How to Strengthen your Heart

If you do this simple five minute exercise routinely, 2-3 times a day then your heart and feeling will become stronger within several weeks. If you are quite sensitive you will feel calmer and lighter the first time you try doing this exercise. Others will need to repeat a few times before they start to feel their heart clearly.

Key points for opening the heart

The most important keys to be able to feel and strengthen the heart are:

• Not busy thinking. When the brain is not working excessively then the heart and feeling is not blocked by the brain.
• Relaxing. When you are properly relaxed the subtle feelings from your heart appear and this helps to reduce the domination of your brain.
• Smiling Freely. By smiling freely the feeling from the heart grows stronger.

You can freely download or listen online to this Heart Strengthening exercise as a short guided meditation recording to experience your heart.

Alternatively you can ask a friend to guide you through the steps as a script with this PDF document: Heart Strengthening Exercise for guiding.

Step 1: Relax your Whole Body

Find a quiet place to sit, you can sit in a chair with your feet firmly on the floor or sit cross legged on the floor which ever is more relaxing and comfortable.

Sit with your back and spine straight with good posture without forcing or straining yourself. If you need back support then sit on a chair with a flat back or use a cushion to be as comfortable as possible.

Your head should be looking forward and slightly upwards, as it is hard to feel your heart if your head is drooping down and this helps prevent you getting sleepy.

Step 2: Close your Eyes and Smile Freely

Close your eyes. This helps to reduce the domination of your brain and helps you to relax more easily.

Scientifically speaking, it is known that when we open our eyes, our eyes send signals to our brain to process the images which makes our brain work hard. Put aside all thoughts from the day and just be here and now doing this exercise.

Smile freely. Smiling is necessary so that you can begin to follow the nice feelings that arise from your heart.

Step 3: Touch your Heart and Smile to your Heart

Touch your heart at the center of your chest with one or two fingers at the level of your armpits to bring your awareness to your heart. This helps to ease focusing on your heart.

Smile to your heart without thinking how. Your smile should be natural and happy like when you are meeting up with a close friend that you haven't seen in a while.

The best attitude is to not expect anything. If you are too busy wanting or expecting too much then you are busy with your brain and thinking, instead you should be relaxing and enjoying the feelings that naturally arise from your heart.

Step 4: Stay Relaxed and Follow your Feeling

Stay relaxed and continue to smile freely to your heart for several minutes...

After a while you may feel some expansion and a light and calm feeling.

Follow the feeling even if it is very gentle or you can only just feel it a little bit.

By following the feeling without any effort your heart and feelings grow stronger and you are able to enjoy the nice feeling from your heart more.

Stay relaxed and keep smiling to your heart for about five minutes.

Try the Heart Strengthening Exercise yourself with this guided recording:

If you do not feel anything at all then the problem is with one of the three key points mentioned at the start. You may not be relaxed enough, smiling freely enough or you may be busy looking for sensations which cause your brain to work excessively. Be aware of what you can improve and repeat the exercise again.

Open Heart Meditation to strengthen your heart further

This heart strengthening exercise of relaxing and smiling is the foundation of Open Heart Meditation. Relaxing and smiling needs to be done all the time while listening to Open Heart Meditation to get the benefits of the meditation. By doing the meditation you can go further to open your heart by letting go of anything that has put stress on your heart or closed your heart and feelings. Practicing Open Heart Meditation regularly is the fastest and easiest way to open your heart.