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Valentine’s Day. I don’t personally do anything to celebrate it, beyond messages to family members and friends. However, I am mindful that there are many people who feel alone, sad or depressed on this day. In the past I’ve handed out white roses to strangers or practiced “pay it forward” acts of kindness and generosity.
However, an intriguing dream gave me a fresh idea. As interesting as the dream was, leaving me with a feeling of expansiveness, I dismissed it at first. Later though, in the shower where so many of my profound thoughts are birthed, I looked at the dream again from a place of awareness and full alertness.
The dream involved sending love to the world.
The Power of Love
This is the dream:
I ran into a friend, a man I actually know in the waking world, and delighted to see each other, we hugged. In real life, my friend gives marvelous hugs, and when I embrace him, there is great joy. As we laughed and continued the hug, in the dream, an energetic connection sparked between us. Not romantic love. Not passion. This was something bigger and more expansive. This was acceptance and keen awareness of self and of other.
I felt our energies swirling as they joined and then they exploded, radiating outward from our hearts, in ripples of energy. The cool thing about dreams is that I can see far beyond what I can while awake. I saw those ripples of energy, fueled by the mutual love, respect and appreciation that we have for each other, sweep around the globe…and then outward, into the universe.
The Energy of Love
Thinking about that dream, I recognized the truth there, waiting for me to peer more deeply into it. Everything in our world, everything in the universe, is made of energy…particles and waves of electromagnetic energy that are constantly in motion.
We are energy as well. And our hearts, located at the center of our bodies, generate tremendous energy. That’s why it is so crucial to keep the heart open and unencumbered with old hurts and pains. A wounded heart, a protected heart, isn’t free to send out the incredible energy that it is capable of. We call that powerful energy love.
Love vibrates at the highest energetic frequency, along with joy and gratitude. When our hearts are full of love, we can create greater love, joy, peace, harmony and wellbeing in ourselves and in others.
Thinking these thoughts about energy and then returning to the dream, I asked, aloud…what do I do with this? The answer? Partner that amazing, powerful energy and my great heart with the focused intention of sending love to the world on Valentine’s Day.
Meditating to Change the World
There are precedents for using meditative energy to effect change in the world.
In one such experiment, 4,000 meditation practitioners from 88 countries gathered in Washington DC in June and July of 1993. Their group goal was to reduce violent crime in the area, by meditating. During the eight weeks that the group met, the rate of assaults, murders, rapes, and other violent crimes decreased by 23%. As reported in Springer Science & Business Media’s journal, Social Indicators Research, the statistical odds of that happening by chance were less than two in one billion.
In another study, in the 1970s, 7000 individuals agreed to meditate together, over three weeks, focusing on thoughts of love and peace and then radiating that energy out into the world. Violent crime rates and casualties fell by an average of 16%. Additionally, suicide rates and automobile accidents decreased. And there was a 72% reduction in terrorist activities during the times that the group meditated.
Sending Love to the World Meditation
This is what I came up with, for Valentine’s Day. This is my way of sending love to the world. I put together a Sending Love to the World meditation.
- Find a quiet place to sit for a few minutes, without distraction.
- Sit relaxed, eyes closed, feet flat on the floor.
- Breathe in slowly and deeply, hold for three seconds, and then release breath just as slowly. Focus on the heart. Take three of four slow deep breaths.
- While focusing on the heart area, allow all tension to flow out of the body. Move up the body, from the feet to the top of the head, relaxing tense muscles. Pay special attention to the shoulders, neck, face and scalp, as tension gathers here.
- Keep shoulders relaxed and back, opening the heart area.
- Continue to breathe, slowly, deeply. Think about joyful, happy experiences. Bring to mind loved ones. Smile.
- Feel love. Feel joy. Allow the heart to fill with strong, positive emotions.
- Radiate that powerful energy, from the heart outward into the world. Imagine that energy as beams of light, as sparkling seeds of love, surrounding the globe and falling gently to earth, raining down on people everywhere.
- Continue sending love to the world, for as long as desired.
- When ready, count down from 5 to 1. Before opening the eyes, move head, hands and feet. Open eyes, take a deep breath…and smile.
Join Me in Sending Love to the World
If you have the desire and the time, join me today…and any other day…in sending love to the world. Use the meditation above, or create your own mediation or prayer. Focus on the heart. And make sure that self love is part of your reality. An empty pitcher cannot fill any glasses. Likewise, a heart empty of love cannot send love to others. It starts with loving yourself, then flows to loving others.
Imagine what we can do together. Imagine love circling the globe from dozens, hundreds, thousands of hearts full of love and joy. I know this…it certainly won’t hurt anything or anyone. Sending out love can only help, for love never fails…and it never returns empty. Imagine going beyond and sending love every day, and not just on Valentine’s Day.
In addition, be love on Valentine’s Day, whether at work or home, running a business meeting or shopping for groceries. As Mother Teresa shared,
“Go out into the world today, and love the people you meet.’
Need some help creating a loving relationship with yourself?
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