Joyful Heart Meditation and Healing Program

“You are the light of the world.”

~ Matthew 5:14

What is The Joyful Heart Meditation and Healing Program?

The Joyful Heart Program is a system of teachings and practices that guides us to experience well-being, to unfold our life purposes, and to connect with our spiritual nature.

Caring for our personal goals as well as for the well-being of our family and our community, the Joyful Heart program integrates the essence of ancient healing and spiritual wisdom with life coaching, psychology, and neuroscience.

This blending of ancient and modern wisdom provides us with a clear path for personal growth that quickly develops results and promotes profound changes in our being.

How is the Program Organized?

The teachings and practices in the modules have been selected, adapted and organized considering the physical, energetic and spiritual structure, requirements and needs of modern daily life, with its challenges and opportunities.

As human beings, our experience of ourselves and life is multidimensional: we have a physical body, our form, and an energetic body, our vital force; we have an emotional body, we experience emotions and feelings; we have a mental body, we have thoughts, points of view, cognitive functions like thinking, memory, creativity. All these bodies or layers of existence are coordinated by a soul body and a spiritual body that in turn lead to the highest dimension of Being.

Each of these bodies has its own unique characteristics in terms of function, expression and needs for being nourished and kept in harmony within itself and in relationship to the others.

The process of self-development consists in unfolding and refining the potential of our individual consciousness. For this we must consider and address this multilayered structure of bodies – layers of experience – becoming aware of their state. This is a sure, safe, and efficient way to move from a live of suffering, stress, and disease to a life of wellbeing, joy, and wisdom.

Through a sequence of 12 modules of teachings and practices, the Joyful Heart program offers us tools to:

• Support our health and well-being.
• Balance our emotions and reconnect with positivity and optimism.
• Develop self-love and appreciation for ourselves.
• Define and unfold clear purposes, visions, and goals.
• Cultivate a calm, clear, loving, and playful mind to address stressful situations.
• Maintain harmonious and fulfilling relationships.
• Help our family promote healthy habits and overcome destructive patterns.
• Contribute to the positive evolution of life and consciousness in our community and our world.

Sequence of modules:

Module 1 – “Healing Now: Self-Healing and Rejuvenation”

Module 2 – “The Joy of Meditation: Awakening Our Mind”

Module 3 – “Connecting With Our Inner Guide: Purpose, Vision, Goals”

Module 4 – “Purification and Transforming our Emotions”

Module 5 – “Healing Mantras and Sacred Sound: Enhancing Our Lives Through the Power of Resonance”

Module 6 – “The Wisdom of the Five Elements: Self-Care, Nutrition and Inner Alchemy”

Module 7 – “Relationships and Sexual Alchemy: The Teachings of the Sun and the Moon”

Module 8 – “Rediscovering Our Family, Rediscovering Ourselves”

Module 9 – “Dream, Death, and Transcendence Practices”

Module 10 – “Pilgrimage and Energetic Journeys”

Module 11 – “Sacred Geometry and Space Harmonization: The Art of the Ancient Master Builders”

Module 12 – “The Art of Being: Remembering the Light of the Heart”

Module Description

This 9-month module is based on the book “Healing Now: A Path To Optimal Well-Being and Self-Love Through Healing Meditation.”

The first step in the Joyful Heart program is to mindfully connect with our vital force in the present moment. This connection establishes the ground for our healing and spiritual journey. Once we connect with our vital force in the present moment, it is easier for us to heal our body, calm our mind, and unfold our goals in life for our benefit and the benefit of the world.

In this first module, we learn how our body, energy, and mind interact with each other. We also learn how to use their interaction to transform stress, worry, and fatigue, into joy, clarity, and well-being. To support this transformation, we use:

• – Breathing exercises and Healing Meditations.
• – Revitalizing self-massage (The Dry Bath).
• – Rejuvenating gentle movement (Qi Gong and Dao-In yoga).
• – The Healing Smile.
• – The Five Elements Healing Meditation practice.

These practices are meant to become part of our daily routine to help us regain and maintain our well-being and live a joyful life.

Module 2 – “The Joy of Meditation: Awakening Our Mind”

“The Joy of Meditation” module is the central vein of the Joyful Heart program. Building on the foundation established in the first module, this second module evolves our practice from focusing on healing and well-being towards the maturation of our inner divine potential.

