Living Open Hearted

I’ve been contemplating what it truly means to live open-hearted. How have modern culture and social media influenced our ideas about love and being “open-hearted”? Society presents romantic love as hand-holding couples gazing doe-eyed at one another and in the shape of pink and red candy hearts in February. Open-hearted living is often depicted as a young person with long hair blowing in the wind, throwing their arms open as they take in the beauty of natural wonder caught in a moment of cinematic mastery.

As I typed “open-hearted” to search for a blog photo, I saw images of eager seekers standing on the pinnacles. The images are breathtaking, but the reality is questionable–surely adventuring is not synonymous with being open-hearted. I welcome climbing to the mountain apex and gazing at the beauty of the peaks. Still, such moments are fleeting and a shallow representation of the ideal of inhabiting life barefaced. What does it mean to truly live open hearted—authentically and vulnerably without shying away from all facets of love and living?

In my yogic view, open-hearted means showing up to experience all that appears within ourselves, engaging with and exploring the energetic qualities of each moment. Open-heartedness requires an understanding that life consists of emotions and experiences that span from meh to ecstatic to excruciating to transcendent. Being open-hearted conveys a willingness to be with, invite, explore, integrate, and grow from everything life brings–the blissful moments and the difficult times. To quote Glennon Doyle, “Life is brutal. But it’s also beautiful. Brutiful, I call it.”

Living open-hearted means being with the beautiful and the brutal and opening to this Brutiful, Brutiful life. Open-heartedness truly happens, not on the metaphorical mountaintop but as we ride the ebb and flow of daily life with presence, acceptance, and an openness to each moment as it arises, awakening to the richness of our Brutiful human experience.

Jai Bhagwan,
Susan

About The Author

Susan Mathis, M.Ed., E-RYT 500, RCYT, YACEP

Susan is deeply committed to the practice of yoga, pranayama, and conscious living. A Professional Level, Kripalu Yoga Teacher, she offers steady guidance, practical knowledge and infuses the deep wisdom of yoga philosophy into her teaching. A lover of the natural world, adventure, and travel, Susan engages with nature through hiking, biking, and scuba diving. She is the owner and director of alleyCat Yoga and Yoga to Grow.