Guided visualization · 8 min
Deep Stillness: Heart Opening Meditation
Start your morning glowing with a warmth of love that needs no reason, story or reward.
With
Tom CroninRated4.615K plays
- Level
- Beginner friendly
- Style
- Guided visualization
- Sound
- Voice only
- Best time
- Early morning
About this session
- Opens the heart
- Settles the mind
- Builds self-love
- Brings inner peace
Tom Cronin opens with a few easy breaths, then turns your attention to the roomy space inside your ribcage. There, a small sun burns behind the chestplate. You follow its warmth down into your belly and legs, up through your arms, throat and head, until it glows past your skin.
It suits anyone who wants to begin the day soft and settled rather than rushed. Use it first thing in the morning, or whenever you need to come back to yourself. You'll need about ten undisturbed minutes in a chair or cross-legged on the floor.
After the session
01
A quieter mind
Step back from thoughts, plans and old stories.
02
Warmth in your body
Feel a soft, full lightness from head to toe.
03
Love without conditions
Rest in a feeling with no needs or desires.
04
A steadier sense of self
Touch a radiant strength that feels like you.
Who it’s for
Yes, if…
- Anyone who wants a gentle, centred start to the morning
- People who find it hard to feel warmly toward themselves
- Those who think in images and enjoy visualization
- Beginners looking for a short, simple sitting practice
Not now, if…
- Those looking for an energising, high-intensity practice
- People who prefer silent meditation (this is guided)
- Anyone who wants to be talked through the whole session, since the last minutes are left open
Questions people ask
Still unsure? Ask your assistant anything about this session.
Why does the meditation start with the breath?
The first minutes are about quieting the mind. You simply watch a natural, unforced breath move in and out, with nothing to change. That gives your attention somewhere calm to rest before it moves to your chest.
What exactly am I picturing in my chest?
You notice a large spaciousness inside the ribcage, and suspended in it, right behind the chestplate, a golden ball of light. It's described as a fiery furnace of love, and you're asked to feel its warmth as well as see it. Everything that follows grows from this one image.
In what order does the light travel through the body?
It goes down first: through the stomach and abdomen to the groin, then the right leg, then the left. Next it moves up through the chest and out along the right arm and the left arm. Last it rises through the throat and into the head, until the whole body is filled.
What does 'no story, no future, no past' mean here?
Once you're full of light, you're invited to set aside your identity, your worries and your history. What's left is described as the very essence of you: pure golden light and love, with no needs and no desires. It's a way of feeling who you are without the usual narrative.
What happens when the light spills past my skin?
The light becomes too strong to be held in, so it pours through the pores as a shimmering glow around you. You sit with that feeling, noticing lightness, invincibility and radiance. Then the guidance falls away and you let your mind wander and roam as it likes.
How do I finish the session?
There's no sudden end. After the last instruction, you let your mind drift for a while, then take your time. When you feel ready, open your eyes, and the meditation is complete.