If you are looking for me you will often find me lost in the thoughts in my head.
My head has been known to swirl around for hours, going over things again and again. For most of my life, I have always lead with my head.
My head is a faithful companion, it is sharp too. It notices things, details, body language, it is observant and quick-witted. However, my head can also be very demanding, very fear driven and very over-powering.
In fact, my head can very quickly get caught up in thoughts, caught up in details and caught up in “what if’s”, so much so that my head can get mean, nasty and ego-infused.
My head and I had not been on good terms for a while, so I decided to leave my comfortable abode and trek on down further into my body into my heart center.
In the heart center, there are no thoughts. There are no words. All there is are feelings.
I explored this new found territory for a moment and suddenly felt euphoric. Through turning off my head and mind, suddenly I could feel things instead of thinking things.
Throughout the course of a few days, I tried to operate from my heart. From a place of feeling.
This allowed me to-
- Understand my intuition
- Make decisions quicker and with ease (not with constant back and forth)
- Follow my highest path
- Feel good
- Tame my overactive mind
- Be more creative
Following my heart allowed me to access a different energy, a different way of being that was more open and more freeing. When I started leading with my heart, it started telling me things my mind would never have been able to conceive.
The heart has its own way of communicating, and when you can understand the messages of your heart and allow it to take the lead, it can truly allow you to align with your highest path.
This is not to say that the head and the mind are to be ignored, they too are very valuable, however finding a balance is key.
Some situations call for you to use your head, some call to use your heart, and when you have both allies on your side, life becomes that more graceful.
But how do you lead with your heart? How do you turn off your mind and travel into your heart center?
Step 1: Make sure there is room for you to travel into your heart
Is your heart boxed up or under lock and chain. Don’t worry, a lot of people move through life like this and at one point, this was how I operated too.
Releasing your heart and opening it to the world takes courage, commitment and surrender, however it is not as hard as you think.
Just the intention to open your heart can be all you need to start releasing some of the chains.
Here are some valuable heart opening exercises:
- How do you really feel? Get in touch with your emotions through journalling, dancing or creating art. Do whatever you can to release and feel your emotions. If something painful comes up, just breathe with it, and allow yourself to feel it. It will pass if you sit with it.
- Forgive yourself and others. Forgiveness truly is the way into the heart, as it is often through betrayal and pain that we close the heart in the first place. Start with forgiving yourself and them move on to others. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that you tolerate bad behaviour, forgiveness means that you accept the situation and send the situation loving white light.
- Look at yourself in the mirror, look deep into your eyes and say “I love you”. You can also say other compliments to yourself like, “I am so beautiful.”
- Feel gratitude for your body. Thank it for supporting and holding you.
- Stand up nice and tall. Place your hands on your heart and then open your arms nice and wide, like you are acting out the motion of releasing your heart. As you open your arms you can even let out a loud exhale or “Ha” sound.
- Inhale a beautiful white, pink or green light that travels down into your heart and clears any blocks and wounds. As you exhale, imagine the blocks and wounds being released with your breath.
- Meditate- turn off your mind and travel into your body, this will allow you to activate your heart center.
As you can see, there are many ways to open your heart. Explore all of them throughout the next few weeks and see which ones really resonate with you.
Opening and working from your heart really takes time and practice, but once you have strengthened your heart center, it truly will become a valuable guide.
Step 2: Ask Your Heart by Feeling
Now that your heart center is vibrating to the tune of love, it is time to start applying this energy into the real world.
When a situation comes up that you need some guidance on, turn off your mind and travel into your heart. How does it feel? What feelings it is communicating to you?
Remember, the heart doesn’t think in thoughts, it thinks in feelings, so if you find your mind taking over, gently shut it off and push your energy further down your body.
Sit in the feelings of heart for a moment. The heart has a powerful electromagnetic field (stronger than the brains), and if it is open, you will feel the answer.
Step 3: Allow your heart to take the lead
My natural reaction is to lead with my head whereas other people’s natural reaction is to lead with their heart. Both are great! If you are naturally “heady” own it, but also remind yourself that you have other tools to work with.
When you start to tune into your heart for some of life’s decisions, it can help you to tune into your highest path.
Your heart allows you to follow your feelings and intuition, and sometimes your feelings can truly be the most powerful way to know the path forward.
Feelings can’t be argued with either. There is no debate when it comes to how you feel, so following your heart can give you a sense of clarity and knowingness.
Leading with your heart can also be extremely powerful and can take you in a direction that you never dreamed of for yourself. This is because the heart and the soul often operate together and your soul always knows the truth.
Step 4: Let Unconditional Love into your life
When you follow your heart, it also allows you to bring more loving energy into your life.
For your heart to be truly open and active, you have to love yourself and the more you can work on this, the more life will truly open up to you in magical and wonderful ways.
For some, allowing your heart to speak will take constant practice and conscious effort, but the results are well worth it.
