I hope you all enjoyed the YouTube clip yesterday in my post Psst I have a secret…..After dancing around the living room last night to Jennifer Beals anthem, I found Flashdance on Netflix. Was so excited because nothing says live from your hear and your life’s passion like that movie! All I have to do is hear the soundtrack and it brings me back to a time of innocence where following passionate energy was as natural as the breeze. Way back when I had a dancing career that began at age 3:) Yup it started way before fear had a chance to settle in. Dance was a way that I found my authentic self. But my dancing career is no different from many peoples’ story. So many of us moved freely world without a care in the world at an earlier age when worries of the past or the future had no space in the present moment. But then something happened, maybe an event, maybe a series of events occurred that made you feel that you needed to leave behind that playful youthful energy. You had more serious things that you needed to do right? Achievement, forward movement, being the best took over. You may even remember the exact moment when this happened. I know I do. You may be thinking, “ya I hear ya but that was a long time ago, I was a kid and you can’t just get into a time machine and go backwards.” Well I am here to say, that’s not necessarily true

In the book “The Heart’s Code” by Paul Pearsall, PhD, he writes about what he terms L energy. The energy of the heart. He came into wanting to research the heart’s energy through his healing process from stage IV lymphoma. In the first chapter of the book he wrote about how his brain wanted to believe the brains of the other doctors but his heart was yearning for something more. He writes “I learned through my cancer that when my heart speaks it does so much like a shy child tries to get their mother’s attention by repeatedly tugging on her skirt. Like a baby’s frustrated cry as it tries to express the needs without words, my heart sobbed in a primal language that can only be understood when we allow our heart to enter into the constant dialogue with our brain and it’s body and when we become sensitive to a much subtler energy than the brain is used to processing.” WOW, huh? What a beautiful explanation of what it is like when the heart is crying and the brain says “I can’t hear you right now. You are speaking Chinese and I have responsibilities that I need to take care of.” Yup, I get that loud and clear. Reminds me of myself post dance career and pre tea with you all. I bet you can relate as well. We do this, we turn off our hearts so that we can hear our brain louder. Pearsall states “We often say that the world is so hectic that we cannot hear ourselves think, but the real problem is that our brain is thinking so hard we can’t hear our heart think, so we are unable to tune into our cellular memories of the natural healthy rhythm of life.” So true! This is a very accurate description of the level of disconnection those of us living on the East Coast feel on a regular basis. We are so heavily intellectual in our region of the US that we forget that the true meaning of life is revealed by listening to the heart.
If all this is true, and we are not happy today because we are disconnected to our hearts then how to do we resolve this issue? Well when life goes this far off track, some have what is conveniently termed “a mid life crisis.” The mid life crisis allows for people to have affairs outside of marriage, buy expensive toys that remind them of youth, leave their partners and children behind to follow their lost dreams, etc. This never works because a) it is emotionally reactive and b) it is self centered and not from a true place of love and worship. Generally the mid life crisis to outside spectators looks sad and desperate. It usually renders the person or seeker of the dream frustrated at the lack of fulfillment that the crisis provided. This is because it about escaping and not the energy of flow of the heart It’s not called a crisis for no reason!! Instead, I suggest another route, one that helped me get to this place on my journey. Get quiet, anyway, anyhow, and listen. Listen to the beating of your heart, listen to your breath and listen to the longing that is trapped inside. This is where being intelligent can be a hindrance:) The more attached you are to your thoughts and fears, the harder it will be to hear your heart. I always share with clients now that the answers to what ails them are within, the path to unlocking them is to get quiet and listen. As a therapist, there are many people who think that I have the answers to unlock their pain. Any healing practioner or treatment is a guide along the journey. They do not possess such rare gifts, only you do.

Unlocking the heart’s code can be a scary long road for some. So make it simple. Today do something that makes no apparent sense rationally but makes you feel better! Maybe even great! You have deadlines, work to do, responsibilities to get accomplished, go for a walk. Feel the crisp air against your skin and the powerful energy of the sun . I promise you, it will not do you wrong. Listen to the subtle hints that are offered from within. They are your soul speaking your language just maybe in a different dialect!
Best wishes for a lovely day!
Cheers!