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.