Leading with the Heart
My favorite color is green, so easy to find in nature, and it’s the color of the heart chakra. This chakra is the bridge between matter and energy, between earth and divine. I love the imagery of the heart being a bridge, and I like to think of it as a filter that purifies my thoughts and feelings as they move through me. The heart is the mind. It is where intuition and truth live.
A few years ago, I began to notice a pinging sensation in the center of my chest. Each time I heard or said something true, I’d feel the ping. It was the strangest experience to have this very physical sensation occurring essentially every time I allowed myself to feel vulnerable. Over time, the pinging increased and felt uncomfortable, as I was facing unwelcome truths in my life. I started to build walls around the pings so I could ignore them, but they didn’t stop. I explored this in therapy and consulted with an energy healer, and over time I realized that the pinging was coming from my heart chakra. It was happening because my heart was slowly opening. Every time the truth revealed itself, my heart opened a little more. It hurt because the truth was something I had long avoided, something I didn’t quite understand. The pinging confirmed an often painful realization I needed to face that would also bring about change. It would require my strength and energy to see it through, and I was afraid I couldn’t do it.
In my experience, it took a lot of pinging and a lot of unavoidable cues from the universe before I was able to look at myself and honor my heart’s knowing. It’s a process I am still learning. I am now invested in the process because it yields the most inner peace I have ever experienced in my life. Connecting to the truth of my heart, the bridge between heaven and earth, allows me to find something to love about myself AND about everyone else. It moves me from operating out of fear to living with love.
The heart is the bridge to non-duality, paradox, the idea of holding opposing ideas. It’s the home of uncertainty, groundlessness, and ambivalence. The heart is also where compassion is experienced and cultivated. As my heart has opened, I have simultaneously felt more pain and love than I thought I could bear. I have realized that I can deeply love someone, AND I can let that person go. I can be hurt, AND I can be grateful for the pain that woke me up and sparked my rebirth. Both, and. It’s overwhelming to think about, but it’s also intuitive. The heart is where unconditional love lives. It’s where I can filter my thoughts and feelings so I can honor myself AND have compassion for others. I don’t need to be at odds with anything or anyone. I can love unconditionally AND detach from people and things that don’t support me. I feel much more alive in the midst of the challenge to love unconditionally.
The external world cloaks us in ideas of competing, judging, conforming, and never feeling like who we are is enough. When I am connected to my heart, I feel it and I know it. It’s a reminder that I am more than what the world would have me believe. My ability to connect with myself, the divine, and humanity is limitless. When I direct my energy in this way, I see obstacles as invitations, and my own knowing feels more powerful than any message the world gives me.
