{"id":275,"date":"2017-05-16T17:40:37","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T21:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lochkelly\/?p=275"},"modified":"2017-05-24T09:40:37","modified_gmt":"2017-05-24T13:40:37","slug":"open-hearted-awareness-emotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lochkelly\/open-hearted-awareness-emotions\/","title":{"rendered":"Open-Hearted Awareness and Emotions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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When we don\u2019t shift into open-hearted awareness, our hearts can be painfully closed, or they can be too open so that we\u2019re frequently overwhelmed. Then we end up looking to our thoughts to create a sense of self. The result is a small, mental sense of self that makes us fearful and unworthy. Sadly, a thought-based identity cuts us off from our greatest resources for connection, loving-kindness, and wellbeing. While identified solely with a mental self, we may not be able to hear the call of open-hearted awareness. No wonder we become confused about our own heart\u2019s desire and end up looking for love in all the wrong places.<\/p>\n

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Some people are caught in their emotional heart: feeling everything, worrying, and feeling wounded and unsupported most of the time. Shifting into open-hearted awareness has transformed many people who say they \u201cpick up every feeling and are too sensitive to others\u2019 emotions.\u201d These people don\u2019t have to shut down. They can continue to feel others\u2019 emotions, but instead of holding them in their bodies, they can let emotions continue back through the open heart\u2019s door to the support of the field of awake awareness within and behind them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Open-hearted awareness builds on emotional intelligence, which is the ability to recognize, distinguish, and articulate our emotions. It\u2019s also the capacity for understanding and appreciating the emotions of others and the way they communicate with us. Open-hearted awareness does not have to defend against emotions. From open-hearted awareness, we\u2019re able to \u201cbe with\u201d emotions that formerly would have been overwhelming. From open-hearted awareness, we need not consider ourselves underdeveloped or weak if we go through what St. Teresa of A\u0301vila called the \u201cgift of tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information, see Loch\u2019s book and audio of meditations, Shift Into Freedom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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When we don\u2019t shift into open-hearted awareness, our hearts can be painfully closed, or they can be too open so that we\u2019re frequently overwhelmed. Then we end up looking to our thoughts to create a sense of self. The result is a small, mental sense of self that makes us fearful and unworthy. Sadly, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2465,"featured_media":276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOpen-Hearted Awareness and Emotions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When we don\u2019t shift into open-hearted awareness, our hearts can be painfully closed, or they can be too open so that we\u2019re frequently overwhelmed. 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