Feelings from the Heart or Mind
Okay, I’m pretty stoked to get into this one.
I have loved sharing the book I wrote - A Friendship Story: Heart & Mind - with the world and hearing the feedback.
It sounds like many people have resonated with its message of understanding that there is the Mind and there is the Heart. The Mind is great at taking action and solving problems based on past experiences (i.e. tying shoelaces because it has a memory of tripping and falling on its unlaced laces). The Heart (what I’m calling intuition for kids) is always loving you unconditionally, regardless of anything about you that you have deemed unlovable. The Heart also lives in the present moment, always.
I mentioned that the Mind talks to us through thoughts and that the Heart speaks to us through joy and love. Notice that I did not use the word “feeling” in either description and this was intentional.
I have found that “feelings” can both describe the mind and the heart. And the key here is to bring in your awareness (when you have a feeling) to understand where it is coming from.
For example, have you ever felt angry or irritated? Yes, probably. When you have felt irritated, isn't it because of a thought that is in your mind? Perhaps you are writing something but there is the sound of the lawn mower in the background (true story right now) and your mind immediately thinks, “that is such an annoying sound. Why do they have to mow the lawn so often? The grass isn’t even that long. Why haven’t the lawn mower-makers evolved the technology so that it is quiet?” And then two seconds later, your head is hurting and you feel this tension in your shoulders. Irritation!
The feeling was a direct result of the mind thinking. And the feeling from the thoughts continue to lead to more thoughts that match the level of the feeling. It’s what I like to call a mind storm.
So, how do we know when it is the heart feeling? When do we know it is an intuitive feeling?
This is hard to explain so read this and try it:
Close your eyes (1 second). Clear your mind (5 seconds to 5 hours). Breathe in and breathe out. You’ll start to sense an energy within you and around you. It feels elevating, expansive, and really nice. But notice, this sensation is not there due to a thought in the mind. There is no visual in your mind’s eye that is leading you to this sensation. When you have cleared your awareness from the mind, you are simply being. And in this simplicity of being, you find a deep sense of peace. And in this deep sense of peace, you will start to sense greater sensations of joy, love, and freedom. And here lies the heart. Where, regardless of the “situation” you’re in now, you still feel great. BUT, the feeling didn’t come from a thought. The feeling came from being.
When you can come to the point of clearing all mental stories and visuals, you will come into the present moment awareness of being. And when you’re being, it feels pretty good. But it’s hard to explain why because nothing is really happening. You can’t tie the good feeling to any sort of external situation.
Below is a summary of the two types of feelings:
(1) Feelings from being
(2) Feelings from thoughts
When you are being, the feelings are expansive and peaceful which lead to intuitive sparks of ideas which then can be acted on.
When you are thinking, the feeling is produced based on the type of thinking. Good thoughts lead to good feelings and bad thoughts lead to bad feelings. Then as you feel, more thoughts that match the level of feeling come in which in return lead to more feelings.
Next time you’re feeling something, bring in your awareness to check out where the feeling is coming from. Being or thinking?
Love,
Nishi
