Which Should You Listen To: The Mind or The Heart?

​As someone who grew up using logic and then had her world flipped upside down to where logic no longer applied, it became rather difficult to make decisions. I’d always relied on my mind. I’d analyze the situation, look at the pros and cons, and make my decision based on the data. I had come to understand that following your heart was what you did with love and even then, there was a really good chance it could mislead you. When I could no longer rationalize what I was seeing and experiencing as my gifts surfaced, I had to start leaning into my intuition, into my heart. It was the only semblance of GPS that could help me make sense of things. When I first started my company, the name BE from the Heart came to me. Little did I know that it wasn’t just a nice name, but rather a journey that I would embark upon. 

Which is more powerful, the brain or the heart?

When we are a fetus, our heart begins to develop and beat before the brain even develops. Did you know that the heart can actually be considered another brain? It has its own intrinsic cardiac nervous system whose neural network can sense, process, and learn like the brain’s neural circuits. It can also act independently of the brain. Our heart’s rhythms can actually affect the brain’s ability to process information. The HeartMath Institute has been able to show how heart coherence (the alignment between the heart, mind, emotions and physical systems) is able to impact our brain’s functioning as well as our immune system. As for communication, there are more signals traveling from the heart to the brain than from the brain to the heart. The strength of the electromagnetic field of the heart is 100 times greater than that of the brain’s and can change according to your emotions. The heart is also considered a gateway to the Soul. Then, where is the mind? Though we mostly sense our mind in our head, scientists have yet to identify where it’s actually located. 

The ego vs. the Soul

The ego is associated with the mind and the Soul with the heart. Who is your ego to you? More importantly, who is your Soul to you? Have you heard of Descartes' saying, “I think therefore I am?” We all have a ton of thoughts. Now, have you ever observed your thoughts? If so, who is that observer? That right there clues us into the fact that we are more than just our minds. We’ll come back to this in a moment. First, I’d like for us to take a look at the ego.

I have come to understand that the ego is our SOS - our survival operating system. The ego is there to help us survive. It will do its very best, but is often misguided. This is due to how we start forming our belief systems as children when we have very little access to context. We see one aspect and create a story around it. For example, let’s say you’re 3 years old and you show your mom a picture that you just drew for her. You wait for her praise and affection, but are startled when she yells at you and throws your drawing away. Your young brain tries to make sense of this and ends up creating a story that if you draw something for others, it’s bad and you won’t be loved. So, you no longer want to draw; it doesn’t bring you the joy it did before. What you didn’t know was that you drew on an important contract, your mom was already really stressed out, and she had to go about getting another contract when she was already dealing with an overfilled plate. If you could’ve seen the full context, you would’ve understood that the act of sharing your drawing wasn’t the issue. Since we can’t see the entire picture, we create a story that is meant to protect us. Oftentimes, what we think is protecting us, is actually sabotaging us. 

Think of a belief system like a folder on your computer. Inside that folder are files that relate to the topic of the folder. Using our drawing example, the folder would be called DON'T DRAW! One of the files (belief codes) inside that folder would be “I know I’m not loved if I draw.” That file will contain the story and the emotions that came along with the experience. Another file (belief code) could be “It’s not safe to draw,” and under that is the time you got in trouble at school for doodling, along with the time you got a D on your sketch in art class. 

When we encounter situations, our brain will look through all of our files to see what matches with circumstances and/or emotions. Your ego will make a judgment call, and you’ll proceed to react or act based on the files that pop up. The good news is that you can delete files and you can change belief systems. You can prove to yourself that the old files no longer hold validity and create new ones for your brain to pick from. Oftentimes these files are hidden, so it takes some digging to bring them to the surface where you can work to clear them.

Now, let’s get back to the Soul. As my work takes me into the Spirit Realm, I’ve come to learn some interesting Truths. First, we are not a body that has a soul, we are a Soul that has a body. Our Soul is from the All That Is; it is divine in nature. You are that spark of the Divine who came in to human as (insert your name here). I am humaning as Adrienne. You are humaning as ________. When it is time for us to transition, our Soul will continue on - it does not die. 

Second, I have found that Hell does exist, here on Earth, because we create it. Contrary to what some dogma needs you to believe, it is not a place where "bad" Souls end up after being judged. Many religions claim that God is unconditional love. This begs the question, how can an unconditionally loving God/whatever you call it be judgmental? If it’s judgmental, then it can only be conditionally loving. Let that soak in for a minute. I have had experiences where I've been able to feel the energy of the other side, the place we go to after we leave our body. It’s a type of love, bliss, and peace I’ve yet to experience in human form. 

