Hi, welcome back to

your Daily Mindfulness.

In today's session, we're

going to talk about your heart.

I'll share a quick story.

The other week, I was navigating something

difficult, something that I needed

to makean important decision around.

And a friend reached out to me

who knew I was in this struggle.

And she asked, are you doing okay?

Is your heart settled?

And the first thing I felt in

myself in response to that was

that, no, my heart isn't settled.

And also that I wouldn't know

what it would feel like for my

heart to actually be settled.

And my response, which was very

impulsive, which was, I don't

know if my heart is ever settled.

I'm just noticing that

it's either open or closed.

And I wanted to share that with

you here because I, I do think it's

pointing to something that is true

about the vulnerability of being human.

And what we often perceive as arriving

or being settled as the, the lack of

agitation or that we're no longer feeling

the, the vulnerability of being human.

When the reality is, is to live a life

of presence and openness and intimacy

and connection, this comes with a wild

journey where there are times where things

might feel smooth and they might feel

easy, but we're also more susceptible

to the sensitivity of a relationship

breakup or a job loss, or the pain

that we see in the world around us.

The alternative though, is to live

with a closed heart, where we put up

our guard and we don't let ourselves

feel some of these emotions or the

depth of all that there is to feel.

It can guard us and protect us from

the painful experiences, but it also

tends to guard us from the positive

experiences, the love, the connection,

the aliveness that we feel when we

really do live with an open heart.

The cool thing about all of this though,

is that the heart can hold it all.

And the heart, I'm using as a metaphor

to refer to that place within us that

is expansive, that is not your thoughts.

It's not your emotions.

It's not your sensations.

It's not your sensory experience.

It's that part of you that knows all that

is happening and has this orientation of

you'll be okay, you'll get through this.

Some people might think of this as

their higher power, their higher self,

their soul, their spirit, awareness.

I like to think of it as the heart.

But that part of you is expansive.

It's spacious.

And while being connected to it

might mean that you feel more of your

human experience, you also get to

experience the aliveness of being human.

That can be vulnerable, but

it's rich and it's beautiful.

And a meditation practice is helping

us access that on a deeper level.

So I'm not sure if the heart is ever

settled, but I do know when my heart

is closed and I do know when it's open.

And these days, I'm choosing

for it to be more open.

Thank you for your practice.

Let's settle in for today's meditation.