by Alan McAllister, CCHt PhD-phys
The heart is said to be the most powerful muscle in the body. Energetically, each time it beats thousands of neurons fire, creating an electric pulse, which induces a magnetic pulse that is measurable well beyond the body. These are the strongest E-M fields that the body produces.
But emotionally and energetically we often think of the heart as weak or fragile. It may have been broken and torn in the past, and we fear it may be again in the future, so we are reluctant to really be present in it and experience life in the heart and from the heart. Perhaps the key word above is “think”. Our hearts are actually very strong and powerful, a seat of our life energies and our soul. They are the gateway for unconditional love to come into us and into our lives. These energies and aspects are really much larger than the old emotional pain and fear that we may have stored there and use as armoring against future encounters.
To access this strength and love we may have to release the mental beliefs, the thoughts of the heart as weak or hurt. We also need to find the parts that are still whole and heal those that are not. This can assuredly be challenging, but it is also possible and most worthwhile. When we close our hearts on the outside, we mostly close them on the inside too, and that cuts us off from who we are, from our own souls. This is a high price to pay.
One of the reasons that I love nature, is that when it is challenging to open your heart around other humans, nature is simple and clear. She loves us the same way she loves all of life, no judgment or expectations. It is natural for the heart to open in nature. You probably have your places that you like to hang out. Next time consciously invite your heart to open to the trees, or mountains, or water that you love. Letting your heart open, feel it supported by nature, loving you back. The wider it opens the fuller it feels. At first some old things may kick up; be glad and let them go. Be gentle and work with this over time. You are reclaiming the natural state of a full heart.
Opening your heart outward to nature, and feeling her reply, begin to open it inward. Find that same love of you from the inside. It is there, part of who you are, a natural state of being. Let nature help you as needed. Invoke love from inside your Self, call it up and wait for it. If you notice your mind trying to get into the act, give it permission to take a break somewhere, it is not helpful here. When your heart is open on the inside, to soul, to source, there is an unlimited supply of unconditional love that flows into your heart, until it is bursting.
When your heart is full from the inside, you will find you no longer need armor or protection that you may have now. You are strong, not by being tough, but by being full of love. We only go into the negative when we are triggered around the past. When you are full of the love that is you, and it is infinite, what can really harm you? You can be present, open, and yet powerful in your certainty and fullness.
There is a story I once heard, possibly about Alexander the Great, who had conquered most of the known world, and found him self at a temple complex in the middle of central Asia. The head of this temple stood in front of him, unafraid. Alexander was puzzled and said, “why are you not afraid? I could run through with my sword without batting an eye.” To which the priest replied, “I could experience you run me through without batting an eye.” And Alexander turned and walked away. When we are connected and centered in a heart full of love, spirit, Self, this is great power that does not need protection.
This heart is not open in the sense of taking on everyone else’s issues, or reaching out to heal the world. It is about being present: full and aware. In this place you know that everything else is also spirit, the world becomes magical and beautiful, and you can assist others as you choose. Just by bringing your being around them. This heart is open firstly to yourself, and then to the world in terms of connection and awareness, like being in a house with many windows. These can be opened or closed as you choose, to see out of, or to shine through, or to just be present.
We are co-creating a world where we can live this way, live all the time in the joy we find in nature or with a beloved. Creating a world where being in our hearts we can create our dreams and our livelihoods from this place rather than figuring them out from our minds. It is already here when you are ready to step into it. Owning it for yourself you will begin to notice others who are there as well. Walking through life with a full heart you will encourage others to match you and do the same. This is a world where we are not afraid to be present with others in a richer way, open to who they are, sharing presence, aware that we are all children of God and full of love that is waiting to burst forth to wash away the fear and loneliness that comes between us too often now.
I hope to see you in this world soon.
(© 12/2010)
