Opening the Heart to Embrace the Present

by Deb Schnitta

When the world around you seems chaotic, it can be hard to remember that you are a creative being, able to not only influence the choices around you, but also to create the ones you desire. Chaos is a stream of energy. It can be thought of as a raging river, one that is hard to navigate.  Yet within even the most chaotic environment is the opportunity for expansion, and through connecting with expansion, the presence of peace.

It can be hard to remember there is a choice present in each moment. Often the larger currents simply engulf your thoughts, and you find yourself “blindly” following the path that has been laid out for you. Disconnecting for a moment allows the opportunity to come back to center, to pause, and then when you are ready, to engage where you desire.

The same is true in the quest for physical healing. Often when my clients are voicing their desire for things to be different in life, I will suggest sitting for five minutes of peace. To the mind this may seem like a waste of time, especially when there is so much to do… But the gift of time is invaluable to even the mind itself. In that one pause is the power of profound transformation.

It is often from stopping what we are doing that we learn about our motivations for why we are doing what we are doing. Knowing why an event is happening allows us to gain awareness of our beliefs, which can in turn let us then make new choices. Often it is the simple choices that create the greatest impact.

When the mind notices a moment of silence, it often moves forward to fill that vacuum. Not content to be, the mind prefers action, even the action of thinking about doing something! It is when the mind connects with the heart that it is able to expand the fullest; we refer to this as the mind itself taking a breath. Free from the inner chaos, even in that one single breath is the fullness of potential. Aligning the heart and mind creates expansion for the mind itself.

Imagine if you will, a time when your mind was telling you a story that was based in the past. Perhaps a wonderful event was unfolding before you, and your mind was quick to jump in to remind you of all the bad things that were possible. Or, perhaps a moment of excitement followed by a quick, almost simultaneous, uh-oh, the familiar notes of dread. In each occurrence the mind is responding from the past, either from experience or what it perceives may happen based on its beliefs.

When the mind begins to respond in this fashion it can be very hard to hear its presence. The first clue may in fact be long after your actions have taken a detour and followed this larger flow, here the history of the mind.

When the heart enters the equation, there is great potential. The heart, as a doorway, is both an access point to the expansion that is you, as well as the key to the present. Being in the presence of what is unfolding and connected to your larger consciousness is the deepest place of expansion that the mind can witness related to the personality. It is the opportunity to know from a place of clarity what it truly unfolding. It is the same process, connecting with expansion and presence that lays the foundation for any expansion of consciousness, whether it is knowing the Divine, opening to your unlimited potential, or the bliss of never ending expansion of Unity.

Engaging the mind to explore its beliefs is important. Giving the mind the opportunity to witness the absence of exploration is invaluable.  It is through the expansion of the mind that unlimited potential moves into the forefront, and it is through the presence of being that your true nature emerges.