The Tender Heart

Sit comfortably, one hand resting on the centre of the chest. Bring to mind a being you love deeply, a child, a parent now older, a quiet pet, the form of the deity nearest to your heart. Allow the tenderness toward them to fill the chest, soft, warm, melting. Do not analyse the relationship. Do not turn it into a worry about their welfare. Simply let the tenderness be present, full and unhurried. The tenderness you feel for them is not a small private feeling. It is the heart showing you what it actually is, when nothing is in its way.