The earth spins on its axis over 1,000 miles per hour and sometimes it feels like it’s all we can do to keep up. We are a fast-paced, headstrong culture that is constantly in a hurry and chronically worried.
Our amazing mind has served us well to an extent. What’s missing in today’s world, however, is the balance of heart intelligence, the innate wisdom of the heart, to complement our very smart brains.
Current research shows the value of living from the heart. By utilizing these tools, you will gain greater health, feel less stress, deepen your relationships and enhance your creativity and intuition.
1. Shift your awareness
Because we look out at the world through our eyes, it makes sense that we assume our awareness resides in our heads where our eyes are located. A beneficial practice is to try to shift your awareness from your head down lower to your heart. Instead of just thinking about your heart from your head, see if you can actually experience the heart from the heart.
2. Focus on gratitude and appreciation
Science now demonstrates that generating positive feelings such as gratitude and appreciation can have a powerful effect on our health and well-being. By maintaining an “attitude of gratitude,” you’re setting yourself up to win both emotionally (those who are grateful find evermore to be grateful for) and physiologically (feel-good hormones cycling through your system).
3. Love thyself
One of the most incredible adventures you can take in this lifetime is learning to love yourself. Louise Hay says, “Remember the times when you have felt good about yourself and how well your life was going? Remember the times when you were in love and for those periods you seemed to have no problems? Well, loving yourself is going to bring such a surge of good feelings and good fortune to you that you will be dancing on air. LOVING YOURSELF MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD.”
We are often our own worst enemy and biggest critic. Loving YOU is taking the kindness and compassion you exhibit toward others and mirroring it back to yourself.
4. Forgive
When we carry around old hurts and wounds, it takes a lot of energy to continue to stoke the fires of anger, irritation, and envy. Forgiveness isn’t necessarily so the other person can come back into your good graces. It’s a tool for you to let go of the negative feelings and associations that are holding you back from your best life. By forgiving others, you free yourself.
5. Pay attention to the nudge
The “nudge” is the universe opening doors for you, bringing people into your path at just the right time, at just the right place. The nudge can be a synchronistic event or simply a feeling that you just can’t shake.
That nudge is often our hearts trying to communicate with us through the noise and chaos of our minds.
6. See fears as paper tigers
Amelia Earhart said, “The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do.”
Fear and insecurity reside in the mind, not in the heart. When you allow your heart to speak on behalf of your choices and preferences, you see fear as the illusion it is. You become unstoppable.
7. Journey inward
Learning to live from the heart is a practice and a process. It is a sacred journey traversing holy ground. The path is a simple path that leads to the adventure of a lifetime.
8. Dialogue with the heart
Did you know you can talk to your heart?
When you speak directly to your heart, you may be surprised to learn that it speaks back. Unlike the complicated mind chatter that exists in the brain, the heart responds with very simple answers: Yes, No, Wait.
Learning to tap into this guidance system provides decision-making capabilities that complement the logic and reason of the mind.
9. Strengthen your intuition
The heart is now known to be an intuitive organ that can process and communicate information. Studies show that the heart can perceive information up to seven seconds faster than the conscious mind.
Intuition grows like a muscle; the more you exercise it, the stronger it grows. Your intuition can guide you through challenges in business, romance, health and many other areas of life.
10. Tap into the force of love
The power of love is a primal force for good on this planet. A single force that resides in your chest.
The scriptures say “love casts out fear.” If you plug into love as your driving force, what can you not do?
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