760th Week: Heart-Centered Living

As I wrote this practice, I was on vacation and had planned not to do any work-related activities while out of town.  I spent the first week in a family-oriented resort that touched me in a way that has stayed with me and left me wanting to share what I feel is the underlying dynamic that brought a vividly heart-centered experience to me.

One of the themes I’ve written about many times is the importance of recognizing that every quality we express is its own frequency.  We radiate qualities and frequencies as we move through the world and this is true of individuals, groups, and places.  I’ve written before about how it can be a powerful experience to tune into the quality of a building or a place in nature and to resonate with what you find there.

At this particular family resort, there was a pervasive quality of what I can only call “happiness”.  As a trauma specialist, it was heart-opening and heart-nourishing to watch parents with children of all ages interacting with kindness, interest, and a focus on fun. Again and again, I saw parents engaged in play with their children, and families engaged in enthusiastic and laughter-filled “team” activities.  Even the trees and many animals around the property—deer, chipmunks galore, birds, geese, fish, and the occasional bear—seemed to also resonate with a fundamental and underlying experience of being welcomed and at ease.

What this experience vividly reminded me of is the importance of the quality of frequencies within which we live and unfold our daily activities, as well as the importance of the frequencies we emanate and add to the environments we enter. One of the things that can enhance the quality of frequencies that a building, space, or place in nature emanates is for us to bring to these places expressions of gratitude and, if you resonate with this practice, blessing.  Our appreciation for anything seems to bring it more alive, allowing it to radiate energies/frequencies that enhance a sense of well-being.

One of the things I noticed at the resort was how the fun and happiness radiating from the people who were there combined with the generous accessibility and friendliness of the staff and the quality in the buildings themselves to create a general atmosphere of well-being that seemed to touch all of us. What became clear at the end of the week was how many of these families come back the same week every year, so there was also a deep sense of connection and relationship amongst many people.  What struck me was how palpable the energy of connection was and how it reached out and embraced those of us who were there for the first time.

For this week’s practice, I invite you to pay even more attention to the energies, qualities, and frequencies around you, as well as to those you emanate into your environment as you move through your daily activities.  Notice what you experience at an energy level as you move into and out of group experiences or places where many people gather and spend time. If you notice that you are in a negative or stressed state, take a moment to bring your awareness to your heart space and think of something that moves you, or that you love (as you would if you were using HeartMath practice).  Then, as you continue to focus in your heart space, breathing in and out through the heart, notice what shifts in the quality of the energies you radiate into your environment.  Also notice how the environment might respond to your more positive energies/frequencies.

One of the heart-based practices I do is based on one that Thich Nhat Hanh has used over many years.  This is my adaptation of it.  Breathing in and out through the heart, I mentally say the following words:

On the in-breath:        Breathing in, I am filled with gratitude; On the out-breath:      Breathing out, I radiate love and blessings.

As with all these practices, there’s really no right way to do this one. Instead, I hope you will use it to enhance your awareness of the frequencies and qualities that radiate into your world and into your own experience.  It helps to remember that you can change frequencies at any time, once you recognize that the one with which you are resonating doesn’t feel good or right to you.  

And, please remember to bring along curiosity as your constant companion and, also, to pat gently on the head any judgments that may arise.  Learning to allow judgments to simply move on through can add comfortable and comforting qualities to the tone of your internal experience and quality of life.