Thinking with Both Your Heart and Mind

I'm not sure if these posts are becoming repetitive but I'm telling you, these little life lessons don't cease to amaze me. I read and heard about this lesson so I think that merits a blog entry. Yesterday I was reading "Eat Pray Love" and came across a part that must have struck a major chord with me because I read it 5 times in a row. It said:

"To find the balance you want this is what you must do. You must keep your feet grounded so firmly on the earth that it's like you have four legs, instead of two. That way, you can stay in the world. But you must stop looking at the world through your head. You must look through your heart instead."

Then today, I was lucky enough to have a private yoga class. After my butt-kicking, I took some time to ask my instructor why we do certain things, like bringing your hands to heart center and inviting in light. We eventually got to the topic of the importance of thinking with your heart and mind as one instead of two totally separate thought processes.

I mean, think about it. Many people in this world spend most of their lives in a job simply for the "benefits" and being around friends that they only kind of like. Why?? To me, this sounds like self-inflicted torture. Why would you want such mediocrity in the only life you'll ever live? I'm sure a lot of it has to do with fear or a sense of comfort and security, but what about taking chances on something you actually WANT to do? The best way I can explain it is to quote what I read in an article:

"The main reason we suffer from this illness of indecision, is that we’ve mistaken the purpose of heart and mind. The heart is like a compass, it’s purpose is to guide the direction our lives should take. Our heart takes a birds eye view on our life and says 'this is where you’re at and this is the direction you need to go.'

Our mind on the other hand isn’t made for making purpose driven decisions. The nature of the mind is that it conceptualizes, organizes and compares information. It does this as best it can and says 'here are the facts, here’s both sides of the story.'

The mind should never be the judge. The mind's job is to compare and contrast. To sort things out and say “this is what I’ve got, do what you want with it.”

But more often than not, our mind isn’t doing that. Our mind is making our choices. What’s worse, is even when we don’t need our mind to be at work, it’s still going. Comparing and contrasting everything.

Have you ever wondered how to tell whether a decision is right? It seems so difficult, doesn’t it? But it becomes so easy when you think 'Is this choice going with me, or against me?' You’ll find that the right choice is immediately evident."

Earlier I mentioned that I asked my yoga instructor the purpose of bringing your hands to heart center. She told me that one hand represents the light, which is all the good in you and the other represents the shadows, which is the "not so good" in you. Bringing them together acknowledges that you accept that your light and shadows represent who you are as a person, and that we all have flaws. It was at that moment that I realized how much more at peace I am with myself since starting yoga 4 months ago.

So there you have it my fellow readers, though you may be few and far between. Whether you're thinking of moving to start (or share) a new life, find a job you love, discover a new hobby, or get in shape, listen to what your heart and mind have to say and things will eventually fall into place. I hope this entry did some good today.

Namaste-“I recognize that within each of us is a place where divinity dwells, and when we are in that place, we are one.”
♥