Magical Gratitude

If you could go to a very beautiful place where you find love, compassion, forgiveness and generosity, wouldn’t you go? I know, you’re thinking, “Fat chance, I can’t afford a plane ticket to some pricey island sanctuary in the Bahamas!” But the truth is this place I’m speaking about is closer than that, even closer than a heartbeat! In fact, it is your heart (though, not the physical heart, mind you!)

This place, located right in your body about three inches below the notch in your collarbone, is known as the heart chakra. It is our spiritual heart. Love, compassion, forgiveness and generosity are states that emanate from this place in our energy body. You can test this out for yourself. The next time you can feel and name the of vibration of love, compassion, forgiveness or generosity, bring your attention to your heart chakra and see what you feel. Do you notice a sensation of radiating warmth and expansiveness there? Do you notice how you feel safe and secure and connected to something greater than your small and limited self.

When our awareness rests in the heart chakra we are outside of the right/wrong and good/bad polarities of the limited and judging mind. Through careful cultivation of our consciousness we can come to rest permanently here in the beauty and expansiveness of the open heart, where all of these ascended states are available to us… as well as many more! Wouldn’t it also be nice to live in faith and flow, and trust and harmony? How about balance and equanimity? And let’s not forget JOY!

When the heart chakra is open and fully enlivened, life flows through us in a beautiful way, and we feel balanced and serene, and as you go through your day, your heart leads the way!

The magic is that there is a very simple easy way to access this open heart daily. It is through the practice of gratitude. Gratitude is a doorway into the heart.

More than a perfunctory “thank you”, the gratitude I’m speaking about arises from a deeper place within. Reflect from time to time on the everyday blessings you so readily take for granted. When you notice yourself mired in thoughts about everything that’s not working in your life, or if you are feeling in some way deprived …stop! Remind yourself of all that you do have, like the love of a child or a partner, or a pet. Or the simple satisfaction of having food to nourish you when you are hungry; there are so many that do without…

By feeling and nurturing this gratefulness in our lives we bypass the polarized nature of the lower mind and our awareness rises up into the heart. The heart chakra begins to open like a beautiful lotus flower.

Count your blessings. Live in gratitude. Your heart will sing! And you will find love, compassion, trust and faith, and more! And this is what you will attract. No vacation in the Bahamas required; your heart is your sanctuary. Wherever you go!

Brother David Steindl-Rast has created a beautiful video about gratefulness. Find a quiet moment, take some deep relaxing breathes, and receive its blessing…