Can You Feel The Love?
When we think of love in relationships we so often skip over that super obvious one with ourself. Unfortunately so few of us have experienced what love in its pure unconditional form. As children, we have all either had others around us intentionally or unintentionally impact us in a way that left us wounded or feeling that love was conditional. This inevitably closes the heart where we give and receive love. One of the beautiful opportunities we have is to go within to feel our natural sense of love. We don’t need anyone’s agreement or permission to feel this. As we long for deeper love in relationship, we don’t have to wait for others to meet us, we can start cultivating it within (and also work on those outside relationships in the meantime).
It starts with going into the quiet in our hearts and being present with what you feel. Enter with an intention to feel your natural loving nature - self to self. It takes some time when we aren’t used to it. At first it can feel scary listening in the heart where we haven’t spent much time. Then we might have a lot of feelings surface. When I first started meditating I went it to sit and be still and uncovered loads of feelings I didn’t know had been left unheard. I cried a lot to be honest. But the task wasn’t to dig them up or ignore them. It was to accept all the feelings and stay with myself in the process.
Going back to be with yourself and sense how your heart is in that quiet vast space is a powerful choice. Gradually the heart is reconditioned to be felt and heard. It is like an awakening or sensitization process that expands your capacity to give and receive love. When we have been absent, we do not just jump into full mastery with something so it requires practice and patience. It is like offering a hand to a part of yourself that has been left behind and saying welcome, I’m here. In fact, I’ll be back and I’m here to stay. Please let me sit with you and be present.
One of my favorites resources on this topic: Sarah Blondin's book Heart Minded.
