Gratitude/Appreciation Walks
I have been practicing the art of keeping my heart open recently. Our natural state is open-hearted, yet we often close it off and do not even notice.
The smallest things can trigger it to close. While I am writing this, my phone signals I have a text and my heart closes. Early this morning we had a 5.2 earthquake at 3:19 AM, in the Sierras, and my Shake Alert alarm blasted me out of bed. Closed heart for sure!
Why do I always do my gratitude walks?
I have found a simple practice that allows my heart to be more and more open, and when done daily is like exercise for keeping the heart open. I call this my Gratitude walk, or my Appreciation Walk. I head out early in the morning, somewhere between 6:00 and 6:30 AM, with several of my dogs. My job is to make sure they enjoy their walk, and I find something that takes my breath away and brings me a sense of wonder, gratefulness, or beauty. Even when I am kind of grumpy starting out, I often am surprised and delighted by what I notice.
The other day, about half-way through my walk, I turned the corner and was stunned to see a gorgeous rainbow that stretched from one side of the neighborhood to the other! And I felt my heart open. Or I am walking on the sidewalk of the busiest street in my neighborhood and suddenly see a six-foot row of fuchsia-colored Irises at eye level. Wow!
Even on the days I can’t seem to open my heart at all, I will be taken over by a sense of belonging and gratitude at the tiny, lovely spaces my neighbors often work hard to encourage. Like the miniature English Garden that pops up after a rainy winter. Or the young squirrel who is so enthralled by the food he has found that he never notices the human and the three terriers coming upon him. (We silently crossed to the other side of the street so as not to disturb him or her.)
Tune in to your heart. It is designed to be open.
So, tune in to your heart. It is designed to be open. And it closes at the drop of a hat. Notice how that feels also. Then practice opening and closing the heart, opening and closing the heart. As you practice you will suddenly notice that your heart’s muscle tone has improved, and when you are startled or frustrated suddenly, you have another move that might just allow the heart to open back up much more quickly.