What does it feel like when your heart is open?
Having an open heart does not mean we have more love than anyone else. The more open our heart is the more access we have to the love that exists around and within us.
It is available to everyone, yet some of us have hearts that are guarded or get attached, so it stops the flow of giving and receiving love.
I appreciate how the Universe gives me “lessons” to work with each time I take an intentional journey through the chakras. This week I have been very aware of my heart chakra and where it gets cut off from the flow.
A pattern that I’ve noticed within myself is that when I love something I have the tendency to want to hold on to it.
For example...right now I’m fostering the CUTEST (in my opinion) litter of kittens. 3 solid black kittens and two white bobtails. I love them all. It’s an amazing experience to feel that kind of love.
And as time goes on I am confronted with them “leaving the nest” and going to their forever homes.
I have only known them for 6 weeks yet I am attached. I love them ALL! The sadness I predict I will feel when they leave makes me want to hold on to all of them!!
Not only is this not a good idea...it is not the feeling of an open heart acting in service of love. When love leads to possessiveness and clinging, I know I’m out of balance.
Rather than acting from love I am protecting my heart from being hurt.
An open heart gives and receives love without clinging.
The heart chakra is associated with the air element, the breath.
If we held onto our current breath we would have no room for the next one. Letting go and creating space keeps us in the flow of life.
So, when we notice these patterns within ourselves how do we change them?
The heart chakra is a very sensitive area. We feel so much there. And this is normal. And this can be intense. And this can be painful. And this can feel amazing.
Because the heart chakra is so sensitive it needs a firm foundation on which to rest. It needs to feel secure (root chakra), in alignment with our desires and needs (sacral chakra) and we need to have boundaries to keep it safe (solar plexus chakra).
When we are grounded in the body through the lower 3 chakras our heart has the safety and support it needs to begin to open.
Having an open heart means that we are present with the emotions that feel good AND those that hurt. It is feeling what is present within us.
Only by acknowledging our emotions do they have the space to move through us.
So we ground and bring our awareness into our bodies. We presence our sensations and our emotions.
We become the container for the emotions so the heart doesn’t need to defend or react.
From this space we listen to our inner guidance, which tells us when the loving action is to hold on or let go. We establish trust in the flow of life.
The more we practice this, the more easily the heart will begin to blossom. We can begin to experience the depth of the heart.
In this week’s virtual Embodiment Yoga class we will practice giving ourselves the firm foundation and open space for our heart to begin to blossom.
Through our embodiment practice we can experience ourselves as the container for our emotions and not the emotions themselves.
We can develop a deep appreciation for what our emotions have to show us.
We can receive the guidance we need to make loving choices in our lives (we will see how many kittens I end up with!)
