Opening your heart is about training yourself to become more sensitive to the messages that your heart is giving you and also to listen to them and act on them.
I think also that as you go through the process of opening your heart it is really about opening yourself up to the other forms of guidance and intuition we all receive. If the brain inside your head is about ‘thinking’ the brain in your heart is about ‘feeling’. But there is also another ‘brain’ – yes I know it sounds a bit Frankensteinish – around our stomachs we also have neural networks so when you get a ‘gut feeling’ you are actually getting some guidance from your ‘gut brain’.
So – head, heart, gut – thinking, feeling, knowing.
Being able to recognise the messages from these three ‘brains’ and use the information and guidance is crucial to achieving a state of Self Mastery.
I honour and embrace my feelings
This exercise if about locating the place within you where you hold the things that are most dear to you. It is aimed at opening you up to this place and allowing you to tune in to that guidance when you need to make difficult decisions. And also to check that the path you are on is in alignment with what you feel deep within yourself.
The more deeply and realistically you can visualise this exercise the better. So if you can take yourself off to a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed for about half an hour that would be perfect.
First imagine that you have recently been to the doctor to have a complete physical check up so that you can update your life insurance.
The phone rings and it is your doctor’s receptionist telling you that the doctor would like to see you to discuss the results of the tests. You work out an appropriate time with her and soon you are sitting in the waiting room ready to see your doctor. Think at this point about what your doctor’s waiting room looks like. What do you see? How many people are there? What do you hear?
After a short wait your name is called and you are led through to the doctor’s room. The doctor sits down in their chair and invites you to sit also. Visualise what the room looks like, what your doctor looks like, what the room smells like.
The doctor looks you in the eye with a grave expression, “We’ve got all your results back” they say “but I’m afraid there are some anomalies in your tests and I have some bad news for you. You are going to die in thirty days. There will be no pain or degeneration. In thirty days from now you will simply and peacefully pass away.”
Think now about this news. Look at today’s date – think that on the same date in a month’s time you will be dead.
Now – what are the three to five most important things you would like to do in that time??
Assume here that you can teleport yourself all over the place instantaneously so if you wish to see loved ones who live far away you can do that immediately.
When you have written the three to five things down continue the visualisation.
Now – go back into the vision of being in the doctor’s room. Same scenario except his time the Doctor says to you that you have seven days to live. So, if today is Saturday – next Saturday you will be dead.
What are the three to five things you would most like to do in that time? These may be exactly the same as the first part of the exercise or they may change.
When you have written these down – continue below.
So – back to the vision again, except this time the Doctor says you have one day to live. So this time tomorrow you will be dead.
What are the three to five most important things you wish to do?
Write these down and continue.
Back to the vision again for the last time. This time the Doctor says you have one hour to live.
When you have written all of these things down tune into them all and determine where in your body is all of this located? Where is the centre of this feeling?
When you have located this spot you have found the place where you hold the things that are most dear to you.
Now imagine a sphere of white light in this place. Imagine this sphere as a portal into which you can place things and get a feeling reaction.
From now on you can use this to make intuitive feeling based decisions about crucial things.
For example – if you have a problem you have been thinking about for a while but are unable to make a decision. Take the question and literally place it within your white light sphere. Now without thinking about it just feel whether or not it feels right or not.
If yes – do it, if not – don’t.
This is the process of opening yourself up to feeling based intuitive guidance.
The more you use this method the easier it will become to ‘hear’ what you heart and gut are telling you.
Sometimes we find ourselves angry with those we love. This may be our parents, friends, partners or lovers. Rational thinking can get you stuck on who’s right and who’s wrong type thinking which in turn gets you completely stuck in that past/present way of thinking and by definition – going round and round in circles.
We need to find a way of shifting our thinking so that we can open our heart to the other person and find some space within ourselves to see a higher possibility for them and our relationship.
A relatively quick and easy way of doing this is to get a photo of them when they were about 3 or 4 years old.
Write down all of the negative thoughts, judgements and opinions about that person that you have been having. Then take the photo of the little girl or little boy and look at it deeply until you can imagine that little person standing right in front of you.
Close your eyes and imagine taking their hands in yours. Ask then for their forgiveness for thinking such negative thoughts about them and for being so judgemental. Explain to them what you really want from your relationship.
Now give them a hug, release them, set your intention to release the thought patterns that you have been having and to open your self to loving possibility instead – then slowly come back to this reality.
You may be ware that what your eyes actually ‘see’ is simply different spectrums of light. This information is sent to the back of your brain to an area called the Visual Cortex.
This part of your brain translates all the little bits of information into a picture which is what you see when you look at things.
You can train your brain to take information from your heart as well.
Start by tapping on the middle of your chest with two fingers from each hand. Be conscious of the feeling of tapping on your chest and let your brain be very aware of where this is in your body.
Now slowly tap up your body, going with either hand around your collar bone, behind your ears and up to the back of your head where your two hands will come back together again.
Tap there for a while – again being very aware of where you are having this feeling in your body. Now tap back down to your heart again. Pause there for a moment and then tap back up to the back of your head again. This time visualising opening an energy pathway between your heart and your brain. When you get to the back of your head. Consciously ask your brain to start paying attention to what information is coming to it along this pathway.
This exercise may sound a little weird but it will slowly but surely open you up to the information that is coming to you from your heart and allow you to integrate it into the ‘picture’ that you have of the world.
What you focus on expands remember?
So – focus – start writing in your journal about the feelings that you are having.
Note down any intuitive hunches or gut feelings you have. Note down the times when you find that these feelings have given you good direction.
When you feel like you are in touch with your feelings set your intention one day just to follow your feelings alone. Spend an entire day simply making decisions based on what you feel. Ignore what your rational brain tells you to do. Ignore that nagging little voce of righteousness. Follow your feelings instead and see what happens.
Reflect on what it is like to ‘feel’ your way through a day rather than ‘think’ your way through a day.