How is your heart?

I’m wrapped in a warm blanket. A few needles decorate my body. My hands feel super cold, my feet too. The core of my body feels warm. I tell her. Sian, the acupuncture therapist, just nods. Then, she checks my pulse. Like they always do in traditional Chinese medicine.

And then she looks me deeply in the eye and asks me:

How is your heart?

I reply with something I can’t remember.

Then she asks another time.

How is your heart, really?

I remember feeling completely exposed. Uncomfortable and comfortable at the same time. My answer:

“Excited, vulnerable, scared. And safe. That’s a weird combination”.

What makes it feel safe? she asks.

The answer was there not even a split second after she asked the question. It was so clear:

“The knowing.”

The knowing that when I trust my intuition and take good care of myself, I can handle everything.

That’s a good thing for the kidneys to hear. The spleen will like that, too. Those were the last words before she strategically placed a few more needles and triggered a few acupressure spots to work on the spleen meridian.

In TCM, it is associated with the heart.

When I left the clinic, not only did I feel lighter, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the question. I looked at my entire week through the lens of my heart and noticed that I had not brought much awareness to it.

I feel we should make it a regular practice. The heart is such a wonderful organ. On a physical level, it does so much for us, and on an emotional level, it carries such incredible intelligence. If we allow it to do what it can, the planet would be a better place. I’m very certain of this.

I feel the world needs more people who ask themselves this question more often and then make decisions that align with the answers, even if they don’t “make sense.”

We live in a world where the mind is king, and the heart is ignored. The disconnect is real, and we need to talk about it and do something about it. The more natural order is this one: The mind is the servant of the heart. It executes based on what the heart knows.

For me, this is building a house on a solid foundation.
When we let the mind do all the work, we build that house on sand. The likelihood of crumbling is much higher, and it is what we see in the world right now.

The fantastic thing is that what we see outside is, in a way, within ourselves, too. I write fantastic for a reason: it empowers us to find the imbalance within and decide which change we want to bring into our own lives.

And then, slowly and steadily, little by little, we’ll experience a different world.

It can be big things, or it can be small things. These are judgements anyways. They can mean nothing and everything. Depending on the meaning we attach to it.

What came up for me was to make more space for creative self-expression and music. Everytime I sing or play the drums, I feel so alive and calm inside. It is a type of self-care that helps to solidify my inner foundation.

So yesterday, on the market, I asked a group of drummers if I could join them. We had passed by two times already, and I had the impulse to ask them but didn’t. The third time, I “took the leap.” I listened to my heart and responded to what it needed.

The result: we all had a blast and a beautiful time. I felt much more balanced, confident and strong. I thought that this time, I practised the natural order. And succeeded. It felt very, very truthful.

That’s the thing with the heart.

It leads to truth.

And if we act from that place, we will remember who we are.

And that is necessary to deal with the challenges that are waiting around the corner.

How is your heart, really?

Much love,
Christian