The Heart in Whole Self Coaching
Sure sure, our heart is one of those organs in our bodies keeping us alive. But how often do we think of the Heart as vital in our overall well-being beyond physical survival?
On the one hand, I’ve always been led by my heart. Heart’s been central in all the experiences and work I’ve done in my life. On the other hand, I’d shy far away from Heart, thinking it was “bad”, and wanting to be more logical. Or, I wasn’t consciously aware of how and why (from an evidence based perspective) my attention on Heart was hurting or helping my well-being as I moved through my life. I also lacked the tools to address them.
Eventually, fine tuning Heart has anchored me. It’s made me better at my jobs, as a mom, and as a person. When we consciously focus on Heart, we improve our whole selves; our lives, and the lives of others.
Heart is central to being human. Heart is honestly my favorite part of life, and also the most frustrating, and the most difficult terrain to navigate - especially given the chaotic, and complex world we are living in today. Heart is hard work. Using our heads is much easier, frankly. But Heart also makes life so much more rewarding.
Here are some aspects of what I like to categorize as Heart. I work on these in myself, and with others in my work. All of these overlap with each other, and with the other facets of well-being (which we’ll get into later). In taking a methodical, evidence based approach to these, we can better navigate life’s big highs and lows, and live fuller, more authentic lives.
Emotional Well-Being
We often want to not feel feelings, but naming, understanding, acknowledging, processing, and organizing your feelings is vital to our well-being. Also key is sharing, and talking about them - particularly to a neutral person who has a less biased perspective, and wants to listen. The more you do all this, the more self-aware you become (emotions provide signs to us that we should investigate an area), the more empathetic and resilient you become, and the more rich life is.
Love
The best, and sometimes the most painful thing to experience. There are so many kinds. Whether it’s romantic love, the love we have for a child, or something/someone else, love makes life more beautiful, and it also makes it more complicated - particularly now when there are so many relationship structures, dating apps, and things to navigate. The other side of the coin is grief - equally important to tackle, and a part of every person’s experience for better or worse.
Self-Compassion
This is probably the hardest to master. In the most simple terms, this is a practice of exercising kindness without judgment towards oneself. Self-compassion leads to more self-confidence, more perspective, builds connection to others, and helps build a practice of mistake and failure tolerance (messing up is part of life, everyone does it, and failing is vital to building something great), centers you particularly during difficult times.
Connection To Others
If there was one thing COVID drilled into us, it’s that life sucks when you can’t connect with people. We are social beings! It also taught us how to more creatively connect. Even introverts need to connect to others. Whether it’s your colleagues, building local community, the connection and support of friends, family, or work - they’re all vital in combating loneliness, and finding physical and emotional long-term wellness.
Finding Joy
Finding or rediscovering moments, and little pleasures brings more happiness into our lives. Igniting our passions; what lights us up does too! It’s exciting to do what we love, and even better when we can master it.
Are you ready to dive into matters of the heart? Click the link below to setup your free discovery call to learn how I can help!