Have you ever heard your own heart beating? It might have happened in some big, demanding moment. Maybe you had to engage in some very demanding physical activity (running, lifting, holding, carrying) and when you finished the activity, you could feel your heart beating very fast, very hard, and you could even, for a moment, hear it in your ears. Then, with a little extra breathing, the moment fades and so does the sound of your heart.
Have you ever intentionally tried to listen for the sound of your own heart? This is a little trickier, but if we get very still and very quiet for a moment, we can often begin to hear our heart beating. Sometimes it helps to lie down to do this. Start first by just paying attention to your breath. Listen to your breath going in, going out, going in, going out. Soon, you may begin to notice a slight movement in your chest, the feel of your heart beating. Begin to imagine the sound that goes with that felt beat, and before long, you may actually hear your heart beating.
Why do this? Listening to our own heart beating requires us to turn off all of the other competing sounds that surround us all the time. It requires us to draw as close as possible to our physical source of life–our heart beat. And from that point, we are capable of receiving our own heart’s messages to us. We begin to notice what we have been holding there–for safe keeping, for love, for protection, as a wound, as wisdom, and more. The more frequently we practice this kind of heart listening, the easier it becomes, and the more our own hearts will have to say to us.
~Bob Patrick
Thank you Bob. This is beautiful.