{"id":1337,"date":"2022-01-19T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/?p=1337"},"modified":"2022-11-24T23:43:54","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T05:43:54","slug":"january-19-practice-to-cultivate-an-unobstructed-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/january-19-practice-to-cultivate-an-unobstructed-heart\/","title":{"rendered":"January 19 – Practice to cultivate an unobstructed heart"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Guided Meditation – Mudita<\/a>, DaRa offers some opening comments, then sparks some generosity and gratitude through a story and reflection, and leads an appreciative joy practice that radiates joy to beings in all directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says we’re up to something radical here by intentionally cultivating joy, gladdening the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many joyful moments in life, but if our hearts are closed or contracted, these moments pass us by. We can train ourselves to start noticing more and more of these moments, and that can build some momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a retreat once, I noticed these tiny little purple flowers in the grasses I was walking through. Because my heart was open to that then, I find I am more likely to notice little flowers in the grass – especially when I remember to slow down. Even a dandelion can spark joy. Birds at the feeder. The sparkle of streetlights on the snow. The immensity of space filled with twinkling stars. Even the hum of traffic crossing the bridge. A breath. (The momentum is building for me – can you tell?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe “joy” is too big a word for you. Jeanne uses the phrase “quiet joy.” I like the words delight or contentment. If we can bring these moments to mind, either a present moment experience or a memory, we can warm our hearts. DaRa also uses story telling to help prime the pump. (Listen to her story of a boy and a drum in the talk.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DaRa uses the analogy of a flame – we start with a flicker of warmth, and then we fuel it with memories of joys. And in her practice, she allows that warmth to radiate to the east and west, north and south, above and below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is one of my favorite styles of practice for the heart qualities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you prefer phrases, some common options be<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May your happiness and good fortune never leave you.
May your happiness and good fortune grow and grow.
I am happy for you!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If joy doesn’t seem accessible in this moment, we can use phrases to set an intention<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May I be filled with joy.
May I one day be filled with joy.
May I have the possibility of joy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

If you want to try a phrase-based practice with these phrases, check out Diana Winston’s offering from UCLA MARC’s Hammer podcast<\/a>:
October 14, 2021 Taking Joy in Others’ Joy
https:\/\/www.uclahealth.org\/marc\/mpeg\/Hammer101421C.mp3<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also read the gratitude reflection that DaRa offered and some phrases from Jack Kornfield in this excerpt from Jack’s book The Wise Heart<\/em>:
https:\/\/www.spiritualityandpractice.com\/book-reviews\/excerpts\/view\/18100<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What brings you joy? What are you grateful for? How do you feel in body\/heart\/mind when you bring these joys and gratitudes to mind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With great delight,
Andrea<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
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Dear Friends, In Guided Meditation – Mudita, DaRa offers some opening comments, then sparks some generosity and gratitude through a story and reflection, and leads an appreciative joy practice that radiates joy to beings in all directions. She says we’re up to something radical here by intentionally cultivating joy, gladdening the heart. There are many joyful moments in\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[302],"tags":[237,107,10,32,84,144],"class_list":["post-1337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-jan-2022","tag-dara-williams","tag-diana-winston","tag-jack-kornfield","tag-jeanne-corrigal","tag-joy","tag-mudita"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1497,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1337\/revisions\/1497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}