The stress and strain of constantly being connected can sometimes take your life -- and your well-being -- off course. GPS For The Soul can help you find your way back to balance.
GPS Guides are our way of showing you what has relieved others' stress in the hopes that you will be able to identify solutions that work for you. We all have de-stressing "secret weapons" that we pull out in times of tension or anxiety, whether they be photos that relax us or make us smile, songs that bring us back to our heart, quotes or poems that create a feeling of harmony, or meditative exercises that help us find a sense of silence and calm. We encourage you to look at the GPS Guide below, visit our other GPS Guides here, and share with us your own personal tips for finding peace, balance and tranquility.
In her GPS Guide below, Bridget Fonger shares why and how we should make a conscious effort to become more present in our heart.
Tension comes when we feel that the present moment is not correct. Something is wrong so there can’t be peace. One such moment is when we feel like we are not loved, or not getting the kind of love we think we need. We get tense, and our heart -- the place where the source of that love rests -- becomes constricted.
The source of love is not out there, over there, or in a shiny box. It is always inside you, ready to have you feel filled up and complete at any and every moment. You are actually standing in and at the source.
One muscle we know engages when we are feeling loved or loving is our heart. To become more present to your heart and your connection to that source of love will inherently have you feel more loved in more ways and in more moments.
Sometimes all it takes is dipping into a memory of how our heart once felt when we were feeling loved and loving. Try this:
Imagine your heart at a moment when you most felt disconnected from love. Imagine that your heart was like the flower that curls up into itself at sunset, preparing for a dark night. Imagine that your heart actually changes size and weight, becoming smaller, heavier, even perhaps colder when in this state.
Now imagine that in one magical moment-shifting event you are showered with love, and your heart immediately starts to expand with the warmth of this love. Air flows in where it previously was not. The petals of your flower open up as if the sun has just arrived. You feel the warmth of that sun, that love entering your heart. Your heart grows bigger, lighter, more vibrant, and full of love. Hold that image.
Check in with yourself: How does your body feel? Imagine your heart is full of light and it causes your whole being to shine. You are that love just as you are right now. Remember this feeling the rest of your day.
When you next feel unloved, check in with your heart. Remember the warmth of when you did feel the love. Fill your heart back up with that memory and warmth. Know that you are standing in and at the source of that love. You are that love.
Bridget Fonger's GPS Guide
Bridget Fonger is co-author of "The Lazy Woman's Guide to Just About Everything," sole contributor to The Lazy Woman Blog, and a freelance writer. She is currently working on her next book "Superhero of Love: Heal Your Broken Heart & Then Save the World."
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