The Heart is What Will Save Us
“The heart is what will save us.”
These words have been ringing through my ears and vibrating through my body for the past few days.
As I watch at the news and the horrors in Gaza, as I take in the shaming and blaming in the media and on social platforms, as I read words empty of feeling and full of judgement and righteousness, I come back to these words.
As I see downed trees all around my city, as I worry about what’s to come with climate changes, as I feel myself speed up to do more, as I watch anxiety rise, I come back to these words.
The heart is what will save us.
Living in and through the heart is what is needed right now.
So many of us have hearts that are hurting right now. So many of us have hearts that are closed. So many of our hearts are afraid to open because it hurts so much.
All of this is understandable. Yet, far too few of us are doing anything about it.
Far too few of us are actively seeking to befriend our heart, to slowly lure them out of their protective hiding, and court them in the devotion of love, inviting them to feel again.
The heart brings us into presence with our felt experience, and can allow us to feel compassion for not only our fellow humans, but also our beloved Earth kin.
The heart offers compassion for not only those we agree with, but also those we do not.
We’re exploring the heart chakra and the wise ways of the heart right now in the Golden Stone Wisdom School. Hawthorn is our guide for this module as we tap into the heart’s ability to receive and perceive subtle energies from the world around us.
This week, we sat in meditation with the spirit of Hawthorn. I was shown how a flexible heart is a healthy heart, as Hawthorn wrung me and my body out like a wet towel, bringing in fresh water, and supporting my ability to contract and contort and remain in tact.
In a flexible heart, all is welcome. All feelings are welcome to be felt. All perspectives are welcomed to be heard. And all aspects of us are loved.
Because the heart is at the intersection of the lower three “material” chakras, and the upper three “spiritual” chakras, the heart has the unique ability to hold both the material and spiritual planes of existence together.
Multiple truths are welcomed.
It is in this alchemy of the heart where we can find the totality of our experience and existence here on Earth as a spiritual being.
As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I’m not interested in “ascending” my lower chakras and material living in exchange for the upper chakras and a purely spiritual life.
I’m also not interested in giving up my spiritual lens and wider perception of reality in exchange for the as-it-appears world.
What I’m interested in is the alchemy and magic that happens when we bring the two together.
This is the magic of the heart.
The heart knows we need both spiritual and material solutions to shift us from the ingrained patterns of devastation and separation humans have been playing out for centuries.
The heart knows that we need to come together in our differences in order to evolve.
The heart knows we need to feel, not think and critique, our way through.
So, dear sensitive soul, shall we connect with our heart?
PRACTICE:
*Place your hands on your heart.
*Take several deep, slow breaths, and invite a softness to surround the heart.
*Let your heart know it’s safe. That it’s ok to feel.
*Now, conjure all the compassion for your own heart and self that’s available to you.
*Beam yourself compassion for whatever it is you’re feeling or going through. Let this compassion surround the heart like a soft blanket.
*After that feels complete, beam out compassion and prayer to all those suffering right now. Known and unknown.
*When you're finished welcome yourself back to the room. And let your heart guide you in an action of love for the world.
