Home is where you are.

home is where the heart is ?

I used to think that saying meant home is where your loved ones are, no matter where you are. That wherever you physically are, your heart is present elsewhere, where your affection is pointing towards. And probably that’s the universal meaning of it.

When we travel so often and change homes often – the idea of home is quite shaken. The truth is, the feeling is not in the place it self, but in your heart center.

When we bring the hands together in prayer to the “heart center” why do we place the hands to the middle of the chest and not to the left? Your heart center refers not to the physical organ that pumps blood, but to your sense of being, self and where your emotions tend to reside. Muslims place there palms on top of each other at the center of the chest for the standing part of their prayer. In yoga, practitioners may practice the mudra “Anjali” by placing the palms together to the center of the chest. The palms are not pressed flat against each other, but the knuckles are slightly apart. This signifies the shape of the bud of a lotus flower before it blooms. As the lotus flower blooms from muddy waters, so can we bloom through the challenges of life.

The only way out is through

Where ever you go, your thoughts and feelings are there with you. Your memory of your first home, your mother. The memory of your father’s lap, your childhood bedroom, your college dorm room, your grandmother’s garden, your first love..it all resides in your heart center. When you travel it doesn’t matter what you leave behind physically, because you carry what you want to carry with you in your heart. How much are you carrying? Does your heart center feel light or heavy? Do you know you can release and keep whatever you want? It sounds much easier than it really is.

When we go through emotional trauma may it be big or small, we associate that with our sense of self and we hold a lot of that trauma within the heart center. Allowing your feelings to come to life allows them to flow through you freely and eventually..out. A simple (daily) practice of openness..a lift in your chest, a deep breath in and out can change your attitude towards life.