Emotional Healing

Through Heart Rhythm Meditation

Jody Curley, Family Health Consultant

In my work as an Alzheimer's educator and dementia care consultant, I regularly counsel family members who feel they are in crisis as they try to determine a course of action to respond to a loved one's incapacity and the consequent need for care. A major dilemma for me is that, both in our country and in my own small community, there really are not many tangible, easily accessible resources available to caregiving families in crisis.

I have often felt what is now referred to as "compassion fatigue," usually catalyzed because I've felt there is so little I can do to actually help my clients. Feeling ineffectual in the face of another's suffering is painful, depleting and leads to "burnout." In fact, I've "burned out" twice in my professional life because I could not figure out how to do my work without feeling completely used up.

Since beginning regular Heart Rhythm Practice, I have had a major turnaround in the way I experience my work life. When I sit with a client, I now focus my awareness on and in my heart, feeling that I am breathing in and out of my heart and attending to my heartbeat, as I am able while engaged in listening to and speaking with the client. I find that I no longer feel inadequate as I meet with a family caregiver in crisis. What I feel instead is energy, and easy rapport and full engagement with the client. Whatever else the client needs becomes clear to me as I remember to use the power of my heart.

There is inevitably a sense of relief, lightness and respectful intimacy expressed by the client when HRP is part of my approach, and I myself feel the same. I leave the session feeling so lucky to have the work that I do, and ready for more.

Robin Carpenter Health Insurance Broker Bakersfield, California

I have been practicing Heart Rhythm Meditation for almost two years and have felt a significant reduction in my stress level as a result. I am the owner of a health insurance agency in California in which I am the principal broker, and the changes in our industry are constant, the medical concerns of our clients are enormous, and the service issues in helping clients achieve the best health care are many. By practicing Heart Rhythm Meditation I have become very conscious of my breath and heartbeat and am now aware when I begin to breathe in a shallow, stress related manner and can take a few moments to adjust my breathing and reduce my stress level. I have also noticed a more relaxed approach to life in general, and improvements in my personal relationships. I highly recommend Heart Rhythm Practice to everyone, especially those in stressful occupations and those with medical concerns.

Sharon, of Bloomington, Indiana

One of the first things about HRM that really caught my attention is the focus on sending the love in my heart and my desire for peace in the world out to everyone else. I find that synchronizing my breath with my heart rhythm is very helpful not just during meditation, but at many other times as well. It helps me to center myself, as well as to regulate my heartbeat and breathing during times of stress (I suffer from PTSD as well as depression and anxiety disorder), and it also helps me to relax and fall asleep faster at night without the sleeping medications I usually have to take.

 

 

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