“The use of love is to heal. When it flows without effort from the depth of the self, love creates health.”
-Deepak Chopra
Last year for Heart Health Month I discussed the different ways one can encourage an open heart through affirmations, gratitude practices, heart opening yoga poses, and more. In writing that blog I felt more motivated to strengthen my own heart-opening practices. Learning to let go of resistance and pain that the heart carries is by no means an easy task. Yet I’ve learned that the fruit of this healing work comes back tenfold!
Letting Go of the Melodrama
Throughout my time seeing private clients for yoga and through my own spiritual practices a recurring theme has been surrender. Oftentimes our mind creates an attachment to an outcome, a situation, a person, a physical object by identifying it as a part of who we are. Then, when it is threatened to be taken away our nervous system reacts. Our ego mind is triggered. And our heart closes. Because we attach our sense of self to things outside of us and create these labels, it makes the process of surrendering rather difficult. Our bodies physically react when we feel like a piece of who we think we are is missing. This trauma response may manifest itself as an ailment in the physical body. You may have heard the phrase “your issues are in your tissues”. This is because when our mind speaks the body is always listening!
A quote I often reference is:
“There is nothing more important to true growth than realizing that you are not the voice of the mind – you are the one who hears it.”
― Michael A. Singer, The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself
In recognizing that this voice in your mind (the one that rarely shuts up) is not who you ACTUALLY are, you may find it easier to let these attachments go. You may even feel a sense of relief knowing that you are so much more than the labels we give ourselves (parent, boss, teacher, wife, Christian, the list can go on and on…).
Start by showing up for the things you love
Showing up for the activities/spiritual practices that fill you with a sense of joy and presence is a wonderful place to start. Make more time for the things that you LOVE to do. It can be as simple as taking time for yourself each morning. Before checking your phone – drink your favorite tea, listen to some music and just BE. The more you are able to slow down and create pauses in the mental noise, the easier it will be to let go and detach once thoughts start rolling back in. When we create this space for presence, our hearts are open and we are able to receive the messages and guidance we need. Trust that you are exactly where you are supposed to be, at exactly the right time, experiencing what you are supposed to be experiencing. This is surrendering.
Open Heart = Super Manifestation Powers
When the Heart Chakra is open, we are able to receive the opportunities that are in alignment with our highest values, our truest potential. I’ve seen this energy at play many times in my life. When I find myself being overly critical, pessimistic, tense in my body – I am also experiencing a lack in the sense of my desires being met. This is because the heart energy center is closed.
When one feels inspired, totally in-sync with the natural ebb and flow of the universe, and opportunities seem to come without expending much energy at all, the Heart Chakra is open. There are many different ways one can awaken the Heart Chakra. Click here to read my blog on simple exercises that help to open the heart.
Heal your heart, heal your life
In conclusion, moving through life with an open heart will help you to heal past wounds. Like vibration attracts like vibration. So, if you view the world around you from an attitude of “everyone/everything is out to get you and ruin your life” that’s exactly what you will experience. If you practice letting go of the narratives that feed the ego and close your heart, you will begin to feel lighter. The body heals more quickly. Once you work through the discomforts that come along with the process of surrender, you begin to feel more in alignment with who you actually are and what you came here to do. Others feed off of your energy and reflect back to you the same love that you cultivate for yourself. When you are able to separate your sense of self from the thoughts that run through the mind and observe from a place of conscious awareness, you recognize that love is always the answer. Love heals.
If you’d like support in your heart-healing journey I am accepting new clients for private 1-on-1 yoga and meditation sessions via Zoom. I would love to connect with you… email me at amiley@ampersandintegrative.com.
Namasté
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