Your Authentic Self
This post is about how to be your authentic self with the help of three simple heart-centered techniques. Anyone can live more from their heart, their embodied wisdom, and from a more
personally authentic place. You just need to be intentional about it and practice tuning into yourself and, in particular, your heart center. The three techniques offered here are simple and can be practiced on the fly at any time.
But, first things first. What do I mean by authenticity? According to Merriam-Webster, authenticity is being true to your personality, spirit, or character. Furthermore, when you act authentically, you don’t bend to external pressures, values, and norms that you yourself do not aspire toward or believe in. You follow your own drumbeat. In other words, authenticity is self-referential at its core.
The Source Of Your Authenticity
The information presented here is based on my personal and professional experience and extensive reading related to the chakra system, energy healing, embodied coaching, the heart-brain, and heart-centered meditations.
The Head Brain Vs Body Brains
Historically, the head was thought to be the sole source of knowledge, memory, and the conscious impulse to act. However, its supremacy has been called into question through the growing research into embodied memory, intelligence, and agency. Agency is simply the ability of different parts of the body to orient the head-brain, and in some instances, ignore its commands. One such example is the gut (E Mayer, A Fogel, and A Blake).
People say: “Trust your gut.” It’s true that the gut picks up important environmental and situational information. Some of which your conscious thinking mind is unaware of. And, it does this extremely quickly, sending out a wealth of signals throughout the body. For this reason, many people consider the gut the seat of intuition. However, the gut is not uniquely responsible for intuition or embodied awareness. The body comprises many founts of highly personalized memory and wisdom.
In fact, according to my experience and learning, the heart is the touchstone of our authenticity (more on this below). Although, in performing this role, it relies on all of the other energy centers and embodied centers such as the gut-brain for information and support. And, of course, it’s influenced by our conscious thinking mind as well.
Gifts From Your Heart Center and Heart Chakra (Anahata)
Gifts From Your Heart
Your heart keeps you alive by pumping blood, oxygen, and hormones throughout your body, and detoxing the body of deoxygenated blood and other spent biochemistry. However, it also regulates your bodily systems and encourages coherence within the body. In turn, coherence improves a whole host of body physical, emotional, and cognitive functions. (National Institute of Health).
Some typical attributes of our physical heart or heart-brain include love, gratitude, devotion, compassion, and connection. As mammals, we’re fundamentally wired for connection. As humans, this means dependent on the relationships we forge with our families, friends, and communities.
It is, therefore, not surprising that many healing, meditative, and spiritual practices are heart chakra-centered. Three examples are Sekhem-Seichim Reiki (SSR), Tummo Reiki, and Integrated Energy Healing (IET).
Gifts of Heart Chakra (Anahata)
When we speak of the heart, it doesn’t really matter it’s the heart center, heart-brain, or heart chakra (Anahata) because there’s tremendous overlap in function and influence across each. For example, the fourth chakra governs the cardiac nerve plexus, circulation, respiratory and cardiac systems (e.g, breath and circulation), and the thymus gland (Cyndi Dale). These functions are similar to those mentioned above for the heart-brain.
Heart chakra attributes and functions are fairly consistent with that of the typical model of the heart-brain. Both are about self-love and love for others, things, places, ideas, etc. Furthermore, the Anahata is also the center of feeling and emotions. Not surprisingly, intimacy, love, compassion, acceptance, kindness, trust, devotion, forgiveness, and relationships of all kinds are governed by the heart chakra.
Located in the center of the seven chakras, it is the core of the mind-body-spirit holistic connection. It melds the physical self, thought, spirit, and emotion. In this way, it metabolizes all of what is happening within you and offers a clear whole sense of it. This is different from the thinking mind, which tends to focus on the individual parts, contrasts and prioritizes, and calculates a series of expected outcomes. A final solution is often unclear.
Heart-Centered Ways to Access Your Authentic Self
1. Sensing Into Your Heart Center
You can always connect with your heart center to gain insights and receive guidance on what is at your true center or your core. The process is very simple. But, unfortunately, not often practiced.
Pause. Shift your focus inward to sense inside yourself: your embodied self. Take note of any sensations (e.g., tightness, tingles, flow). Don’t assign them a feeling (e.g., anxious, happy, sad). Move your inner focus to your heart center. Let all thoughts and distractions fall into the background. Keeping a soft, compassionate connection with your heart center. Sense and Listen with patience and compassion. What does your heart say about this moment?
Alternatively, ask yourself a question or state an intention. Then follow the above process. This practice is accessible to you 24/7. The more you use it, the more quickly you’ll be able to drop into your inner space and retrieve heartfelt guidance.
One additional benefit to turning your awareness toward your heart center is that it centers you and brings you to the present moment. Much of our waking hours are spent focusing on things that are external to us. Our orientation also tends to be on projecting into the future or dwelling on the past. And yet, it is only in the present moment that you can make choices and assert your personal intentions.
2. Heart Breathing and Meditation
There are probably thousands of breathing techniques and meditations for the heart center. Many of them offer assistance with tapping into heart-centered guidance. They tend to generally follow the process mentioned above under Sensing Into Your Heart Center. And similarly, these meditations tend to center you and draw you (back) into the present moment.
One method, in particular, is worth noting. It’s the HeartMath Quick Coherence Technique. I’ve included this technique because of the Institute’s intense focus on heart-center support for overall improved health and well-being.
Follow their recommended slow, elongated breathing technique while you turn your focus toward your heart center and imagine a positive experience to reduce any stress you’re feeling and bring you more to the present moment with a clearer and more open focus.
3. Toning the Heart Center
Toning a chakra means bringing it back into balance. In so doing, you access the beneficial attributes of a clear, well-functioning energy center rather than struggle with dysfunction, imbalance, and lack of clarity.
The idea of toning is twofold. First, it brings your attention to your heart center. Second, toning will rebalance your center and, as a result, provide you with clear messages and guidance.
All chakras are vibrational, i.e., exhibit energetic wave patterns. As such, they can entrain with specific sounds (tones), which are also vibrational. Each chakra has a bija (mantra or sound) that corresponds to the chakra’s natural wave motion when it’s well-functioning and balanced. The bija of the Anahata is Yam. As such, Jonathan Goldman suggests chanting Yam or creating the corresponding resonance with a tuning fork of the Anahata frequency to tone your heart center.
When chanting, use a lower tone and let the sound roll out with your exhale. You can even chant silently. Just internally form the bija with your breath. Take a moment and practice the silent bija breathing, and notice where you sense or perceive inside your body. No doubt it will be right in the Anahata, the center of your chest, or your heart center.
Save time and chant (i.e., vocalize) Yam while you meditate, sit and relax, take a shower, cook, etc.
So, if you’re interested in living and working from your authentic self, start by practicing these three simple heart-centered techniques that will help you get in touch with and receive guidance from your heart center, the seat of your authenticity.
