getting to know your heart
When all your desires are distilled
Hafez
You will cast just two votes:
To love more,
And be happy.
There’s something about a new decade that feels pretty tremendous. I’m curious if anyone else felt a little bit [at lot] intimidated by the listing out of goals, or the releasing of what no longer serves usmoving from 2019 into 2020…?
What I realize each year and know to be true, however, is that every day is an opportunity to connect with ourselves and what we want or value most. This ritual is not limited to neither a new year nor a new decade.
Something I have found helpful in actualizing my dreams [or to uncover if I even want it in the first place] is to align them with my heart’s true desires – as in what lies underneath the dream, or why I want something with all of my heart.
Through my Insight Meditation studies with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, my recent foray into the work of Lacy Phillips, and my own personal practices in arriving at my most authentic self, I offer you 3 simple ways of A. getting clear on intentions [whether a new day, week, month, or year] and B. going deeper as to why your heart desires it, all of which will C. cultivate a clear path to help these intentions flow into reality.
1. Daydream about your most ideal future situation as if it is already happening. What does this person [you] look and feel like? What do you find yourself doing, whether it is something that comes naturally to you or something you hope to achieve [even if it feels far-fetched]? Follow the visions as if anything and everything is possible – go beyond disclaimers and hesitations.
2. Based on what you envisioned, what feels good to you about this future/circumstance, and what intention can you create that can guide you to these desired feelings? For example: if you saw your future self at a beach [it me!], what felt good about being on a beach [i.e. at peace, connected], and what intention would help you to arrive at that feeling [i.e. plan to spend more time in nature]?
3. When you have one or several intentions, pause and sit with them one by one, as if they are each a trustworthy mentor or friend. Start by bringing the attention to the breath – inhale and exhale – and then to the body with a gentle head-to-toe scan. After a few moments, bring one of your intentions to your awareness, and ask yourself “what does my heart want most?” For example: If my intention was to spend more time in nature, I would consider why my heart desires that. My answer could be that I desire to feel totally at ease with myself and my surroundings – especially because Mother Nature accepts us jus as we are – or to feel like I truly belong somewhere [spoiler alert: Tara has discovered that the majority of humans desire to belong].
*For guided meditations, check out my offerings at Insight Timer.
I find it helpful to journal during/after these types of practices, or even jot a note in my phone if I get a hit of inspiration whilst out and about.
It is important to let yourself loose in this practice – no inhibitions or guards, no shame or judgement. If those sentiments show up, say thank u, next, and continue with your visualization.
Getting in touch with why you might feel shameful or judgemental is a practice in and of itself, but one that could also be executed in a similar way – just by paying attention to how you feel and/or react, and noticing what’s underneath it/what the heart desires most in that situation.
By getting clearer on the connection between our intentions – be it daily or yearly – and our heart’s true desires, we can hopefully arrive at our goals by acting consciously in lieu of feeling burdened by [and as a result most likely squashing] resolutions.
What helps you to align your intentions with what your heart wants most?
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Onward.
Photo by Ian Nelson at Pepperwood Preserve, Santa Rosa, CA.
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