Third, it is important to know that the Soul cannot be harmed. Yes, you can face physical, emotional, and mental “brokenness” and trauma, but when all is said and done, your Soul remains intact. This brings to mind Einstein’s Law of Conservation of Energy - energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only change from one form into another. 

Is it necessary for the ego to die?

I’ve been seeing the trend on the topic around ego death, and I wonder, Why does it have to die? I get the idea that if you can transcend the ego, then you can get closer to or reach enlightenment. Since the ego is our SOS (survival operating system), and we came here to human, why can’t we keep the ego? In fact, don’t we need it? Instead of trying to boot the ego out of the car, why not move it to the back seat? We don’t want the ego driving our life, but it ended up in our car for a reason. It’s a part of the human experience. Instead of trying so hard to eradicate the ego, why not turn that focus into connecting with our Soul self who can override the ego? As I mentioned, we carry a lot of beliefs that we may feel are truths, but actually aren't. The ego will use those to continue to protect us, except we're not 3 years old anymore. This is where our intuition comes into play. If we can listen to that voice, it has a way better idea of what's actually going on than the mind ever does. 
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​"Act from the heart, adjust from the head."  
— Margery Williams

​I’d like to circle back to the question: Should you listen more to your mind or your heart? I say give more credence to your heart, but also take your logic into account. Years after a bad breakup, I was finally willing to take another chance. I could feel my heart opening and I felt so much joy. I was able to see that my heart was not completely shut down and that I could love again. As much as I wanted to get lost in that feeling (and almost did), I started to see a lot of red flags. Actually, it was my intuition that got my attention first. When I started to logically put things together, I realized that the man I was with was also seeing someone else. I don’t regret for a moment allowing my heart to feel that love, openness, and willingness. I’m grateful to my intuition and my mind putting it together to help me see a situation that wasn’t in my best interest. The next time you need to make a decision, why not ask your heart how it feels?

"The power of the heart is to be connected with who you are at the deepest level." 
— Eckhart Tolle

What it means to BE from the Heart

Over the years, I have come to know that BEing from the heart is about: 

• Connecting to your true essence, your Soul Self - it’s the door to knowing who you truly are and not who you thought you were or were told you are.
• Self-acceptance, self-love, and self-compassion - the loving, wise voice that counters the inner critic. 
• Empathy, compassion, and love for others - people, animals, and the planet.
• Living your values and being in integrity.
• Connecting to your dreams and desires - the ones that stir from your Soul. 
• Connecting to your gifts and talents and sharing them.
• Bringing the body into coherence - through joy, gratitude, and love.
• Recognizing, acknowledging, and processing your emotions, even the painful ones.
• Taking into account how you feel about something when making a decision.
• Removing what’s in conflict with the heart - dropping the heart-walls, clearing the emotional blockages, healing the Inner Child, ancestral wounds, and traumas. 
• Allowing yourself to be more open, more vulnerable, and more honest with your feelings.
• Coming into a space where you can connect with the Divine, with your ancestors, and with your Angels or Guides.
• Finding the joy in life and inviting more of that in.
• Expressing yourself fully and authentically.​

It is indeed a journey to connect with your heart, your Soul, and BE from that space. It's by far one of the most worthwhile journeys you can take in human form. As more people drop into their heart and express from that place, we will indeed start to see some pretty fantastic shifts on this planet. 

6 ways to help you return to your heart:

1. Gratitude practice - find 2-3 things you’re grateful for before going to sleep. As you think of each one, feel the sensation of gratitude in your heart. 
2. Find your daily joys - look for what brings you joy each day. The key is to look for something different. As you direct your attention to look for new joys, life will bring them to you. 
3. Meditation - bring your awareness into your heart space. You can do this by imagining a ball of light in your head. See that ball of light move down your head, down your throat, into your chest, and coming into your heart. Imagine that this ball of light has a magnet that attaches to your heart. If you find yourself back in your head, repeat the process. When in your heart, you can ask if it has a message for you.
4. An Act of Kindness - do something nice for someone with no expectation of getting something in return. It feels good to give without strings attached. Bonus points if you can also do something kind for yourself.
5. Focusing on your heart and feeling the emotions of love, joy, and gratitude for 30 seconds each. Note, it may take some time to work up to 30 seconds.​
6. Journal - you can use prompts such as: What would my Soul like me to know today? What are some activities that would make my heart sing today? I’m trying to make ‘X’ decision, so what does my heart/Soul have to say about it?

I hope this post has given you some Soul food for thought. I invite you to join me on this journey, to connect to your heart, to your Soul and BE your most authentic, loving self. I lovingly challenge you to lead from your heart. The world needs that more than ever and is waiting for you. 

​Heart hugs, 
Adrienne :)