On the tantra yoga path, we learn how to meditate with love. The heart pulses with love always.

In essence, our hearts are like the strings of a guitar, sitar, cello, bass, violin, maybe all these at different times. Moreover, the heart strings are always vibrating with different chords that modulate continuously, as does the music we love.

When we learn how to meditate with love, we are on the path of intimacy. Eventually, we discover we are continually in a vibratory field of relatedness. 

In this vibrant field of connection, we hear the song of belonging. We attune to the ever-changing harmony of adoration and appreciation.

Consequently, any notes of disharmony immediately call our attention. 

Furthermore, our attention goes to savor the joy of being. As well, in meditation we often delight in all our connections. After all, these connections are love tendrils.

For anyone with a love life and responsibilities, meditation is a time when we naturally feel into all of love’s tendrils. Frequently, it just happens.

When meditating, we may start thinking about

• the people we love
• how they are doing
• what do they need
• or projects we are involved in.

Truly, when we think about what and who we love during meditation, this is not “mind-wandering.” Honestly, that phrase is obsolete. In fact, it applies mainly to those who have taken vows of celibacy.

To learn how to meditate with love from a tantric approach, we must delete from our vocabulary the phrase “mind-wandering” and the self-shaming it implies.

In truth, the mind journeys during meditation. Often, our meditation journey includes connections to what we naturally love and what’s important to us.

First, whenever we notice we are involved in a long chain of thoughts, it’s wise to not add shame based on what we may have been told in the past is “mind wandering.”

In reality, we only become aware that we were lost in thoughts when that series has finished to some extent. Frankly, our recognition is after we have processed the thoughts that called our attention. Presently, it’s now the moment when we have a choice.

Next, we consider opening to body sensations. Often, the energy source for a stream of thoughts is a sensation somewhere in the body. The sensation may correlate to some muscular or nerve tension. As well, perhaps our life energy wants to be expressed. Or we have a frustrating desire. Simply be willing to feel whatever is there.

Indeed, during meditation all of our energy centers, the chakras, tune themselves. This innate tuning happens naturally, as best it can, given the very limited time we have available to meditate. Overall, our ability to calibrate and tune up also depends on our level of skill in handling the intensity of feelings, energies, and senses.

Second, we try not to force ourselves to “go back to the mantra” or “take attention back to the breath.”

Allowing in Meditation

Another invitation is to simply allow the momentum of attention to continue. As a result, we may continue to enjoy the mantra or the breath.

There is no effort in continuing. This is like when you are listening to a song, and then you hear some other sound, your attention checks it out, then you are back to the song.

When our attention calls us to an area of disharmony, awareness immediately investigates how to tune the tension. This is often painful. 

As we enter this painful portal of our inner experience and accept, there is sometimes a transmutation into pleasure-pain. Sometimes this takes a long while. Other times, it happens in an instant.

What is so interesting about the heart is the continual surprise.

Attention is also called to attend to the wonderment of love, to the look in your child’s eyes, to a memory of a touch, to a craving in your body, to the sensations of electricity.

In contrast, attention is also called to attend to our fatigue, stress, and fear.

Attention is intrinsically healing. Thus in the space of a few seconds, we may find ourselves journeying between pain and ecstasy and everywhere in-between.

One of the meanings of tantra is “the strings of the heart.” Another meaning of tantra is “ordeal.”

We go through an ordeal.

Ordeal means a difficult or painful experience, especially one that severely tests character or endurance (from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).

Equally important, linguists say the word ordeal is based on the roots

• uz – “out”
• da – “to divide.”

Watch musicians tune their instruments, listening, feeling, making small adjustments.

Stringed instruments go out of tune all the time, because the temperature or humidity changes, by being played, the rigor of being stretched. 

When we learn how to meditate with love, we discover how to attune to the tune of our hearts. We feel the tone and tension of our heart strings.

Our hearts are resilient, they can go out of tune and then retune themselves. Above all, our hearts can even break and then heal. Meditation helps us rediscover our hearts’ harmony.

Open to Grace in the beauty of the Rocky Mountains as you reconnect with your divine nature and say “yes” to life. Enjoy masterfully crafted asana practices combined with heart-felt meditations led by superb teachers skilled at helping others discover their unlimited potential. Re-connect to you and your heart while on retreat in a supportive community in a stunning location. Join us on retreat!

Samudra Shakti 2023
Rocky Mountains, USA
Estes Park, Colorado
September 17 – 20, 2023