What is love? Love is not an emotion it is the state of your being. -His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
We are made up of a substance called love. It is at the core of our very essence. For some of us, stress and strain haves covered up that core. We do not experience the truth of our nature, which is love.
If you want more love in your life it begins with a connection within yourself. It surprisingly has little to do with outer relationships. When that inner connection is made, those outer connections or relationships become the icing on the cake. Chasing after love and happiness becomes a frustrating activity and that can lead to a life of ever-changing wants and desires chasing after an intangible element that can never be found.
In the construction of any successful building, it starts with a strong foundation. To begin your own inner building, your foundation starts with loving yourself, so how do we do that?
Meditation is a powerful connector; bringing the individual to the deepest part of his/her nature, your own self. When the mind settles down, it lets go of all tension and stress and centers itself in the present moment. When we cultivate this connection we feel and experience a connection with everything around us. Meditating on a regular basis integrates our mind/body connection and we are no longer victims to any strong negative emotions. Emotions such as anger, anxiety and disappointments come and go as fleeting emotions, but they no longer grip us and affect our state of mind. We are stronger and feel up to the challenges that life brings us. Love is experienced within; and then is more easily expressed through our own state of mind. The inner useless and sometimes constant chatter decreases and we experience a more peaceful, calm and happier state.
Making that inner connection brings stability from the depth of our unchanging source, our finest level of existence. It is so refined and so intimate that it affects everything and everyone that we come in contact with. Our lives can only benefit because of this connection.
Meditation rejuvenates our mind, strengthens our focus, our intuition, our connection with people.
Meditation brings about a relationship of love and respect for who we are, which translates into more meaningful and satisfying relationships in our own personal lives.
Denise Richardson is senior faculty with International Association for Human Values and Art of Living Foundation. For over 20 years Denise has personally taught thousands of people from all walks of life how to use powerful breathing and meditation techniques to conquer stress and increase their capacity to bring positive energy into their daily interactions. Denise resides in Connecticut with her husband and two grown children.