When the Heart Opens
The heart is powerful.
It can be joyful, sad, tender, expansive, soft, hard, closed, open, blocked, or completely boundless.
Our hearts carry wisdom. They know things our minds cannot explain. When we learn to listen — when we are willing to feel what lives within our hearts — they can guide us home to our truth.
Recently, I participated in a retreat where we explored Love — not the kind of love we search for outside of ourselves, but love as a natural quality of our true essence.
This experience touched me deeply.
Even now, a week later, new awarenesses are still unfolding. Some of the walls I didn’t even realize I was holding have softened or dissolved, and the lens through which I see and experience myself, others, and life has shifted.
Sometimes these insights arise unexpectedly.
I might be in the middle of an ordinary moment — washing dishes, walking outside, or doing something simple — and suddenly a new awareness appears. A different way of seeing something. A deeper understanding of an old pattern. A gentler way of relating to myself.
We spent time exploring love from many different angles.
One session focused on the Inner Child — the ways our hearts can become protected, guarded, or blocked, and how many of these protective patterns first began in early childhood.
The Inner Child still lives within us — in our subconscious, in our nervous system, in our bodies. She is a collection of memories and feelings, held in time, influencing how we respond to life and love today.
Even though we are now adults and no longer need the same forms of protection, the Inner Child doesn’t always know that. She is still trying to do her job — protecting us the best way she knows how.
And because of this, we feel separate from love. We can be afraid to express love or be open to love from others.
One of the exercises I found especially transformative was exploring the Inner Child in a new way — discovering the incredible strengths she carries.
When we began naming these strengths, my heart opened with joy, and I felt more alive in my body. So many beautiful qualities emerged — resilience, creativity, courage, and love.
It reminded me that our younger selves were not only shaped by difficulty. They were also full of wisdom, vitality, and gifts.
What gifts does your Inner Child hold?
If you feel drawn, take some time to reflect or journal. Make a list. Notice the qualities that arise. See what unfolds, and pay attention to what you notice in your body as you remember these strengths.
Feel free to share some of your Inner Child’s gifts with me! Hit reply and brag about her - she deserves it. :)
What I appreciated most about this experience was that we were not trying to “fix” ourselves.
We were exploring.
We were curious about our relationship with love.
We were meeting all parts with compassion.
There was no right or wrong. No good or bad.
And something beautiful happens when the Inner Child is met with love and understanding.
She softens.
She relaxes.
She dissolves back into essence — into pure awareness, into love.
This experience has touched me in ways that are still unfolding. I look forward to continuing this journey of the heart.
Because when the heart opens, we remember that love was never missing — it was simply waiting for us to return.
We remember who we truly are.
We remember who we all are.
LOVE.
With love,
Diane