"Heart Centered"  © 2010 ~ acrylic mandala by Carol E. Fairbanks

 Returning to My Heart

 "I needed to wake me up to the wonders of my beautiful life.  To return me to my feeling, beating, living heart."  

This quote by Dana Flynn, cofounder of Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in New York City and San Francisco, went directly to my heart and awakened a need for me also to "wake up".  So the questions were stirred and brought to their feet in the dark corners of the empty shelter I call my heart.  As I turned on a light to look around in this abandoned part of my being, I saw some sadness that has been living there...some grief that has kept the windows and doors tightly shut. I took a deep breath and pushed up the windows and opened the door as wide as it would go, and a vision of a caring world filtered in filling my heart with the life it had been craving.  The vibrant colors in my empty heart shelter emanated a brightness that was too much for the grief that had been living there. "Lies, lies" he shouted as he angrily left, not looking back at the brilliance that filled the room.  Suddenly, my "feeling, beating, living" heart was beautiful.... dynamic and alive with Truth sitting where grief had been lurking.  I am glad I returned to my heart center.  It feels good to be back. It's a good place to be.