Heart-Based Living: 9 easy practices to change your life
“The new frontier of human evolution is one that connects us, not just as a catch phrase, but in a deep and meaningful way,” says Ronna Prince in her documentary film, Sacred Journey of the Heart. What does this mean? “When we live in this interconnected way,we not only know it in our minds, we feel it in our hearts and in every aspect of our lives, in our relationships with each other and in every step we take on our journey to wholeness and love.” Ronna’s film presents the science and spirit of our connection and focuses on our hearts’ innate power to connect us, not only to each other, but to earth itself.
Here are Ronna’s 9 easy practices to change your life.
I see you
# 1) Making a heart-based connection with people around you is easier than you think! You can make a heart-connection to anyone at all in this simple way: look into a person’s eyes and silently say: “I see you.” That’s it, no words necessary. Try it and you will notice how this opens your heart to others. And often the person you are silently noticing will open up to you in a genuine way: with a true smile, a heart-felt “have a nice day” or even to a more meaningful conversation. Establishing a simple visual connection with another person can be the beginning of cultivating a more heart-centered life.
Self-Acceptance, A Deeper Peace
# 2) When you live in your head, or in the world of ideas and analysis, there is a tendency to ignore feelings and shut down your heart. In making the film, Ronna discovered that she was living mostly in her mind and ignoring her heart. One of the easiest ways to reconnect to one’s heart, says Ronna, is to try this simple practice: Look into the mirror and say to yourself, “I accept myself.” In doing this, you will learn exactly how you feel about yourself. You’ll instantly hear your inner dialog, and from there you can begin to give yourself new messages based on connecting to your heart. The rewards of being lovingly connected to yourself are many, including more energy, deeper peace, and an inner beauty that emerges for all to see.
Practicing Curiosity
# 3) When dealing something difficult or unexpected, we have a tendency to think about the possible outcomes in the future. We project, analyze and often, worry. If we remember that there is usually a deeper meaning in challenges, a silver lining in the clouds, so to speak, we can practice this heart-based action: close your eyes and ask yourself: “I wonder where my heart is leading me?” Adopting an attitude of curiosity opens our hearts to a wider perspective. This simple question can help us stay calm rather than forever being buffeted by the external winds of change.
The Art of Expressing Feelings
# 4) Expressing your feelings effectively is at the core of heart-based living. If you’re not comfortable with feelings in the flow of everyday interactions, try this simple practice: ask a person you are comfortable with, a friend or partner, to sit with you as you practice simple feelings-based phrases like: “I feel lonely. I feel content. I feel sad.” In response, your partner simply reflects this back to you by saying, “I feel your loneliness, I feel your contentedness, I feel your sadness, and it’s OK” – even if he or she doesn’t feel it. This is very powerful and will bring forth a lot of emotion, so do it with someone you trust.
Knowing what matters most
#5) If you live from your heart, you absolutely know what matters most to you at a core level. Heart-based living is about conscious choice in alignment with your values. It means that when change happens, as it always does, you are not left reacting to it. Rather, you draw upon a deep well of inner knowing. If you haven’t written down what matters most to you, set aside an hour to do this. Then review it every morning and you will notice a profound change in how you go about your day.
Choosing Peace
#6) As viewers learn in the film, Sacred Journey of the Heart, your heart sends out a specific emotion-based encoding that is broadcast heartbeat-to-heartbeat into the field around you. When you are stressed, frustrated or complaining, the signal broadcast from your heart looks like a jagged line. When you are in a state of inner peace and appreciation, your heart is broadcasting a smooth, coherent signal. Try this simple practice when you are feeling upset or riled up by something or someone: Take a deep breath, focus on your heart and silently say to yourself: “I choose peace.” Doing this diffuses your reactivity and brings you into connection with your heart. As shown in the film, your heart’s signal can actually influence those around you to react more peacefully.
Cultivating Joy
# 7) Living a heart-based life means consciously choosing to experience joy. Joy is defined as “an emotion of keen pleasure or delight.” Joy can be a fleeting feeling based on something wonderful happening “out there.” Or joy can be cultivated by taking time to connect with nature, with animals and, of course, with the people in our lives. Joy is an emotion that regenerates us and fills our cups so that when challenges arise, we know exactly what we can do to enjoy a moment of respite from the storm. Having a “joy-list” is an essential part of heart-based living. Take a few moments to write down your “joy-list” and then create a joyful experience every day.
Expressing Gratitude
# 8) Heart-based living also entails the practice of expressing gratitude. Gratitude is a choice that becomes a lifestyle when practiced daily. Find something to be grateful for every day and take a moment to savor it. This is a key element to being in the connection to our authentic self and the world around us. The feeling of gratitude can be generated without an external stimulus. Just remember a time you felt truly connected to nature or to a person and you will know, without doubt, it was a heart-based connection. A simple practice to cultivate gratitude is to put a gratitude journal by your bedside and commit to writing at least 10 things that you are grateful for at the end of each day. This is also an easy way to set the stage for a great night’s sleep!
Celebrating Love
# 9) Love is the greatest gift in life. Celebrating love takes many forms: a hug, a smile, a card on a special occasion or a gift given for no reason at all. Ronna notes that people who take time to celebrate the love they already have, usually end up attracting more! “This is beyond the popular ‘law of attraction’ principle that so many people are now familiar with,” says Ronna. “To me, it’s a higher law that I call the ‘Law of Confluence’ that is presented in the film.” Attraction is based on duality, like-attracting-like. Confluence is a weaving together of multiple streams of interaction. Confluence creates a wide-open field of possibility, compared to the limitation implied in attraction. Celebrating love is a key part of confluence. When we come from a place of love and the reality of our interconnection, we create a new world of heart-based living.
Leading the Heart Journey
To see an illuminating and heart-inspiring trailer, featuring such leaders as Greg Braden, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Mary Morrissey, Colin Tipping, Sarah McLean, plus Dr. Rollin McCraty and Dr. Deborah Rozman of HeartMath –along with Ronna’s powerful story—click here!