When you take a moment to slow down, it’s often easier to listen to your heart.
If you check in with yourself now, who’s in charge at the moment…your mind, or the wisdom of your heart…?
If you aren’t used to asking yourself this, the difference can be tricky to notice.
To me, the greatest indicator is feeling…
When my mind is in charge, I feel a little more frantic…like I need to “get things done,” keep putting one foot in front of the other, and get. to. where. I’m. going.
There’s a sharp energy to it…like a series of hard-edged squares to navigate…
My mind is constantly telling me a story about where I am, whether or not it’s safe (spoiler alert: it usually isn’t), and where I should be instead.
My mind has been conditioned by my experiences in life to believe that I have to keep moving to be safe…that it’s not a good idea to relax…
And the decisions my mind makes tend to be based on this underlying current of fear, formulating various strategies to get me to a “better” place.
When I’m in touch with the wisdom of my heart, on the other hand… I feel content…at ease…relaxed…
…My breathing is deeper. My mind is quieter, thoughts arrive more slowly, and can be observed and considered.
This heart-wisdom is the part of you that knows you’re connected to everything…
…that there is nowhere to get to…
…that you are already here…
…that now is the only time (and place) that exists…
And that here and now, you are safe.
And for me, this gentler space of moving from the wisdom of my heart, is the place from which I make (far) better plans and decisions.
The truth is, your mind isn’t actually designed to be in charge of big decisions…
Instead, your mind is designed to help you take action on the inspiration of your heart.
Heart-wisdom, heart-led inspiration, comes first…
…THEN the mental steps to act in alignment with this wisdom can follow.
One of my teachers at my Chinese Medicine Doctoral program brought home this point beautifully in one of his lectures on classic medicinal texts…
…he told us…you didn’t choose to attend this particular school because of the statistics on board exam pass-rates, or the curriculum, or the number of clinical hours…
Maybe you think you did, but you didn’t.
You chose this school because you came here and you felt something.
You felt something in your heart.
And then from there, you made it happen.
I loved that he brought this up, because it’s so true. (And also because, I admit, I thought that this class on texts that were over 2,000 years old, often written in dense poorly translated language, might be boring…thankfully, I was wrong!)
So I invite you to take a moment to slow down now…
Knowing that you are safe and that all is well…
….what inspiration comes to you when you listen to your heart?
I invite you to join me in this self-inquiry practice, many times throughout the day.
Take a few deep breaths, really feeling your chest and belly rise and fall…
….place your hands over your heart, and ask yourself…
“Am I in touch with the wisdom of my heart, or am I listening to the story from my mind?”
And once you notice…can you choose to engage with your heart?
Choose to trust the wisdom of your heart?
Choose to make decisions from this space…instead of the more fraught territory of your mind?
I invite you to practice shifting from your mind’s story to your heart’s wisdom…more and more often…
…feeling into that gentler, calmer, more-connected space…
…and see what unfolds
I’m excited for what we can experience, individually and collectively, as we choose this experience, more and more.
And if you enjoy this practice, you may also like this guided meditation on releasing patterns of overthinking + checking in with your heart. ❤️
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