The Courageous Heart

Yoga, and all mystical traditions, teach us that a fundamental aspect of the spiritual path is the awakening of compassion - for both self and others. The gift within this is that we do not have to wait until we are an idealised version of our self; we begin right now as we are. This also applies to the world outside of us: we can awaken compassion to life as it is, to others as they are. One of the most important steps to take on any spiritual path is to learn to be kind to ourselves as we are in this very moment; coming to terms with those places where we may be at war with our story or our current experience. And that this takes courage, courage we may have thought we never had.

Slowly, with patience and with practice, we can face many of the challenging knots that bind the heart. When we come to peace with our story and our own hearts, we find that any tendencies to be harsh towards others, or to judge too quickly, start to soften. We don’t have to try to be more accepting of life; it arises spontaneously. We become compassionate rather than having to try to be compassionate.

During this online course. we work with specific meditation practices aimed at awakening compassion for self and others, such as Metta (loving kindness), Tonglen (receiving and giving) and the Taoist practice of the Inner Smile. There is also a short asana practice to prepare us for the meditations to follow.