Based on the progression of five principles—Arriving, Relaxing, Focusing, Exploring, and Resting—the Joy of Meditation module provides us with a clear and simple structure to unfold the natural calmness, stability, and clarity of our mind. The five principles of “The Joy of Meditation” can also be applied to enhance all aspects of our life.

Based on a sequence of five principles (Arriving; Relaxing; Focusing; Exploring; and Resting) this module provides the basic structure for daily personal practice. It is within this structure that we incorporate all the other practices we learn as we move through the modules. In this way our learning process remain structured and clear.

In this module we learn that meditation is not just about sitting with an empty mind. Meditation is actually a process to help us access our dormant potential. Therefore, our meditation practice has a direct visible effect in your day to day. To emphasize the practical aspect of our meditation practice at this level, each unit of this module contains reflections and questions on the principle covered. These help relate our mediation practice to our daily life.

Module 3 – “Connecting With Our Inner Guide: Purpose, Vision, Goals”

Experiencing our inner guide with clarity is of the greatest significance because it helps us make decisions, it keeps us connected to the higher aspects of our life purpose, and it pervades our daily lives with a profound sense of playful sacredness. Experiencing our inner guide empowers us to embrace our potential for personal fulfillment and to support others to recognize their own playful sacredness.

Module 4 – “Purification and Transforming our Emotions”

The fourth module has two sections: the first section explores the practices of purification. Purification is the process of allowing our potential of being to shine by removing subtle blockages from our energy channels and our mind. These subtle inner blockages, often held in place by repetitive mental patterns and limiting beliefs, may manifest as physical, emotional, and mental issues, either within our individual lives or within our family lives.

The purification practices open us to experience our innate, joyful, pure nature and bask in the virtues of our heart—love, compassion, joy, and equanimity—from where we can more deeply enjoy life’s magic and be of benefit to all beings.

The second section of this module explores the transformation of emotions to help us maintain well-being, stabilize our connection with our inner guide, and increase the positive flow of energy in our life. Transforming emotions means realizing that they are the natural expression of energy movements within our being as we meet life’s situations. Therefore, once our energy system is more in tune with our inner guide, we can use our emotions as part of our navigation system in life. To understand our emotional system, we explore the concept of the Six Human Needs to help us learn where are we operating from and how to consciously make the necessary adjustments to develop emotional maturity.

Module 5 – “Healing Mantras and Sacred Sound: Enhancing Our Lives Through the Power of Resonance”

This module explores sound as a transformative force that can promote our well-being, awaken our minds, harmonize our surroundings, and connect us to the inner nature of life. Since ancient times, healing and spiritual traditions have known that we are vibrational beings living in a vibrational universe. The practitioners of these traditions realized that the vibration of sound is a powerful means for healing and spiritual evolution. The reason is that sound, combined with our breathing, has the unique ability to quickly integrate our body, our energy, and mind our mind.

Using sacred sound and healing mantras is one of the simplest and most convenient spiritual practices we can engage in. It can be performed anytime and any place, both internally and externally. The regular repetition of sacred sounds and healing mantras is an easy practice that can provide truly wonderful results, creating deep transformation in us, without the time demands of other practices that require long retreats and sustained effort.

Some of the key topics of this module are: the divine origin of sound; the healing power of speech; how sound impacts our body and mind; how to improve prayer through the power of sacred sound; and mantras for healing, longevity, prosperity, happiness, compassion, and liberation.

Module 6 – “The Five Elements In Daily Life: Self-Care, Nutrition, and Inner Alchemy”

In this module, we learn how to apply the wisdom of the healing and spiritual practitioners from the past to our daily life. As we read in the Classic of the Yellow Emperor, the foundation text of Chinese medicine, compiled around 4,600 years ago: “In the past, people practiced the Tao, the Way of Life. They understood the principle of balance, as represented by the transformations of the five elements and the energies of the universe. They formulated exercises to promote energy flow to harmonize themselves with the universe. They ate a balanced diet at regular times, arose and retired at regular hours, avoided overstressing their bodies and minds, and refrained from overindulgence of all kinds. They maintained well-being of body and mind; thus, it is not surprising that they lived over one hundred years without showing signs of aging.”

