WHAT LIGHTS US UP...
Inspiration. Imagination. Illumination.
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We will feature weekly inspiration from artists, visionaries, musicians, and other bright lights from all walks of life. A*LIGHT
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The Altar of the Heart
I'm resting in bed at 1:34 on a Thursday afternoon and not batting a 1000, as they say.
My head tells me, what are you doing? You have to check email, call everyone back, finish the to do list-this, that, then all the other things you were supposed to do.
But then I remember to pause, take a moment and listen to my heart. It says:
it's alright darlin, rest a bit, be gentle. It's okay to recharge. I love you.
Several years ago a friend told me about the Institute of HeartMath, wherein a group of scientists conducted studies to show the power of the mind versus the power of the heart.
Their research suggests that the heart's intuitive intelligence elevates communication, decisions, and choices to a much higher level of effectiveness than the mind.
They discovered that as hard as the mind can think and rationalize, the electro magnetic component of the heart is approximately 5000 times stronger than the brain's magnetic field and can be detected several feet away from the body with sensitive magnetometers.
This scientific data has made a great impact on my life.
Why? Because it proves that the heart is a much more powerful navigational system than the mind. It proves that when we get quiet and pause and take a moment to connect, the answers are inside of the heart space and waiting for us to come to the center of ourselves and come home. I call this coming home "the altar of the heart."
When we look at some of the greatest leaders of our time: the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Aung San Suu Kyi, Martin Luther King Jr, Pope Francis, Gandhi: One thing they all have in common is unconditional love-a love without strings, a love that elicits courage. This love, this energy, this power cannot be cultivated in logic, reason, and calculation. It is a state of feeling, being, knowing that emanates from the heart center. Their power was not wielded through force or through fear. They did not seek to dominate or conquer as the mind and the ego does. No, their power radiates through their hearts. In turn, they help others remember their own heart, their own inner knowing, their own triumphant state of being.
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We all listen to that voice inside of us at times: the one that compulsively creates lists, the task master, the bully. This voice manifests differently in all of us, but we all know what it sounds like. And most likely, it is not a friendly, all-loving voice.
Being a small business owner, I catch myself listening to what I call the adding machine voice. Yes, of course it's important to be financially savvy and aware of my cash flow, but there is a time and place for it. The time I have designated is Friday, where I take stock of my company's finances and handle invoicing and billing. This is where the adding machine mind can add away.
The adding machine mind doesn't do me any good when I'm sitting at a red light or walking my dog. For me listening to the adding machine mind is the equivalent of listening to death metal music. (No offense all you Slayer and Slipknot fans out there.)
It makes living inside my mind unpleasant. So when it comes up, I say
hello there you are again-without judgement-because to judge is to still be in the grip of the ego. Instead I say, there you are again. And I return to this moment. I like to think of this as a game, or a dance we get to practice over and over and over again all throughout the day.
I feel this is why we call it a "spiritual practice," because it's not about arriving anywhere in particular. It is all about the attempt and the willingness to practice.
A powerful approach to return to this moment is by asking hey heart how are you? Sounds a little out there, I know. But how out there is it to listen to a bully inside your mind all day? When I ask my heart how are you? most often I feel it reply
I'm happy we are safe. This is an exciting new time! Trust that it's okay. Trust.
When I listen to my head, I don't get those kind of answers. I get more problems to solve, more agenda items to figure out.
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We can all, at any moment in the day, take one minute to place our hands on our hearts and check in. We can literally ask our heart, our inner knowing:
Can you be with me?
Can you show me how to be with you?
What would you have me do?
Where would you have me go?
What would you have me say, and to whom?
I have learned these techniques from friends, from Mastin Kipp's courses on
Entering the Heart, and also from a book I am currently reading:
The Course in Miracles. It's beautiful to see the overlap and how all of these various teachings continue to lead us back home, back to the altar of the heart.
There is a great story I once heard. A grandfather says to his grandson "There are two wolves inside of everybody." And the little boy, wide-eyed, says "Well grandpa, which one wins?" "Well," says the grandpa, "It's simple-the one that you feed."
We have both voices of the heart and the mind running through our being and it is our choice to decide which one we listen to. At any moment our hearts are here to guide us to our deepest truths and purpose. We have the answers, we have the guide, all we need to do is to choose to listen to it. And this is perhaps one of the greatest choices we as humans can make.
May we all continue to enjoy our weekend and take one little moment today to connect to our hearts. It can't hurt and chances are, we might be surprised at what it has to say.
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Would love to hear from you!
Shine On Friends. Shine!
Alice Fulks
A*LIGHT Creative Director
WHAT LIGHTS US UP...
MOVING FROM THE HEAD TO THE HEART
The Heart's Intuitive Intelligence:
A path to personal, social and global coherence
The Institute of Heart Math is a non-profit organization dedicated to researching and understanding the science of our heart-brain connection. It teaches techniques to self-regulate emotions and to utilise heart intelligence in combination with intellectual thought.
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Anthea Jaskirpal Kaur
~Sweet Nectar~
Anthea Jaskirpal Kaur is an Australian singer/songwriter, musician, yoga instructor and life coach based in Santa Monica, CA. Anthea heads up the kirtan band, Sweet Nectar, playing kirtans around LA and retreats across the US. She teaches kundalini yoga at Golden Bridge Yoga in Santa Monica, CA and enjoys facilitating clients to discovering their greatness through her life coaching practice.
While completing her masters in Spiritual Psychology, Anthea discovered a deep calling that was yearning to be birthed - to use her voice as an instrument of healing through chanting the sacred Sikh and Sanskrit mantras. This was a revelation as she didn't grow up with a musical background. Despite this, she forged ahead with no formal training. The positive reception that followed, lead her to leave the corporate world to pursue devotional music, yoga and life coaching. Anthea's life is now fully devoted to the service and healing of others through these modalities. Her music is a prayer to draw out the deep well love within all of us. She uses her personal journey as a reminder for others to awaken their innate gifts and passions.
ramarecords.bandcamp.com
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