Move from the Heart

listening to the heart + transforming the culture of care

Aug 03, 2026

How are we listening and moving from the heart?

As we are in the Fire Element season, this is the season when the matters of the Heart are most active.

When I say Heart, I’m going beyond the physical heart. I'm speaking to the energetic Heart that is the house of our spirit, consciousness and inner compass. In Chinese Medicine, the heart supports how we relate in the world, how we connect to others, and how we access our body’s intelligence.

My sense is that to listen more intently to the Heart is a practice, path and skill that will become more important as the world changes. This article is dedicated solely to the Heart and what it offers us beyond the physical and what we can learn from it.

We are not alone in our work

I recently felt inspired from a conversation I had with a friend about what nature teaches us about community. It led us to hit on points like: nothing in a forest exists by itself — there are roots, networks, birds, insects, butterflies all in communication. These are parts of a whole system.

Our bodies follow a similar design.

The Heart is one aspect that influences the rest of the body system.

When the Heart experiences positive emotions, it informs the rest of the body and creates heart coherence, allowing for the heart rhythm to be at ease, supporting a more balanced nervous system, immunity, hormone balance and mental clarity (HeartMath Institute). Part of what helps our hearts feel more safe, is to remember that we are connected. Not alone, but surrounded by other parts of a whole system, just like in a forest.

Relating. A core function of the Heart, in Chinese Medicine, is to meet our life through our experiences in relationships, connections and emotions. Positive, healthy relationships and communities can be healing for us; whereas difficult experiences in relationships can impact our Heart’s rhythm, coherence and well-being.

As I sat with this, my mind wandered into how might we, as caregivers, be vital connections to our spaces of medicine and those we care for. Maybe our Hearts are vehicles to feel, relate, tap into our relationships, either past or present. To feel the support of each other, as if we were a forest ecosystem.

In your work or spaces of care, we are not alone in the work. We are extensions of those who came before us, like trees with their roots and branches expanding into the world. We are those extensions and our experiences with our teachers, loved ones and communities continue to inform us and how we show up.

As we step into our roles as healers, we can remember that we bring the relationships that have nourished us as well. To remember that we aren’t alone in our work or purpose. We are supported, held and connected to a web of relationships, even in the unseen. Felt in our hearts.

Following the inner compass, bridging heart-mind

I recently felt inspired to make some small (yet, big) changes to my work and practice. As I evolve, what I create evolves with me.

How did I get there? What led me? The heart-mind, my inner compass.

In a hyper-Yang society that prizes productivity, head first action, accomplishment as self-worth, most of us have learned to override the Heart. The logical mind has been working in overdrive, disconnecting us from our body’s wisdom as a result.

In my experience, our bodies tell us what we need to pay attention to but often the mind has already driven past the experience that the body is still processing. If only coming from the place of logic, I find that we tend to miss the true nature of the Heart-mind and subtle wisdom of the body.

Since the heart sends more signals to the brain, according to HeartMath research, the heart’s intelligence is informing how we think and how we perceive the world on a biophysical level. On an energetic level, this intelligence informs other parts of the body and acts as a compass or knowing that arrives before the logical mind. It is a subtle inner compass that is available to us, especially when we are clear, rooted and balanced.

It’s not a coincidence that the Heart is relate to courage. It is an act of bravery to listen to the Heart, especially in world that prizes living in the logical mind, rather than following the inner compass of Heart-mind and subtle body wisdom that lives within.

As I continue to practice moving from my heart-mind and body wisdom as compass, I hold that, so I can invite others to do so as well.

In a world that doesn’t teach you how to listen to heart-mind, we can decide ourselves to move a little differently.

To practice listening to our Heart.

How are we, when we enter into space

Before stepping into our roles of care, giving or showing up in our world, how are we?

She who knows others is clever; she who knows himself has discernment.

— Tao Te Ching, Chapter 33

Have we checked in with our Hearts? What do we need for support as we move through life’s changes? Are there obligations we need to gently put down for now?

The Fire element season is a time when activity and stimulation increase. More stimulation and less moments of pause, rest and Yin can block our ability to move from the Heart. Our Heart may be guiding us, but it takes time to slow down, practice mindfulness and listen within.

Knowing ourselves, is having the awareness of how we are, what we need, and how we show up. This is what the Lao Tzu points to. Discernment is a skill and a practice to see ourselves clearly, so we can enter our spaces of medicine with genuinity, clarity and honesty.

When I relate this to caregiving, I think of how important, yet subtle, it is when we approach our work from a place where we are feeling grounded, nourished and self-regulated. How others can feel or sense when we enter a room while our nervous system feels balanced and supported, versus in a state of stress or panic. To be mindful of the rising of my own unresolved experiences and patterns as I step into the space of caregiving.

How we show up, influences our spaces as caregivers and healers because we are a part of the whole experience. How we are is part of the healing process.

Becoming curious about our mindsets as caregivers, spaceholders and healers, as well as taking time to nourish ourselves can be the thing that uplevels our work and allows us to sustain our purpose. I invite you to explore with curiosity:

What has your Heart been trying to tell you? Rather than overriding my body’s wisdom or heart truth, what desires to be heard?

Thank you for reading.

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