Dr Rosalind Pearmain
What is Heartfulness meditation?
It is a modern form of Raja Yoga based on the heart. It is a very simple yet profound path. We focus on the idea of the presence of the source of light, or divine presence within the heart. There are two very distinct and helpful features that support meditators who try this out. One is called transmission which is a kind of subtle spiritual nourishment that may be felt just as a kind of very soft current. It helps us to feel more connected and to sink into the experience of meditation. The other is the concept of cleaning or clearing. This technique works on dissolving old patterns and the daily residues of experience and life which can weigh on us.
In the workshop, we shall begin with a short, guided relaxation and with some directions to help newcomers bring their awareness to their heart and the focus of the meditation. We do not aim to concentrate intensely, or to get rid of thoughts, we simply rest our focus on the source of light within our heart drawing our attention towards it. Then we rest there and receive the feeling of the transmission in the meditation for about half an hour.
The common reaction from those who try Heartfulness is that it feels pleasant and relaxing and is easier than expected. People often also report feeling lighter and calmer. Heartfulness can also provide a daily practice, and this can be supported regularly by meditation sessions on a one to one basis There is an app called Heartsapp which has introductory support sessions and a kind of ‘uber’ system to offer remote meditation sessions with a trainer at any time anywhere in the world!
Heartfulness is intended to be available to everyone without any dogma. It can provide a direct experience and connection with the sacred source within our hearts. Heartfulness can offer more peace, calmness and balance to manage the increasing challenges of our world.
Personally, I came across this path many years back in my twenties. Immediately, I felt that the very soft and subtle experience of something meeting me was real. The many other fascinating and exotic opportunities around at the time did not have this quality. So, somehow, I stuck with it and it has deeply sustained and inspired me throughout my life for which I am most grateful.
Obviously then, it is always a great joy to share this practice with others.
Dr Rosalind Pearmain Bio
I have been practising and sharing Heartfulness as a trainer for more than thirty-five years – coming across this path when I was 26. In parallel with this focus, I have been a mother and working in education throughout my life on aspects of empowerment and transformation for women, teenagers, children, adults, in both formal and informal educational settings involving the community, health and public sector. I have had leadership roles in university and post graduate psychotherapy training and carried out doctoral research on meditation and transformational aspects of learning. (My book ’The Heart of Listening: Attentional Qualities in Psychotherapy and Counselling’ (Sage 2001) integrated spiritual, psychotherapeutic and neuro scientific aspects of the heart.) Currently I am teaching Masters students qualitative methods in psychotherapy at the Minster Centre for Psychotherapy and sharing Heartfulness in Oxfordshire and UK. Fundamentally, beyond psychotherapy and education, I have found Heartfulness to offer the most profound transformation at all levels. In simply focusing on the heart, with the help of yogic transmission, we connect with the deepest source of intelligence which integrates inner and outer aspects of self and world.
Heartfulness is free of charges – and the organisation is run entirely by volunteers. We are a registered charity.
