Concentration on the Heart

One Saturday afternoon, some other students and I, had been guided through various practices: these being consciously listening to classical pieces of music and a practice of the Mantra O. Our aim was to invigorate the heart and its respective chakra so that we may have strength in our Astral practice of concentration on the Heart.

The guide had brought to light how little I knew about my own heart and how through conscious investigation I could learn how it functions and feels. My interest in my heart was really invigorated so I took to the practices enthusiasm and real interest to understand this powerful organ that keeps me alive. That afternoon I had experienced my heart beating from being within my body rather than from outside. I also gained some understanding of how various negative emotions, like fear, can affect the workings of my heart. I went home with more enthusiasm then when I arrived and with a yearning to know more about this wonderful organ called the heart.

I tried the concentration on my heart again the next day to Astral project. I made sure I relaxed my body completely from head to toe. I then took my focus to my heart and concentrated on its beating. At first just lying there feeling it beat. I then took my attention internally and from within my body I watched my heart beat. I felt the walls of the heart with my hand and investigated its shape. From there I penetrated inside the heart to see what it looked like from within. I went down the arteries of the heart and went inside to feel the powerful flow of the blood and its circulation through the veins. I kept going over and over these things, each time to gain more understanding of how the heart works.

I dosed off into sleep a few times, but I kept coming back to the concentration practice. In one of the falls into sleep I found myself awake in a strange alert way. I was standing up in my astral body but when I tried to move I was back in my physical body. After a few attempts to go into my astral body I realised that I was trying to move with my mind. I was trying to think myself to move and that was why I kept coming back into my physical body. I had to forget about my lying physical body and learn to use my astral body. So I stopped using my mind and instead I went with the body I 'felt' I was in and very naturally moved my arms and legs and went to the window and flew out - just like that.

Once we are in the Astral body we can project anywhere we wish by merely bringing to our mind where we wished to go, that's if we can last the journey without coming back to our sleeping body. Concentration on the heart is a wonderful practice, not only can you astral project, but you can also learn a great deal about your heart and how it works purely from your own experience.

~ Layla
Australia