale and exhale, let this be your anchor – anchor yourself in love. With each breath and heartbeat, it’s a profound reminder that you’re alive. As you connect to your breathing and heartbeat, bask in an immense state of gratitude. Begin to think about things that you’re grateful for. Follow this by thinking about things that you love about yourself. With each thought, gently smile to yourself.
During this process, other thoughts may appear, which is alright; simply note each thought as a thought and continue with the mediation. As each second passes, try to get into an alignment of self-love and think about how grateful you are - hence, the beating of your heart and your breathing. This is a great exercise to not only reduce stress and practice mindfulness, but it also hones in on self-love and gratitude, which are two major components that will balance and/or maintain balance in your Heart Chakra.
Your Heart Chakra is the fourth Chakra and is considered the “Bridge” between your lower and higher Chakras. Would you want to travel over a shaky bridge? Hopefully, not. When dealing with matters of the Heart, think about the Heart Chakra and ask yourself, if it’s shaky. The key to any Chakra is balance, but one must first understand what can lead to imbalance in each Chakra.
By quieting the mind for a few moments each day and simply harnessing the power of gratitude and love – particularly self-love, you have the potential to open the gateway to an abundance of balanced emotions. These emotions can have a positive ripple effect on you and everyone that you come in contact with as you permeate an undeniable effervescent glow!