In these last few days, I have shared some practices that can help to calm and soothe – they sure have been nourishing for me. It seems like this surreal time can be a portal in a way, and it’s essential to nurture our inner lives more than ever. The body/mind practices help shift us out of survival anxiety and into something like trust and calm…and beyond that to a tenderness and softness that can be a both solace and guide. There it’s possible to settle into a quiet openness that is okay with not knowing what comes next. When I bring my attention down below the steady stream of thought, there is my full and vulnerable soft heart, waiting for my attention. I listen, dropping in to the flow of grief and wonder, longing and belonging. Simply allowing, breathing and being with what is, the innocence and wisdom of my heart takes over, whispering truth and holding all that is with Love and a kind of Awe.
To be open is to rest in the Heart. Turning inward for the way to be shown, listening without expectation and a willingness to receive, we know that right action may not look or feel like past solutions and may be mercifully simple. And the guidance that comes may be silence… to be open to receive is to trust, and if necessary, wait. The turning-in is in itself the nourishment.
And turning in, we may find the tenderness that arises in the presence of truth. We so depend on our vulnerability to take us deeper… it is the well of our courage and connection and creativity. It’s brave to open beyond what we know and go there, and it is, indeed, time to be brave. Shelter in your Heart, listen deeply, and trust the guidance that comes. So many of us are yearning for a deep change… Let’s dream a new world together, our hearts will guide the way.
Here is a guided meditation for deep listening and rooting-in-the-heart. May it nurture and comfort you…