Instructions for a Practiced Heart

If you find yourself only able to feel one feeling at once, don’t fret.

But don’t believe for a moment that’s all there is.

A practiced heart can feel many things at once and honor each emotion without diminishing the rest.

The practice heart keeps each feeling intact.

The feelings may still want to fight each other, but a practiced heart knows how to help that talk to each other while preserving their integrity. No one is left out or raised above another.

The practiced heart understands the wisdom and necessity of each feeling, and the feelings can feel it in how they are held.

Every feeling comes home to the practiced heart.

If this feels far from you, begin with the feeling that you have.

Honor it.

Care for it.

Give it room to breathe.

Let the sun and rain fall on it.

Let it feel the rhythm of your life.

The others will be watching, and they will always want to trust you even if they act otherwise.

You may begin to bounce between emotions. This is a good sign.

Whenever a feeling shows up, welcome it. Invite it in for tea or to a cliffside to scream.

Soon, two feelings will come knocking at once and you will be able to practice inviting in both.

You’ll see them play and then fight like siblings. It’s usually a misunderstanding, though sometimes it is not.

It will feel unpleasant often, even just with one, but many will feel bigger, more difficult.

Just keep feeling and crying and honoring and practicing. It does get easier each time.

When you start to get the hang of it, don’t be discouraged when it feels like chaos again or when you get too tired to hold it all.

Go back to the basics and start with one.

It’s okay to begin all your life.

It is not in nature for a beginning to go nowhere so keep starting and trust the rest will come.

A practiced heart comes with practice, and the best way to practice is to start.