Opening the Heart

It is normal response as a God-loving human to try to protect your heart. Many of us are walking around with a protective barrier around our heart due to past traumas. If we have any of these issues, we tend to push people away, keeping them on our protective wall. We become afraid to let people come close to our hearts that they might see our pain or discomfort.

When our hearts are open, we are able to see the beauty in everything around us. When open, we are able to connect to other hearts and be able to naturally co-create with Creator. Our lives will then flow freely and beautifully with humans and life.

So how do we let our shields down, allow ourselves to be vulnerable, trust other people and live with an open heart? This is the modern day challenge... to unify instead of dividing our fellow humans in this crazy culture that is being imposed upon us.

Being vulnerable can be a scary thing especially if your experience in the past was to get harmed. We could get ridiculed, laughed at, or get criticized. We worry that we could get excluded from our friends, family or social groups. So we hide behind our protective shield. But if we just take a chance, something unexpected could happen back from interactions with loving, caring people. They can reciprocate with love, kindness and support, if we just take that chance to open our hearts.

Maybe start your vulnerability with someone you know who might have a shared experience. Be brave. Take a chance. Examine the shame you are feeling form your past traumas. You don’t deserve shame from others, and especially from yourself. If feeling shame, forgiveness is required from your own, loving heart. These traumas are something that you experienced, but not the authenticity of who you really are. Center yourself in love in your heart with your thoughts, words, and actions. Feel it! Have confidence with love.

Practice compassion for yourself and others. Notice when your ego is hardened and critical of others because it deepens the negative patterns towards your inner self. Try not to hide your bad experiences deep inside yourself. Practice smiling to others which opens your heart. When someone else is acting badly, it is best to practice compassion for you never know what they are going through, maybe similarly as yourself. Instead of joining their bad energy with a hardened heart, maybe you could be the one to lift them up which will lift up your own heart.

Practice forgiveness. During these times of division, we need to try to understand others and respect them and their points of view. We can celebrate our sameness and celebrate our differences without isolating each other. Hold forgiveness in your heart if you find that it has been hardening with hardened feelings to others. Say, I forgive you and send love and respect to you. There is no room in a loving heart for hatred and fear.

Practice gratitude. Make a list of things that you are grateful for. Maybe read that list daily in a heartful way as a regular practice. Gratitude is powerful. It puts you into a state of acceptance, forgiveness and compassion as it opens your heart. Be grateful for your health, family, friends, or a support network. As you practice the gift of gratitude, you will start to see shifts in your life as the universe reciprocates its love back to you.

Listen to others. Hear their perspective as they just might enlighten you with thoughts that you would never thought of yourself. Open yourself to new ideas. Be a good listener instead of being a person who just dismisses ideas that do not fit your biased logic. Try to come from a place of love.

Daily Practices for Opening Your Heart

• Connect with the earth, spend time in nature, walk barefoot, allow the sun to shine into your skin and being.

• Connect with other like-minded people in your community who have similar interests.

• Use heart-opening essential oils such as Rose, to open your heart center.

• Learn meditation to focus on your heart center. Breath in and out through your heart, feel the expansiveness and your connect with the universe and God our Creator.

• Listen to inspirational, spiritual music that uplifts your heart.

• These practices will bring you freedom of the heart.

- Blog written by White Cloud Woman of the Four Winds

Member of the Panther Lodge Bear Tribe