Connect with True Wisdom using the Heart Breath

In order to be most effective in any intentional act of healing, co-creation, or transformation, all Planetary Healing work starts from and is threaded through the heart center. True wisdom is perceived from the heart.

The Heart Breath practice will help you to establish a direct connection with the intelligent source of our universe. You can use it as part of a daily meditation practice or any time you need to bring yourself back to center; returning to the Heart Breath will allow you to maintain center as you function throughout your day. It can serve as a beacon with which to call forth appropriate guidance to help you meet your needs at any time.

Restoring Clarity of Thought in Times of Emotional Upheaval or Crises

We employ the Heart Breath often, and have found that it restores clarity of thought during times of emotional upheaval or crises. Consistent practice of this process, however you use it, will result in a saner, more balanced awareness that you can sustain.

In the space of the Heart Breath, the energy and intelligence of source is transformed into accessible information and power, and fosters our perspective of the wisdom of the heart. Your personal capacity for love grows as you activate feelings of love and direct them into your heart breath. It can help to connect with the love that you feel toward your family, your friends, your allies, and the Earth, or whatever stimulates the love in your heart and the love for your self.

As you become proficient in the Heart Breath Practice, develop it, live with it, play with it. The practice itself will become smoother and easier and will eventually integrate so that it becomes second nature — only a matter of focusing your attention to bring yourself into centered and balanced equilibrium. Still, you need to remain vigilant so that it does not become a rote formula.


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In order to keep the Heart Breath vital, it is important to stay conscious of the sources of energy, including the love component, that feed this practice and keep it alive. Without your heart-centered presence, it could become devoid of the spirit and intelligence it is meant to invoke, and disconnected from the spontaneous magic that initially inspired it.

Using the Heart Breath to Direct Healing to Your Body

The Heart Breath can also be used as a way to direct healing to any part of your body. Simply breathe in the powers of Earth and Sky, mix with the love you are adding to your heart flame, and direct your exhale to any place in your body that is in pain or in need. Likewise, it can be used with other people to develop and foster a strong, heart-centered connection.

The Earth Breath, the first part of the Heart Breath, can be used separately, apart from the combined Earth and Sky breaths. There are occasions where we recommend it to give additional grounding as needed.

EXERCISE: Heart Breath Practice

Connect with True Wisdom using the Heart BreathRelax. Close your eyes, and take a couple of deep, calming breaths.

. . . Focus on your heart. Look within and find the eternal flame of your being that dwells in the sanctuary of your heart center. . . . This flame is the spark of your soul that endures throughout time. . . .As you bring your heart flame into focus, access whatever inner senses are available to you—sight, hearing, feeling, knowing, imagination. . . . When you perceive your heart flame in whatever way it presents itself, feed it with love. . . . Activate feelings of love in your heart and use those feelings to feed your heart flame. . . .

Love is the fuel. As you continue to feel love in your heart and pour love upon your flame, it brightens, it intensifies; it spreads warmth and light throughout your being. . . .

As your heart flame brightens within you, breathe as though you are drawing power and vitality from the heart of the Earth up through all the strata of the Earth, drawing from all the elements, minerals, and plants. . . . Pull the energy that comes with your in-breath up through the Earth’s crust and into your body, all the way up to your heart center. . . . Hold your breath for a moment while the power and intelligence of Earth mingles with the love that you continue to pour on your heart flame. . . . As you exhale, the charged energy radiates out from your heart center, igniting every cell of your body with life-force energy and love. . . .

Take several deep, slow, strong Earth Breaths. . . .

While you continue to breathe the Earth breath, simultaneously extend your consciousness upward toward the heart of the cosmos. As you inhale the power of Earth, you are also inhaling from the sky, drawing down power, vitality, and intelligence from the billions of stars and all the heavenly bodies, and the intelligence that permeates the universe.

As the power of Sky joins the power of Earth in your heart center, see-feel-know-imagine the further nourishment of your heart flame. . . . Hold your breath for a moment as these energies combine with your love. . . . With each out-breath, experience the growing life-force energy, intelligence, love, and radiance that extend throughout your body and beyond. Notice how the Heart Breath works like bellows, fanning the fire until you are sitting within the bright glow that radiates from your inner heart flame. . . .

When you feel yourself in that perfect place of equilibrium between Earth and Sky, you are ready to move forward with whatever process or exercise is before you, or simply meditate quietly within this glow until you are ready to open your eyes. . . .

Reprinted with permission of the publisher,
Bear & Co. (a division of Inner Traditions International).
©2011 by Nicki Scully & Mark Hallert. http://www.innertraditions.com


This article was adapted with permission from the book:

Planetary Healing: Spirit Medicine for Global Transformation
by Nicki Scully and Mark Hallert.

Planetary Healing by Nicki Scully & Mark HallertShamanic healer Nicki Scully and visionary Mark Hallert reveal how to move beyond feeling helpless and overwhelmed by global crises so we can make a difference in the world through active participation in healing ourselves, our families, our communities, and the planet. This book serves as a guide to navigate the coming global transformation and help co-create a new Golden Age. Accompanied by a 78-minute CD of a guided visualization ceremony.

For more Info and/or to Order this book.


About the Authors

Nicki Scully & Mark Hallert, authors of Planetary HealingNicki Scully has been a healer and teacher of shamanism and the Egyptian mysteries since 1978. She lectures worldwide and specializes in spiritual tours to sacred sites in Egypt, Peru, and other countries. She is the author of Power Animal Meditations and Alchemical Healing, and the co-author of Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt and The Anubis Oracle. Nicki lives in Eugene, Oregon, where she maintains a comprehensive healing and shamanic consulting practice.

Mark Hallert is a visionary and cofounder, with Nicki Scully, of Shamanic Journeys, Ltd., which specializes in spiritual tours to sacred sites in Egypt and other countries. He lives in Eugene, Oregon, with Nicki, where they maintain a comprehensive healing and shamanic consulting practice.

Visit them at:  www.planetaryhealingbook.com & www.shamanicjourneys.com.