Here’s a piece I recorded on my walk yesterday, inspired by the birdsong. The tidied up transcript follows and at the end a Heart Practice for you to use whenever you need it.
Blessings
John x
I hope you can hear the birds. They think it’s spring. It could be spring, and yet it’s January. So yes, I’m on one of my ongoing rants about the climate and what we’re not doing about the climate and all that stuff. And it’s also lovely to hear the birds.
I could be quite envious of them, living their lives, singing their songs, making baby birds. And when the time comes, moving on to let another generation of birds take over. No big thinking, no big worrying, no big deep angst about the state of things.
It’s quite a mix we humans have got isn’t it, going on in our heads all the time, which is why in principle it’s so important I believe to shift as much as we can, and to allow ourselves as much as we can, to go to go to heart and to come from heart.
There’s a story I think I used the other week about a young jewish student who says to the rabbi: Why do the scriptures say, place the holy words on our hearts? Why do they not say to place the holy words in our hearts? And the rabbi says, it is because as we are, our hearts are closed and we cannot place the holy words in our hearts. And so we place the holy words on our hearts until one day our heart softens and the words fall in.
The more I reflect and use that story the more profound it feels to me. My heart is closed in so many ways, and was closed even more when I was younger. And yours is too, from the the experiences that made you and helped create you as the you you are; all the lessons you learnt about how you needed to behave in order to be loved, and other experiences, all played their part in making you the you you are today. And that’s beautiful. And a big chunk of that for us as humans has been protecting ourselves, not consciously, unconsciously protecting ourselves, putting big walls of defence around our heart.
And so the mind gets on with it, thinking, thinking, thinking, and the heart can be forgotten about.
So whatever you’re thinking, thinking, thinking about and worrying about, anxious about, angry about, sad about, whatever this might be for you today, this week, I invite you to consciously imagine putting them on your heart. Consciously put those on your heart. Do it now, picture putting this trouble, this worry, on your heart. And if you can also put a hand physically on your heart space to add a bit of softening to what you’re doing, and imagine those words sitting there, the trouble sitting there.
It won’t instantly go anywhere because, you know what, our hearts are closed. But if you could, if we could practice that practice more, simply putting it on our hearts, introducing some softening and some kindness, then hey, wonderful things can happen.
The Heart Practice
Take a moment to consciously place any tricky thoughts and feelings upon your heart. Do it now. Picture yourself gathering this trouble, this worry, and resting it there.
If you can, physically place a hand over your heart space. Let that physical touch add a sense of softening to the gesture. Imagine the words and the weight of the trouble sitting right there. Don’t reach for a solution; simply acknowledge the worry, the anger, or whatever is surfacing for you.
Our hearts are closed, so the feeling will not vanish instantly. But if we can practice this—simply placing our burdens on our hearts and introducing a spirit of kindness—then wonderful things can happen.
