Tapping Into Your Heart Space (What Does that Even Mean?)
When you’re looking for answers, where do you look? Do you rack your mind for what’s logical? Do you try and search for what makes sense?
I understand logical, yet sometimes being so logical is what’s so limiting. Our logical minds want things to make sense, and often, things that are really beautiful and surprising in life don’t make much logical sense. Logic will be there when you need it, although I want to speak to how something, someone or somewhere makes you feel.
Keep in mind that you feel from your heart space and you think from your brain space.
How something makes you feel gives you information that’s so unique and personal. Your feelings about something are speaking to you, whether you pay attention to them or not. Your feelings have the potential to guide you, while acting as your unique personal compass.
The more you pay attention to this internal instrument of yours, the more it will strengthen and help you make good decisions for your life. It can be very valuable for you to become more aware of how you feel about things rather than how you think about things.
“We remember 10 percent of what we read, 20 percent of what we hear, 30 percent of what we see, 40 percent of what we do, and 100 percent of what we feel.”
If you’re looking for answers, what would it mean for you to start practicing the art of feeling? Your practice can start by putting more attention to how people, places and things make you feel. Get familiar with where certain feelings sit and how they feel within your physical body. For example, where does anxiety lie in your body? Where does excitement sit? As you start paying more attention to how these emotions feel in your body you will strengthen your mind/body connection, which will be an invaluable asset to you as you go through life.
FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION EXERCISE
“Wait for your intuition to lead you somewhere, to do something or to reach out to someone. As you do this, one thing after the other will start to unfold. Within this unfolding, remain open allowing yourself to continue to be lead vs. controlling the direction. (Think of having a partner lead you as you dance: two people can’t lead. It’s important to follow and allow for this to work.) Your initial intuitive action will gain momentum as you continue to act and move forward without resistance. As you keep going, in time you’ll be able to look back and see how specific situations and coincidences have lead to your current reality. ”
Following your feeling or intuition is all about noticing the urges and desires that are calling you to act. Your intuition will never fail you if you trust it and stay in the game. Staying in the game requires you to be led and follow, rather than taking control by leading while using your logical mind. Your desires will lead you somewhere interesting and unexpected, that’s for sure. They will lead you to a very different destination then where your logic will take you as you “try” to “figure things out.”
Your intuition will take you to places that you can’t think up. This is why the unexpected moments and random coincidences in life can be so moving; these moments are not planned, you often don’t see them coming, which causes them to be surprisingly refreshing and extraordinary.
Your intuition is fueled by excited, new energy. Energy that is stripped from any routine or knowing. Tap into how you feel about things rather than how you think about things. Play around with this and see where your feelings lead you. I have no doubt that it will be really interesting.
*Above Image take by photographer Amy Lynn Bjornson.
How to Tap Into Your Intuition
When your intuition speaks; Listen.
When your gut instinct kicks in; Pay Attention.
It will do you much justice in this life to reintroduce yourself to your inner knowing. Your intuition. Your gut instinct. Tuning into this natural part of your make up will pave the way toward living a life that is aligned with your unique essence. Practicing and then honing your intuition will help you make choices that connect you toward your truth.
Without cultivating the art of listening to your inner world, it’s only natural to look outward for your answers. Ultimately you have to make your own choices and live with the consequences of those choices. This is how you learn. Even when you do act on the advice of others, the consequences of those actions will always be yours. Ultimately, there's no escaping self responsibility in this life.
Learning tends to be more impactful when you're in the front lines, making the decisions and bearing the consequences of those decisions. This is why it's valuable for you to take the time to get in tune and in touch with the inner workings of fabulous you.
A habit of consistently looking to others for your answers will disable your ability to hear your inner voice. Once that connection is diminished, your ability to trust yourself will shut down. This will make it difficult to make decisions that are true for you. If your inner compass is not functioning properly, the results in your life will match that disfunction.
After all, an action always follows a reaction.
With that said, if you're feeling disconnected from your inner voice, here are some tips to help you tap back into your intuition:
Ask Questions
Ask questions; Questions answer.
Let me remind you for a moment that you're not always "supposed" to know what to do. There are times when the empty space between knowing what to do and taking an action is required. It's, often, just not very comfortable, which is why we avoid it.
There's a lesson within this quiet space that can add to your character if you allow it. That space is where the virtues of patience and trust have the opportunity to grow. The quiet space is a chance for you to practice allowing, flow and letting go of your human mind control. This is often hard for us to give up because it leaves us in unknown territory, which we tend to hate. For some of us it's too scary, so we do many things to avoid it. We become chronically busy. We numb out. We do anything to feel more in control. These actions diminish any learning and, ultimately, delay what we're really desiring in our lives.
With that said, instead of being in the drivers seat of life, let go by asking outward. Ask questions. It's natural when we don't know where to go in life, that we ask a question. "Hey, where's the bathroom?" Take that very logical question and apply it to something that's not tangible. "Hey, where should I live?" "What career path fits me best?" "What romantic partner is best suited for me?"
Ask who? Just ask. Put the question out there. Verbalize it. Say it out loud. Ask who your heart wants to ask a question too. This could be a past loved one. The Universe. Buddha. God. Whoever that higher source is for you.
When you become open and vulnerable enough to begin asking these deeper and, possibly, intimidating questions, you will get answers. They will show up in different forms, but if you remain aware and open, you will get a sense of direction.
Here's a great general question to ask with any situation that may be pulling at your heart:
“What's the best choice that I can make in this moment for both myself and all involved?”
Bottom line is to get in the habit of asking inwardly and to something higher. It can greatly help you find direction.
Follow the Bread Crumbs
Life is constantly putting situations, people and events in your life to guide you. Pay attention to this. Follow the breadcrumbs that life is constantly dropping in your path.
Get Quiet
Slow down while making sure that you're doing the things that you need to do in order to feel peaceful.
Meditate, run, jump in the ocean, take pictures, go on a trip, ground your feet in the earth, go to karate, listen to music, cook a badass dinner, visit with a friend. Whatever you need to do for yourself in order to feel grounded and pulled together will help you quiet the noise. Discover what grounds you and brings peace to your heart and do it consistently.
Get Out of Your Head
Stop trying to figure it out. Life is not math. There is no “correct” or “fixed” way of how to approach situations. I would point you more toward tapping into elements such as grace, trust and flow. Get out of your head and into your heart. The voice from your head is often loud and intrusive, your heart is softer and speaks with a very different energy. Tapping into your heart will help you hear the messages it speaks.
“Cease trying to work everything out with your minds, it will get you nowhere. Live by intuition and inspiration and let your whole life be a revelation.”
*Blog image by Amy Lynn Bjornson, San Diego based Lifestyle & Wedding Photographer.