Heal your Heart

by Tim Brieske, M.D.

As far as we know, human beings are the only life forms on the planet with conscious awareness - the ability to know that we know and to be aware that we are aware. We're able to perceive both our inner and outer environments and we can make conscious choices about where we direct one of our most valuable gifts: our attention.As many great wisdom traditions teach, whatever we put our attention on expands in our experience. We can focus on grievances, shortcomings, and pain, and those qualities will grow in importance to us. Or we can instead choose to shift our attention to beauty, love, and laughter, and we will perceive their expansion in our life.

When I'm practicing medicine, I realize a feeling of love as I relate to those seeking care. I find that as I direct my attention and shift my perception towards love and connection, the layers of my mind, intellect, and ego become less rigid, more elastic, and relatively transparent. This has the effect of allowing the love and spiritual energy we all possess to be communicated in a more authentic, less refracted way.