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January 17, 2014

Shifting From Our Head to Our Heart. ~ Michael Heatherington

We are in the middle of an evolutionary jump.

We as a human species have evolved into a highly sophisticated animal that relies heavily on its intellect to create a more comfortable and complex world. We have done this successfully and rapidly over the last few thousand years, but now it’s shifting into a new era; an era where we move from the head to the heart.

The transition from head to heart is difficult for many of us, as many of us are gifted with highly sophisticated mental activities capable of wondrous things. But the time has come to move beyond the mind. Moving beyond the mind does not mean that we are losing the mind in any way, for it will continue to be of service to us.

It just means we will place the majority of our attention onto something else, a more powerful force—the heart.

Making the transition from the head to the heart is not always an easy one, especially during the initial stages.

Society and a majority of humans are operating more from their heads, so it is considered to be the norm to behave in this way. Therefore, when we try moving away from the head and into the heart, we may feel different and sometimes lonely on our quest. Feelings of loneliness are common in the initial stages because we are initiating a strong change in our lives. We may, through this process, come to find that a lot of our friends, colleagues, work life and even lifestyles will slowly adjust as things unravel.

With this, some hardships and unpleasant feelings, including doubt, will naturally arise. During these times, it’s important to stay with it and know that it will soon come to pass. Turbulence on the path is common, and I always say that turbulence is a sign of progress and you should not get disheartened. As long as you continue on the path of the heart, it will never lead you astray. New friends, colleagues and partners will come and support us on our journey in due course.

To help us on our journey, here are four definitive signs to identify primarily head energy characteristics.

1. The head takes time; the heart is quick, fast and spontaneous.

The head loves weighing up pros and cons, writing lists, putting things into timelines, planning them out in sequential order and so on. The heart is not regulated or bound up in time sequences. It will shoot through an idea, an inspiration, a vision or a course of action out of nowhere.

If you want to live more from the heart, be open to following the spontaneous insights from the heart. If you’re “umming” and “arring” for days or weeks over making a decision, then you’re probably missing the point. What was your original inspiration when the opportunity came up?

“To think twice is quite enough.”  ~ Confucius

2. The head’s main reference point is past experiences and future expectation; the heart has no reference point.

The head is always referencing from past experiences and basing all your future and current choices on those past experiences. While some past experiences equip us with new insights, it is not a reliable source of information. The heart has no past, no future to steer its direction; all it knows is the present moment and moves according to what unfolds in the immediate moment. Therefore, be sure to go beyond your previous experiences when considering a choice or decision; be open to new possibilities and new ways of looking at things.

“When we do not expect anything we can be ourselves.

That is our way, to live fully in each moment of time.”

~ Shunryu Suzuki

3. The head is primarily selfish and seeks things that are good for me; the heart is selfless and only works on things that will benefit all beings.

Being primarily head driven only acts to fortify the ego and the intellectual ego. The intellectual ego often acts as a trap and keeps us bogged down, not able to live from the heart because one has invested a lot of time and money into education and has learned how to harness the gifts of logic and reason. One develops pride in one’s own intellect, claiming their intellect as mine and therefore losing touch with the heart.

When living from the heart, one sees that all things, even an advanced intellectual capacity, is but a gift of grace and is therefore not actually mine. The heart person, because of their capacity to see things as not mine, acts in a way that supports all beings.

The head person, unable to see the greater picture and taking pride in things that are perceived as mine,can only act in a way that supports the desires of the immediate self.

4. Using the head usually generates some sense of strain, stress or effort; using the heart requires no strain and no effort and often generates energy.

There is a common cultural teaching that one has to work hard, to grind oneself down, to go through immense levels of stress, to experience blood, sweat and tears to achieve a goal.

What if I was to say that there is a way of being in the world and a way of manifesting our goals that requires no effort or strain? What if things simply came together through perfect timing and miraculous synchronicity?

Well, those who live through the heart tend to experience miraculous events every day.

To start to come out of the conditioning belief that one must work hard to achieve their goals is to not buy into that idea. Simply surrender it and give it no attention. The next step is to have a goal in mind but not be attached to the goal itself. We want to get to a place where you are not bothered if it comes to manifest or not—we are fine either way. Only through a complete letting go of our strong desires for success can success come freely of its own accord.

Living from the heart also feeds and supports us energetically, for we rarely come to states of exhaustion or harmful levels of stress. The key to living this way is to be clear in your intention, to release attachment to outcomes; simply be patient with it and let nature ultimately decide.

“Nature does not hurry,

yet everything is accomplished.”

~ Lao Tzu

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Assistant Editor: Kerrie Shebiel/Editor: Bryonie Wise

Photo: Courtesy of PhotoFrenzy

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Michael Heatherington