What does it mean to have an open heart?
I see it as a practice of surrendering into higher, more expansive energetic states.
We are all individual manifestations of universal energy, much like a wave is an individual expression of the ocean. How open or closed we are determines the volume of energy that can express.
Fear is an energetic driver that causes us to close. I think of fear as an energetic operator more so than a specific emotion, covering a range of emotions and driving our heart center to close.
On the other hand, love is an energetic driver that supports expansion. When I think about love, I think of it as pure flowing energy in its natural, abundant state. it feels good to us to connect with this flow, and so we have given it a name and dressed it up in all sorts of ways. But like fear, it is more so an energetic operator than a specific emotion, and covers a range of emotions that stimulate openness and natural expansion to occur.
Our lives are constantly shifting and changing, in large and small ways. To adapt to these shifts and changes, we transform our inner landscape through grief, another energetic driver.
Grief is inner transformation. It can be subtle or shattering, but it allows us to let go of old definitions and contexts that either no longer exist or no longer serve us.
If you're trying to cultivate an open heart and heal and transform, you can't do that without grief.
Grief changes the container. Sometimes you need a new container to grow in because the old one either no longer exists or simply doesn't serve you anymore.
So the ways in which we experience the energetic drivers of love, fear, and grief impact how open we are from moment to moment.
Reflection Prompts For Building Self-Awareness around Energetic Drivers:
Am I trying to avoid or obtain a particular outcome? Why?
Do I feel safe right now? Is there a perceived threat lingering somewhere within me?
Is there a belief, pattern, or block present that I can let go of? What is informing my choices at this moment?
What do I need right now? What can I give right now?
Is there something here that needs grieving?
Practice This week:
Become aware of your processes and habits around closing. Check in with yourself regularly and ask yourself how open you are at that moment.
How open am I right now?
What energetic drivers are at play? Is there fear present? Love?
Am I holding on to something that needs to be released for me to continue to grow? Have I outgrown a belief system, mindset, or pattern?
These reflective practices will support you in building awareness of your own tendencies to open and close. When you become aware of your own inner processes, you see more pathways to shift and allow your inner authentic energy to emerge effortlessly.
Let's get this week!
xoxo
Amanda
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