HEALING
Heart Gold Thread
Stimulating and Transforming Energies
Stand well balanced with your feet about six inches apart, your back straight, and your arms relaxed at your sides. Slowly lift the arms away from your sides to just above shoulder height, with the palms down. Bend the elbows very slightly. Close your eyes and bring your awareness and concentration to your heart center. Sense the heart pumping blood throughout your body; then expand and deepen your awareness, sending the energy of the heart center outward through your arms.
Breathe very lightly and evenly, through both nose and mouth. Standing very still, hold this position for ten minutes. After two or three minutes, slightly loosen the muscles on the top of your shoulder joint; this may make the position easier to hold.
After ten minutes, lower your arms very slowly and gently, taking about one minute to lower them all the way down to your sides. Stand silently with your arms at your sides for a few minutes, expanding the sensations generated by this posture. Then lie down on your back for ten minutes, continuing to amplify these sensations until they spread even beyond your body.
This exercise balances the heart center, increases mental and physical energy, improves circulation, and builds strength and concentration. The exercise can also be an instrument for identifying and transforming psychological and physical blockages. As you do it, notice weak or tense areas of your body; notice also the times at which you lose strength and focus, and want to give up. If you feel fear or pain, bring this feeling into your heart center and touch it with concentration and awareness.
A memory of an emotion may come into your mind, perhaps sorrow, hurt, or pain. Expand the feeling, letting senses and mind become one. Stay with the feeling until you penetrate it and release it into pure experience. A flash of energy—the energy of that memory—then enters the present, and the pattern of the emotion melts and no longer exists. Then you will be beyond pain, surrounded by an expressive quality which means you are no longer holding—a quality of ‘here I am’ which can be observed and felt in every cell of your body.
You feel a sense of union, a willingness to let feelings arise and expand, and you are able to embrace experience directly, without hesitation. With more experience, it is possible to face pain, fear, and tension directly, letting them go as they occur in daily life.
As you become familiar with this exercise, try holding the position for longer periods of time, up to twenty-five minutes. Rest afterwards for as long as you held the position, standing and then lying down, or, first if you wish, simply lying down.
Source- Kum Nye – Tibetan Yoga, page 368