
A recent gathering of friends shared inclusive, understanding, forgiving, tranquil, confident, validating, grateful, comfortable, at ease, learning to be myself. Pretty great... and I made a pretty picture with all of them.
If you were to offer three words to describe what it feels like when you’re in your head, what would they be?
While I didn’t ask this of my friends, I might say intense, analytical, focused, confused, constricted, indecisive, judgmental. While not all bad, that’s a lot of mixed messages.
An obvious difference between the heart and the head, at least for me, is the quality of presence I have when I’m in my heart. I’m present to whatever or whomever. There’s openness, flow, receptivity, and trust. I’m not hooked into my agenda of task mastering one thing so I can jump to the next, excluding data that doesn’t meet my standard of what I want or really like (a.k.a. judgment), or flipping back and forth trying to make the best and most perfect decision.
With heart, things in life just are and I meet them where they are just as I am. It’s a refreshing way to live and each moment feels alive. It's pretty darn wonderful!
So how to live more fully in the heart, especially during these ever changing and disruptive times? (2020 has surely been the biggest convoluted mess I’ve ever experienced!) How do you come into heart? What are some activities or intentional ways of being that help you to be there more often? It’s different for everyone and I’d love to hear what it’s like for you.
For me, it’s setting the stage with morning coffee time on the back porch, eavesdropping on all the chatty birds. It’s purposefully tuning in to my heart and what’s alive for me there, meditating on spaciousness and acceptance so I can bring that intention and energy for forth. Heart is also pausing periodically throughout the day to rest and offer space as a transition in between different work activities (slow to know). And then, of course, my end of day gratitude and appreciation practice – what worked well, how did I contribute, and what does my body and mind need to rest.
Living from heart builds awareness, inner strength, personal choice, fortitude, intuitive connection, and resiliency... all desperately needed as we're experiencing these magnificent societal changes.
Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing more about the heart and its transformational qualities. Stay tuned. Stay connected. Stay in heart.
Sending you a ton of Peace and Love,
Shanti