Following Your Heart
We all know what it feels like to be stuck in our heads. In general people constantly over think everything. We have been conditioned in our modern society to 'use our heads', to analyze everything. To see, think, do. Then fear creeps in, doubt, judgment, criticizing every little thing... We can easily talk ourselves out of something which we actually felt very good and confidant about an hour earlier.
What we need to understand is that our minds, our ability to think is simply a tool. Something we can choose to utilize. A very useful tool, but when it runs away with us, when we let it consume and control us, when we identify too much with it, it becomes a problem. This results in increased fear and lack of actual doing. We don't follow through or we get very frustrated because even though we are “thinking” we aren't “figuring” it all out. The answers seem to elude us. And so we get stressed and then we simply give up.
The key here is to understand that we are not our thoughts. We are the awareness, the consciousness behind them. And so we can step back, breathe, become aware and realize that we don't need to get stuck in the cycle of over thinking. Instead we can open up a space for feeling. For intuition. We can trust that the answers will come to us in ways that we currently are unaware of. We come into a state of ease, of flow where stress melts away. Here you are making the conscious choice to trust in the innate intelligence that lies within your heart space. Feeling is more powerful then both thinking and doing when it comes to actively creating the life you want. Tapping into feeling allows us to be more present, to slow down and then rather then over analyzing we can make decisions from a more calm and present head space while simultaneously staying centered in our hearts.
So how do we get here? It can be easy to fall back into old patterns and rhythms. Luckily there are very specific steps we can choose to take to help us live more in our hearts then our heads.
Here is a short guide to help you get started:
When you wake up in the morning before getting out of bed come into a state of gratitude by listing all the things which you currently are grateful for. (Don't forget to include yourself and all you have accomplished thus far!)
Look in the mirror for 2 minutes and send yourself some self love!
Sit down comfortably for 5 minutes, close your eyes and concentrate on your breath. Don't force anything, just be aware of your natural breathing. Throughout the day you can always become aware of your breath, especially if you feel stressed or frustrated.
Bring awareness to your heart, be grateful for it. It beats every day keeping you alive!
Tell yourself 'I am enough' and 'I can do this'. Tell yourself any other affirmations which may be of benefit to you.
Become aware of negative thought patterns, accept them without judgment and then let them go concentrating instead on more positive thoughts
Finally trust your intuition, don't over think, ask yourself if that 'feels' right and choose from there.
Living through our heart center we can create a deeper relationship with ourselves and with the people in our lives. It is only natural that we then become more authentic in our self expression. When we make choices from this space we foster deeper meaning in everything that we do. So always follow your heart.
Laura Isabella Machny