Based on observing nature’s rhythms and relations, the ancient healing and spiritual practitioners understood that our bodies, as well as the world that surrounds us, are made from five basic building blocks. They called these “Elements” and named them according to nature’s foundations: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal. These practitioners realized that by following the cycle of these energies during the year and adjust to their changes, it is easier to keep our bodies in good health and thrive in life. The Wisdom of the Five Elements is a tremendous treasure to enrich our daily life and our understanding of the universe.

This module focuses on learning to observe and follow the natural rhythms to maintain well-being. From that observation, the module offers suggestions for our lives in regards to hygiene, nutrition, herbal support, exercise, immunity, sexuality, sleeping, and spiritual practice.

Module 7 – “Relationships and Sexual Alchemy: The Teachings of the Sun and the Moon”.

This module is divided in two sections: Relationships and Sexuality. In the first section, we explore the energetics of relationships, with emphasis on how we relate to ourselves—the foundation of all other relationships—and to the people closest in our lives, especially romantic partners and spouses. To understand what shapes our relationships, it is helpful to explore the role models we have inherited from our own parents and our culture. We refer again the Six Basic Human Needs, to illustrate and map how love can be expressed and interpreted in many ways. This understanding supports us in creating meaningful, loving relationships that consider the well-being, needs, and personal growth of everyone involved.

In the second section, we explore the energetics of sexuality. Sexual energy is the most powerful force in our body. If directed downwards through our genital organs, our sexual energy has the potential to create life. If directed upwards, through our system of energy channels and suffused with the virtues of our heart, our sexual energy increases our vitality and assists our process of spiritual awakening. In this section of the module, we explore the energetic principles of sexuality and we learn how to distill sexual energy into spiritual essence through practices of inner alchemy. These techniques can be practiced with or without a partner.

Module 8 – “Healing Our Family, Healing Ourselves”

In this module we work on healing our family structure and our relation to it.

We are all born in a family that presents the exact characteristics we need for our personal development and spiritual growth. Our family, with all its up and downs, good qualities and challenging realities, is the perfect structure to unfold our virtues and test our personal growth and spiritual practice. There is no better spiritual training program than the one our family provides each of us. Nonetheless, to be able to use this spiritual training program without exhausting ourselves, it is vital to have tools to support us in the process.

In this module, first we learn what is the energetic structure of a family. Then, we research the characteristics of our family, the specific reasons why we could have been born in this family, what can we learn from being part of this family, and, most importantly, how we can be of benefit to this family structure in an profound way that initiates positive, lasting changes

From this positive and appreciative outlook, we consider what are the traumatic generational patterns our family presents—such as abuse, addiction, infertility, divorce, mental illnesses, and suicides. Using the Six Basic Human Needs, we explore how traumatic patterns have affected our families, what could be their roots, and how to contribute to the healing of those patterns at the level of the subconscious mind.

Finally, to increase and stabilize positive energetic flow through our family, we learn: how to plant the seeds for new healthier patterns for our family’s current and future generations; how to strengthen the voice of the inner guide in our family; how to connect our family tree to the finest energies and virtues of Heaven and Earth using the healing sounds of central channel; and, how to awaken within our present family the spiritual power of our ancestral family through the practice if Bone Breathing Qi Gong.

Module 9 – “Dream Yoga and Transcendence Practices”

This module is divided in two sections: Dream practices and Death and Transcendence practices. Both sections of this module are explored from the understanding that as human beings, our consciousness journeys across four different states of being: the wakeful state, the sleep-dream state, the deep-sleep state, and the all-encompassing state.

In the first section, we explore the potential of our dream and deep sleep states. This is a crucial aspect for us because we spend about one-third of our life sleeping. That is about 25 years sleeping for someone who lives to be 80 years old. Our time sleeping is precious time we can use to restore ourselves and to discover the wonders of our mind.

To help us make the most of our sleeping time, the dream practices explore the importance of balancing our body and energy before falling asleep, how to fall asleep with awareness, and how to use the transitions between waking and sleeping states as daily training to die with a calm, loving, and joyful awareness. We also learn how to use our sleep and dream states to promote healing, unfold creativity, and recognize the nature of our awareness.

