The “Listen to Your Heart” Mumbo Jumbo-What Does That Really Mean?
3 fun exercises to fine tune your intuition and save you some future suffering.
“Listen to Your Heart.”
How many times have you heard that phrase in the course of your lifetime? In mine, countless.
So often in fact, it’s started to lose its meaning and become a rather boring piece of advice.
What does listening to your heart actually mean? And what happens when you ignore it?
To freshen things up, here’s a bit of science on the matter to feed your head and a few fun exercises to nourish your heart.
Suffering: the Price We Pay
When it comes to the heart, when we ignore its messages, those messages return in ways that often make us suffer.
For me, it’s taken the form of depression-the way my heart got me to see I needed to change career paths. Through digestive issues, teaching me to drop my perfectionism and slow down. Through a housing disaster, directing me towards a better place to live.
The heart typically wakes us up through our bodies, emotional states and life events. Things start to feel out of balance and in the extreme-catastrophe hits. It may come as no surprise then that:
Better listening = less suffering.
The Heart
The heart is an organ of enormous electro-magnetic intelligence. Sixty to 65 percent of the heart is composed of neuron cells (not muscle cells) and like the brain generates an electromagnetic field that permeates every cell in the body — but is about 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain!!
An electromagnetic field is essentially a broadcasting device so to rephrase: the heart’s ability to broadcast messages is 60 times greater in amplitude than the brain!
The heart is not just a place where we experience deep love and pain. Our heart is a legit guru.
The Brain & its Functions
A few words on the good ‘ole ego, that pesty character in your head who likes to obsess, control everything, set unrealistic expectations and play it safe. Most of us know what it’s like to be stuck “in the head” so let’s call this part “Head” for now to differentiate it from the other parts of the brain (or the thinking mind) which serve important functions.
The head gives us messages like: “Follow the prescribed map, it’s a sure bet. “ “Don’t take risks, you might fail and look stupid.” “Always plan ahead and never lose control.”
The heart says: “Do what inspires you! Dive into the unknown! Do what you have never done before!”
Let’s not underestimate, however, the power of the mind.
Our brain is a master at synthesizing information — information that becomes the books that change our lives and the words we hear from our loved ones which comfort. Thinking helps create order when emotions threaten to overwhelm and gives us the constructs we use to safely navigate the world.
And guess what?
The ego is not the enemy.
Our egos help us reality test, use logic to solve problems and get in contact with our personal power giving us the ability to define how we want to identify and express ourselves in the world.
All of these functions are important but when overused lead to exhaustion, anxiety, despair, depression, physical ailments, you know…
SUFFERING.
Yin Meets Yang
When we consult our hearts, we don’t abandon our heads rather we facilitate a dialogue between the two. We help them get back together! Which is what they want and what we need to live happier lives. In fact, reopening this communication highway is what our bodies require to get back in balance. It’s what gives us the energy to do the seemingly impossible.
Above all, when all parts of the body are in harmony, we heal.
So, let Heart meet Head.
Let Yin meet Yang.
Let your whole body make the decision and watch how things flow.
So, Who’s Who?
Heart Signals.
When your heart is speaking it’s a full body experience. Heart messages feel open and expansive. An idea will come to you with such clarity, it feels self evident or divinely inspired. It could also appear in its opposite: as a whisper, barely audible yet still present and notable. Through dreams. Your heart races in a good way, a “healthy” and constructive fear shows up on the scene. You get that gut feeling. An idea or vision won’t leave you alone.
“If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.” -Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Head Signals
When fear is ruling the show, we get obsessive and feel tired, our muscles tense and breath shortens. The whole body becomes constricted and your head may be the only place you may feel sensations. Most often, a feeling of emptiness dominates: something feels missing. When given space, an idea or vision tends to disappear or feel less compelling.
“The sharpest minds often ruin their lives by overthinking the next step, while the dull win the race with eyes closed.” –Bethany Brookbank
3 Techniques to Sharpen Your Listening Skills
1.Building Body Intuition
Say out loud something you know to be true about yourself (Here are some of my truths: “I am a writer”, “I love roasted potatoes” “Berlin is a city that brings me joy”).
Observe where you feel the answer to your questions in your body and what kinds of sensations arise.
Next say something you know to be false (Here are some of my hell “no’s”: “I want to go back to being a psychotherapist”, “I love liver”, “I want to live in NYC”.
Record everything you notice, getting as detailed as possible.
Practice next with a decision you made that you knew was the right and wrong one for you. Take notes.
Why record?
Recording helps your mind and body sync which in turn helps you remember the difference between the two. As you make a habit of this, you tune more fully into your inner guidance system and discover the particular way it speaks to you. Over time it will become second nature. No lies will get past that detector!
2. Journal
Journal about a question you have. Ask the question in first person from the perspective of the ego: “Head, what are your thoughts about which class I should take?” And answer in second-person: “You should take…” “The best thing for you is…”
Give your heart and head a name! (For example, “ Guru and Drill Sergeant or something less leading like Sheila and Fred. By animating them, the process becomes more creative and playful. Play is one of, if not the most, direct route to accessing inner wisdom.
Same drill with your heart. “Heart, what are your thoughts about which class I should take?”
Note all sensations as you record the messages.
3. Vision Quests (My Favorite Method)
I’m not talking about the plant medicine kind.
It’s the kind of quest where I ask a question and then engage in an activity. The question sets an intention. The activity creates the space to hear the heart speak. In scientific terms, the heart is brought into coherence, a state in which the heart, mind and emotions are synchronized.
The question could have a big theme (life purpose) or be more specific (which course to take or what foods are causing indigestion)
Next I do one of these activities: exercise, dance, meditate, walk in nature, go to sleep, asking myself to dream the solution before I drift off, take a vacation or shut off all technology for a day.
I listen/watch for what unfolds internally and in my environment during and upon completion of the activity. I’ve solved many problems this way from changing my career path to healing digestive issues.
Go explore and let me know your results!
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Much LOVE,
Danielle
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