More on the Heart-Mind Connection

The thought manifests as the word.  The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit and habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings. - Buddha

The mind thinks; the heart speaks.  The mind formulates what is said by the heart and you can usually tell which brain you are operating from by how you feel.  If you don’t feel good, you are locked into the head.  Feel good, you are aligned with the heart.  It is really very simple.

Yet in our latte-on-the-run society, we are continually disconnected from our emotions. We have become hard core junkies for speed and our thinking is focused on that which is outside of ourselves.  We check in with our cell phones on continual basis and very rarely do we check in with ourselves. 

All emotions are basically a thought attached to a feeling.  Both are energy.  The only impediment to feeling a feeling is thinking. Once we start describing a feeling we are no longer feeling it.  So in order for you to become more aware of how you are feeling, you need to expand your awareness of the thoughts you are thinking.

Negative thinking is always an indicator of resistance.  It is always of the mind.  This resistance will usually manifest in the body as tightness, aches, pains and disease.  Where it is manifesting in the body is an indicator of your thinking.  For example, if you are experiencing neck pain...you might want to ask yourself who is being a pain in the neck?  Got shoulder pain...what burdens are you taking on that you don’t want?  Skin problems...who’s getting under your skin?

If you take the time to listen to your thinking, you will discover most of it has some root in fear.  You will also discover that the mind has a tendency to react to situations.  It is interesting that when you break down the word react, you end up with re-act which is what the mind does.  It operates from past judgments and information.  In the world of the mind, everything is just a reinterpretation of events.

When you move to living from the heart, you stop evaluating people and situations based on past experiences.  You start responding to events and people based on the moment.  This does not mean that you never get angry or upset.  What it means is when you do get angry, you allow the anger and then you move on.  You do not harbour the emotion.  You do not become attached to the emotion.  You have the option at any moment to change the emotion.  Change the emotion, you change the perception and you change the situation.  All power rests within you.

Here are a few ways to connect with your heart.

 

1.  Smile with your heart or eyes.  It is said when we fall in love our eyes open wider and become softer.  So practice smiling with your eyes.  Pretend there is a happy face on your heart centre. Let your heart centre smile. Try it. You might be very surprised as to what happens.

 

2.  Lead with your heart.  Ask yourself often:  ‘What emotion do I want to feel?’  Perhaps you want to feel confident.  Ask yourself:  what does confidence feel like? What does my body feel like when I am confident?  How do I breathe when I am feeling confident?  Practice occupying that emotion.

 

3.   Suspend Judgment.  Stop evaluating life.  When you are evaluating and judging everything and everyone you are operating from the mind and you relinquish your capacity to respond.  Every situation is new and you have the option to see it that way.  Start exercising your emotional options.

 

Here is a catchy little tune by Goldfrapp...