Hearts can break. Yes, hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don't. - Stephen King, Hearts in Atlantis
Listen to The Heartbreak Healer Guided Meditation or read on:
It's said that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all. And while that may be true, the pain of a broken relationship can leave you shattered, confused, and unable to move forward. If you have or are presently suffering from Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy(yes, there is even a scientific term for broken heart syndrome!), you know exactly what I'm talking about!
It's called heartbreak for good reason, because the physiological reaction to intense emotional pain can physically hurt or weaken your body. When you are heartbroken or painfully rejected, you body begins an emotional storm, creating a dangerous cocktail of toxic hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine.
As Dr. Ronald Stram, founder of the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine in Albany, says:
There's an immediate adrenal stress response. The adrenal gland releases adrenaline. Your cortisol levels goes up. Your gut shuts down, your heart rate goes up, blood pressure rises. The emotional wounds of rejection literally hurt.
From the perspective our brain and our body, the emotional distress of heartbreak is the same as physical trauma!
It's true that time can heal our wounds, but sometimes we want to accelerate the process and get on with our lives. It's also important to heal properly because we can permanently re-wire our brain for sorrow and misery with repetitive negative thoughts. (This is known as Hebb's Law by neuropsychologists.)
Meditation can be one effective way to quickly heal and move on.
Meditation brings you into a relaxing light trance, known as the alpha state. In this pleasant state, you can visualize yourself happy, joyful and loving again. This mental rehearsal tricks your brain. While you are in the alpha state, your frontal lobe does not recognize the difference between fantasy and reality, which allows you to reverse the physiological effects of your painful heartbreak. Additionally, whilst in the alpha state, your normally locked subconscious mind opens, allowing you to re-program it, by intentionally replacing repetitive negative thoughts with healing and loving ones.
As Dr. Joe Dispenza says in his book, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself:
Not only can we change our brains just by thinking differently, but also when we are truly focused and single-minded, that brain does not know the difference between the internal workings of the mind and what we experience in the external environment. Our thoughts can become our experience.
Meditation combined with visualization (mental rehearsal) can help you to rid yourself of toxic emotions, and re-open the possibility for love and joy once again.
Try this gentle, supportive meditation which will allow you to feel and be comforted by the infinite love and nurturing that is always around you. It will help you move through the grieving process more quickly so that you can begin healing and open your heart to love again.
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