Falling Into Grace: get out of your head and into your heart

The last few weeks I have been caught up in significant decisions. I kept finding myself thinking and rethinking what I should do. The more I thought, the further away I was from a conclusion. Does this sound familiar?

My first big lesson came on Easter Sunday while I was listening to Adyashanti with Oprah on Super Soul Sunday.

As I listened to him speak it became so apparent to me that I was buried in my thoughts – and furthermore that my thoughts may not be the truth. Yikes!

Instead, I realized that my thoughts are my perceptions, my interpretations of reality but not necessarily the complete truth. I wondered what would happen if I listened to my heart instead.

Immediately, I was resurrected from my mind and felt a calming sensation come over me that brought tears to my eyes. In that instant I knew I was connected to my heart.  I had the answer. My path towards finding a conclusion was clear.

My second big lesson happened in Santa Fe just a few days ago. What a beautiful place for self-reflection and learning. Having tried many times to get into this very popular class I was finally participating in a Transformational Speaking program with the amazing Gail Larsen.

Gail is famous for helping people discover their voice, not the one in their head but the one they carry in their heart. When I showed up, I honestly felt that I was proficient at speaking from the heart. Well, that theory got thrown out the window in about the first hour of our work together!

Gail’s program is about speaking as if you are having a heartfelt conversation with an intimate friend.

Sounds easy. Right! Over the next four days I had to dig deeper and deeper to bring that voice forward. I was prepared to do the work and it took a tremendous amount of introspection, adaptation and integration to birth what I came for.

On Sunday we had to give another presentation to the group, putting into practice what we had learned, and my intention was to talk from the soul. I mapped it out on my board the night before but didn’t rehearse too much. I didn’t want to sound like I was giving a canned presentation.

I took my place in front of the class. My voice was significantly lower than before, my body movement much more calm. I spoke about the importance of healing a broken heart so that we may reclaim our lives. My fellow classmates listened intently. Gail was making her insightful critique as I proceeded. Was it perfect? Absolutely not but it was significantly more from the heart than my previous attempt.

We don’t realize how difficult it can be to access that voice. It takes practice and courage. Yes courage! It is so much easier to express what is in our heads rather than what is in our hearts. Until you connect with the silence within you, you can’t fully appreciate the power of it.

The program is about so much more than just public speaking, it is really about discovering what is buried within that needs to come up and be revealed. It was an amazing experience to speak so fully from the heart and it was so exciting to watch my classmates transform in front of my eyes. The pretenses we all came in with were stripped away.

As I leave Santa Fe today, I have so much gratitude for the opportunity to be part of this program. It was another giant step in my personal journey.

Thank you Gail Larsen for creating such a safe and comforting environment for all of us.  A place where we fell into grace with ease. Thank you to my beautiful transformational sisters for being willing to share so much of yourselves.

As much as we think we know, there is always more to learn. Life will continue to present us with ongoing lessons from the places we expect least. I know I wasn’t expecting to have a massive revelation on Easter Sunday listening to Adyashanti or when I was participating in a transformational speaking class. However, my heart had a different idea than my head and I now realize that the lessons I learn become shining stars in the sky so I can see my path better in the dark.

I would love to hear about a surprising revelation you have had when you least expect it. Please share it here, on Facebook or tweet it.

Live Faithfully,

Mal

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