This month, the Eterna team has dug deep into writing about why we started this career in counselling and how we show up with heart in our work. Today, I want to talk to you about how to use your heart as a guide for making decisions in your life.
We often use our minds to rationalize things, but there is so much value in using our hearts. There is a relationship between your heart and your mind, and when you use them together it can be powerful. There is power when we listen to both our hearts and our minds. You think and you feel at the same time, it is powerful when they function together.
The difference is that our mind can problem solve and our heart feels. Our heart sits with intuition or trusting our gut. It feels through experiences, connects with compassion and empathy, and it is felt in our body as a somatic experience within us. Listening to our heart is about connection with our intuitions formed by our experiences and those experiences come with a ton of emotion.
Emotion is a great way to connect and make decisions. However, we have been told to focus on the rational and emotions have been seen as irrational. But what would happen if we lead with our hearts and our minds together? It would bring the best of both worlds, and you could live a more fulfilling life.
There is a lot of fulfillment when we lead with our hearts. Our heart can be the source of inner connection and self-empathy. Leading with your heart is nothing to be ashamed of or to pull away from. It is important to question and use curiosity. Ask yourself “am I making a conscious decision with my heart? or am I ignoring it?”
Your heart has a voice just like your mind. However, the voice in our mind can be loud, sometimes louder than our heart. It is important to connect with your heart and to do that you need silence. Find a quiet space, turn off your phone, grab a journal, take some deep breaths and ask your heart what it needs. If you just sit in silence, calm and relaxed, your heart will answer. That intuitive voice will show up.
