Living a Life of Heartfulness
In a world where mindfulness is often touted as the key to a balanced and fulfilled life, we overlook the profound power of the heart. What if, instead of focusing solely on the mind, we directed our attention towards our heart? What if we practiced what might be called "heartfulness" — a mindful approach to loving, with our heart as the star of the show? Let’s explore this together.
Rumi once wrote, “your task [as a human] is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” This profound truth reminds us that love is something that exists inherently within us, it’s at our core, and yet we build blockades, protections, and defenses against loving, against our true nature. Our work then, is to identify and dismantle the obstacles we've constructed that prevent us from experiencing love in its fullest form.
Welcoming Resistance with Compassion
What if we approached our barriers with compassion instead of resistance? What if, instead of trying to rid ourselves of our protective mechanisms, we supported them with presence and care? This is where heartfulness, as a practice, truly shines.
It takes compassion and heartfulness to heal our wounds. Heartfulness invites us to turn toward everything, even our barriers, with love, and we practice loving it all. It’s through this act of loving that we overcome and transcend the blockages.
Heartfulness Goes Beyond Mindfulness
Heartfulness goes a step beyond mindfulness – it's not just about noticing, understanding, or making sense of something; it's about what we do with what we are becoming aware of – it’s about how we get in contact with it. We must practice compassion as a means of healing, and this requires holding our contractions and our pain, with love and compassion. In doing so, we open ourselves to transformation and transcendence. Love, when nurtured and allowed, has the power to shift even the deepest wounds.
Love & Heartfulness is Available to All of Us
As humans, we are relational beings, wired for connection and community. We desire to give and receive love, and sometimes we question the value of both. It’s vital that we know – in our body, mind, heart, and soul – that every living thing deserves to feel love, and to feel lovable.
Yet, for many of us, there is a deep-seated belief that we shouldn't need or want love, that we can “do life”, without the nourishing, necessary and reciprocal benefits of giving and receiving love. These beliefs often stem from our wounded parts—those that have been deprived, denied, or rejected in the past. In response, we've developed protective mechanisms, convincing ourselves that if we don't want or need love, we won't feel the pain of its absence.
This closed system perpetuates the belief that love is unavailable to us, that we don't deserve it, and ultimately cuts us off from the very thing we crave the most. But love is always there, always loving. It is a constant presence in our lives, waiting for us to open up and receive it.
Heartfulness Has the Power to Change Your Life
Imagine operating from a place where you fully embrace love, both in giving and receiving:
"I love loving and I love being loved. I love and am loved. I am open to giving and receiving love. Love is always present and available to me."
How would your life change if you approached each day with this mindset?
Love is all around us, in the small moments and in the grand gestures. It’s in the sunshine that warms our skin, the earth that supports our every step, the fruit trees that offer their abundance, and the sky that provides life-giving rain. It’s present when a person driving stops for you as you cross the street, when a young adult gives up their seat to an elder, or in the smile you offer to a stranger passing by. A life lived from a place of heartfulness impacts everyone and everything, a life lived from a place of heartfulness is a life full of love.
How Can You Invite More Heartfulness into Your Life
Where and when can you open to love more? Whether it’s in giving or receiving, notice the small places where love is readily available to you. Embrace these moments, and let your heart be the center of your presence. In doing so, you’ll discover that love is not something to be sought after, but something to be noticed, embraced, nurtured, and shared, and something that’s abundantly available to you in every moment.
If you’re seeking a supportive community in which to learn the skill of giving and receiving, to cultivate both mindfulness and heartfulness, The Messina Movement’s various offerings are designed with you in mind. From private sessions, to our group program The Process (held both virtually and in-person), private in-person retreats, workshops and events – everything we offer invites you exactly as you are to practice and cultivate the skills of loving, being loved, and relating to yourself and others on a deeper level. We welcome you wherever you are on your journey!
Our signature group program, The Process, is open for registration this fall. Join us in our September cohort, starting Tuesday the 17th, or save your spot for October, beginning Tuesday the 8th.
Looking to learn more about me?
Check out the About Me page if you’re interested!
Looking for more ways to connect and get support with this work?
1:1 Sessions with Me
Join The Process, our online 8-week group program
Practice with our On Demand Library
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