Can Love Lead Us to Bliss?
Feb 14, 2023
Can love bring us closer to bliss? Today is Valentine’s Day. There are a lot of emotions surrounding this holiday. Some are beautiful. Some are heartbreaking. What if we used this day as a springboard toward bliss? Not the “bliss” romance movies would have you think about, where there is a perfect ride off into the sunset. But rather, to get closer to our own bliss—our own true self.
In yogic tradition, there are five koshas—five layers of being (physical, breath-energy, mental-emotional, witness-wisdom, and bliss or spiritual bliss body). These layers or sheaths keep going deeper until the bliss body, which is closest to our true self, our essence and radiant inner light. How can we use love—universal and unconditional love—to help us connect with our true essence, and help uncover more of who we truly are?
We can start by allowing ourselves to feel. Feeling into the experience of love is sometimes easy and sometimes so challenging. But living in the flow of universal love can turn grayness into Technicolor. It brightens our inner vision and opens our heart up to new experiences, new people, new adventures.
It transcends fear or doubt.
Start by thinking of someone you love or have loved deeply. It can even be a cherished pet. Close your eyes or soften your gaze and breath into that love. Ask yourself: where do I feel this emotion in my body? What does love truly feel like? An openness across your torso and chest? A warm gentle sensation in your heart? Open palms, ready to give and receive? Really experience this feeling in your whole being.
Then place both of your hands over your heart center. Breathe deeply. Begin to turn that love, that warm delicate emotion, inward. In the light of love, notice now what it feels like to connect with your own heart, to feel into your own essence.
Ask yourself: how can I take this feeling and connection and bring it into my everyday life? By beginning this journey toward love and self, you can move closer to bliss. Closer to your inner light and then radiate that light out into the world.
