Check out my new post on CLOSLER, “Returning to the Medicine of the Heart During a Pandemic.” CLOSLER: Moving us Closer to Osler, is a Miller Coulson Clinical Excellence Initiative out of Johns Hopkins and they have published a number of my essays in the past.

How can we practice the kind of medicine that we so desperately need right now? Perhaps it is time to return to a medicine of the heart and of the soul.

In this post I look at how we can access the ever-renewable resource of hope and inspiration of the heart during these times when our minds our over-loaded with information and worry. I am trying to find something every day and every week that is positive and hopeful and I’ll be sharing these Daily Inspirations and Weekly Affirmations. Here is a Heart Meditation we can use, but really anything that brings us out of our heads and into our heart and our bodies is so necessary during these times: meditation, exercise, play, laughter, the beauty of nature.

A Heart Meditation

There are many different pathways and many different journeys that can lead you back to your heart. Here is a simple one.

Take a deep breath.

Take a deep breath and close your eyes.

Take a deep breath and bring your focus to your heart.

Remember how the heart works: accepting de-oxygenated blood, giving this to the lungs; accepting vitalized, oxygenated blood from the lungs; then giving away this goodness to the rest of the body. Remember that the heart functions by accepting the “worst” (deoxygenated blood) and giving it away; accepting the “best” (oxygenated blood) and giving it away.

Take a deep breath, feeling with your body and imagination how the heart and lungs are constantly doing transformation.

Take a deep breath, shift your focus from your mind to your heart. Take a deep breath, explore the workings of your heart.

Here is the link to “Returning to Medicine of the Heart During a Pandemic” on CLOSLER. Note that the video link is to a different song than the one I referenced by Ben Lee, “We’re All in this Together.” You can find that video here, along with a lot of other great songs by Ben Lee – who just came through Seattle and played a great show at the Sunset Lounge in Ballard.