Heart Yoga: 5-Week Meditation Course to Heal and Awaken the Heart

A gentle 5-week meditation journey into loving-kindness, compassion, and emotional healing, to centre, soften and reconnect the heart with its natural warmth, inner ease, and quiet joy.

The course unfolds as a clear, step-by-step practice, helping you develop experiential understanding and a clear sense of the underlying principles, so the meditation can be taken confidently into daily practice and life.

*This course is designed to be experienced in a small group, and we’ll run it provided there’s enough interest to create a supportive and shared group atmosphere (around five people or more).

When? Tuesdays, 7:30–9:30pm (every Tuesday for 5 weeks)
Dates? Tuesday 27th January – Tuesday 24th February 2026
Where? Studio above Sleepstore Chester, Sealand Road, CH1 4LS
Next to Stokers Furniture. Ample parking at Sleepstore. Please enter via the stairs to the left of the building, and feel free to arrive up to 15 minutes early, make yourself a tea, and get settled before we begin.
Led by Nataraja — an Acharya (instructor) for Amrita Mandala, a modern spiritual path of meditation, healing, and awakening.

What is this course?
This 5-week course is a gentle yet transformative introduction to a loving-kindness and compassion practise called Tonglen (meaning ‘sending and receiving’), a simple classic Tibetan Buddhist meditation for heart-centring and emotional healing.

Throughout life our hearts accumulate layers of tension, disappointment, stress, hurt and grief. Over time this creates a subtle hardening – a sense of heaviness or distance from our natural joy. We may feel ourselves withdrawing, becoming guarded, fatigued, or disconnected from ourself and others.

This course guides you step-by-step back toward the natural softness, warmth, and aliveness that already exists beneath those layers. Tonglen gently reverses our usual approach to happiness. Instead of avoiding what’s difficult, we learn how to meet experience with openness and compassion — and in doing so, the heart realises a deeper sense of ease and wholeness. And we rediscover a simple truth: our capacity for love, compassion, and openness was never lost.

Though the method is simple, it stirs deep layers. When practised regularly, Tonglen helps the heart gradually unwind and become more resilient – and we find ourselves opening to life more fully.

What to expect?
The 5 weeks follow a clear and supportive progression, including:

• The essential components of Tonglen taught in an accessible way.
• A simple sequence of techniques you can practise at home.
• Working with inner spaciousness, natural ease, simple visualisation, light breathing, and the heart’s natural wish for wellbeing not just for oneself but for all.
• Gentle home practices to integrate the teachings into daily life.
• Supportive group reflection and space for questions.

Tonglen is both uplifting and honest. It reveals warmth and bliss, but also moments where we meet our inner blocks, fears, or frozen emotional patterns. This is a natural part of the healing process, and we approach with patience, compassion, and grounded presence.

The Benefits?
As the practice deepens, many people notice emotional patterns and inner tensions gradually softening and releasing, allowing energy and feeling to move more freely through the heart.

As a result the heart can begin to feel lighter and freer. There may be a sense of emotional ease and resilience, reduced stress and self-protection. A deepening sense of connection with others, and a natural joy that feels authentic and unforced.

Everyone is welcome including beginners.

We have chairs or cushions to sit on and blankets to stay warm. Wear clothing comfortable enough to meditate in, & bring an open mind.

If you know someone who might benefit from this course, feel free to share the event link with them. This is our first run of the course and is offered at an introductory rate.

If you’re not ready for a longer course, you’re also very welcome to join one of our free meditation sessions listed in our upcoming events.

Click the sign-up bar below to reserve your place.