Our hearts operate on emotion and the brain, on logic. The heart becomes aware of something causing us to want to take action but just as we’re ready to act on it, the brain jumps in, making its voice heard, sometimes creating a little confusion.
For example; there’s a history of heart disease in the family so every year you donate to the Heart and Lung Association. That’s an emotional decision. Meanwhile your brain asks the hard questions; is it the right charity choice for you? What amount should you give? Should you raise or lower your donation amount this year? The brain has access to all the data from our personal life experiences and filters everything to see if the idea is logical.
Many of us are raised to think things through, weigh the pros and cons, to talk to ourselves making it hard to trust our gut feelings. While the brain can manage all the critical thinking that needs to go into making decisions the heart can be an accurate predictor and a deciding influence on making choices that fit.
Together, they actually make a great team but first and foremost, one must allow the heart to lead and then delegate the logistics to the mind. It is this combined intelligence of the heart and the head that strengthens us. When we have control over our minds we are happy and at peace.
Action steps to listening to your inner truth:
- 1Sit comfortably
- 2Breathe in and out, at least five times, relaxing completely
- 3Tune into yourself; your entire body should be completely relaxed
- 4Ask your question
- 5Observe your body. Does it contract? Is there a heaviness or pain in the chest, pressure or back pain when you ask the question?
- 6If your body contracts the answer to your question is NO, an indication you should not do what you are asking for. If your body relaxes then that is a sign that the answer is YES.
For Example:
You’re buying a new house and you narrow it down to two choices. You still can’t decide. Using the above exercise, ask: “Should I buy house A?” If your body contracts the answer is no, if it relaxes the answer is YES. You can do the exercise again with choice B. Have fun with it and you will make wiser choices through this technique.
I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
~ Nelson Mandela