In the second section, we explore why spiritual practitioners regard death as a celebration where we can attain full and complete awakening. Based on their wisdom, we explore what death is, how to prepare for death, what happens during and after death, what are the different stages of the death process, how sleep and death are related, and how to help the dying and the dead. The purpose of this exploration is to equip us with the understanding and the tools to relate to death with calmness, clarity and joy

Module 10 – “Pilgrimage and Energetic Journeys”

This module explores pilgrimage as the spiritual journey a practitioner undergoes to sacred sites after having completed some aspects of her training. Unlike a touristic journey, the practice of pilgrimage is often motivated by an altruistic motivation where we attempt to generate positive energy for the benefit of all beings.

From a traditional point of view, the practice of pilgrimage is a model of how to experience our divine nature and how to approach the death process. The idea of going on pilgrimage is meant to make us reflect on the preciousness of our life and the possibility of death along the way. For this reason, as future pilgrims, we close cycles and resolve pending situations before leaving home.

Traditionally, the practice of pilgrimage is divided in three stages: first, before leaving home we undertake a thorough preparation that might take months or even years; second, once on the actual pilgrimage, we observe certain vows and daily practices that maintain us focused on our purpose and help us connect with the sites we visit; and, third, once we return home, we follow supportive practices that help us integrate our pilgrimage for our benefit and the benefit of others around us

An alternative to pilgrimage are energetic journeys were we visit sacred sites to experience their energies and learn from the structures left behind by the ancient master builders and spiritual practitioners. Both the practice of pilgrimage and energetic journeys are rich practices that blend our personal healing meditation practice with the traditions of sacred art and the art of the master builders. This module uses the pilgrimage along Saint James trail, across northern Spain, as the model to develop a traditional pilgrimage practice.

Module 11 – “Sacred Geometry and Space Harmonization: The Art of the Ancient Master Builders”

The spaces we inhabit have a profound influence on our health and well-being. Besides obvious influences like lighting, air circulation, and decoration, spaces influence us due to two main reasons: first, the energetics of the location where the building stands. These energetics include the influences of underground water veins, geological faults, and the energetic meridians of the Earth. And, second, the orientation and proportions of the actual buildings.

Since ancient times, master builders have been aware of the relation between how we feel and the energetic field of the Earth. This module explores their ancient art to create harmonious spaces that promote health, positive energetic flow, harmonious relationships, enhanced creativity, and spiritual growth. The module is divided in three sections, corresponding to the three levels of harmonization: Earth, human, and heaven.

The first section explores the Earth as a living organism, guiding us to experience the energies of underground water veins, geological faults, and Earth’s energetic meridians. The second section explores how our human consciousness can impact the energetics of the Earth we explored in the first section. The third section introduces the creation of proportions for building and harmonizing spaces based on the pathway of sun, the moon, and the stars. These three levels of harmonization are the foundation of how temples and sacred sites where developed in the past.

In addition, this module addresses influences to our health that are specific to modern spaces, such as the effects of electricity, wi-fi, cell towers, and electric power lines.

Module 12 – “Remembering the Light of Our Heart”

Remembering the Light of Our Heart is an effortless pilgrimage into the undefinable essence of all things. After having journeyed across the eleven previous modules, we leave behind theories, breathings, visualizations, sounds, movements, and prayers. The practitioner, the practices, and the results of practicing arise together as the spontaneous vibrancy of presence—the heart of all things.

Like a sailor adrift that, after having his senses purified by the winds of grace, realizes that he is the ocean, our natural experience of being spontaneously blossoms from the state of undistracted non-meditation. Witnesses of our consciousness, we experience unadorned self-awareness of being as the practice of all practices, the mantra of all mantras, and the prayer of all prayer. From this full awareness of being, all energies and sounds emanate to create the manifested universe. To this awareness of being everything returns.

Aware that I am, through our spontaneous self-awareness, we remember the freedom and joy of our divine identity, the expression of the fullness of the universe as it pulsates from and into itself. In the immediacy of being, here and now, we recall the vastness of who we are, the light at the heart of all things. And, as we heal, we become healers for others. Our being, the essence of all universes, vibrating with one single intention, “May all beings delight in the loving bliss and joy of wakeful being