How to Open to Love

Jun 19

Love knows that nothing is ever needed but more love. It is what we do with our hearts that effects others most deeply. It is not the movements of our body or the words within our minds that transmit love. We love from heart to heart.
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Sometimes we're running around so much, consumed by thoughts of all that we have to do that we are actually closing ourselves off to the flow of love.

The chemistry of stress or rushing or fighting (be it a client, a competitor or your partner), is the opposite of the chemistry of love.

When we take some time to de-excite systematically each day (twice a day is recommended), we release stress. Our chemistry is changed from stress chemistry to 'stay and play' chemistry - notably oxytocin, which is the 'bonding' (or love) chemical and dopamine (the 'feel good' neurotransmitter) which we experience when we fall in love. We return to our baseline state of bliss, which is also love.

We expand our awareness, as our mind transcends from surface, active levels of thought, to the more subtle, expansive states at deeper layers of awareness. With each successive meditation, our awareness expands and with it the capacity for the flow of love expands.

We become more present, and less stressed. We can experience the chirruping voice from the backseat telling us about their day at school or the constant questions, as love rather than an annoyance. We can start to experience a wave of love in the heart looking at a leaf on a tree, or take the time to engage with a stranger at the Post Office, and experience the exchange, the flow of attention, as love.

Some ways to expand our capacity for love:

-regular twice daily practice of Vedic Meditation (this is your love prescription!)

-time in nature - nature is both grounding and expansive, and allows our body to realign with its natural state of love (this effect is enhanced if you're already mechanically releasing stress during meditation)

-slowing down, when you notice yourself rushing, caught in all the 'to do's and the fear of 'not getting it all done' - take a pause. Take a deep breath and open to the present moment again. See what's before you. Return to the doing from a place of Being.

-Supreme knowledge is expansive, it allows our intellect to let go and open to our baseline state, and the flow of love

-correcting the intellect through wisdom allows us to remove all the barriers we've built in the mind to love

-reducing caffeine - caffeine induces the fight/flight state making it harder to train the body's chemistry back to baseline bliss, you may consider trying a period without it to see how you feel

-if the stress levels are high despite meditating, sometimes stepping away from all the doing for a deeper release, and more prolonged exposure to that state of love over a few days on retreat is in order. This is the big reset. Generally meditators report feeling more loving and in flow post retreat and have a number of realisations about what barriers they've built to love, or that which they're doing which is unsustainable and which it might be time to let go of.

-let go of trying to achieve the entire to do list in a day. Let go of 1-5 things (depending on the size of your list) each day, in favour of experiencing more love - playing with your children, being present with your partner, experiencing the flow of love in nature, being in a state of appreciation.

-1:1 support via mentoring to explore where your personal barriers to love lie.

If I can support you in any way please don't hesitate to reach out. Wishing you all a loving week.

With love & Jai Guru Deva*
Georgia ❤️