Life seems to be calling for humanity to understand the intelligence of love — what we call heart intelligence. Everyone talks about love and wants love, but understanding love and the heart has remained a mystery for most people.
Love as intelligence is a synergy of heart and mind, expanding perception and higher cognitive faculties. It’s not just about feeling love but about practicing love in ways that are beneficial both for ourselves and others. It’s understanding that practicing love in the form of heart qualities, such as patience, kindness, forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, and more, is highly intelligent.
Practicing heart qualities moves love through our system, which facilitates emotional balance, clear intuitive thinking, and, importantly, reduces feelings of separation.
With all the intensities and stressors happening in the world, more people are feeling separate from family and friends who support different religious or political beliefs or policies. It’s now estimated that about 1 in 4 adults have a family estrangement, and an increasing number of young adults are choosing to go “no contact” with their parents. For most, family rifts are a source of chronic stress.
We are all energetically connected, and the experience of separation from family or friends can create health problems and brain fog, making it harder to think clearly. It’s hard enough to make decisions with effective outcomes in uncertain times, but it’s even harder when we’re processing separation, hurt, or guilt. It can destroy our capacity to discern with balance.
Love as intelligence is recognizing our shared humanity. It’s time to get more heart and love moving through our system. More heart is needed to renew relationships or get along with each other without feeling awkward or separate when we disagree. Here are some key heart qualities that are important to practice during this time. They will contribute to more effective communication, conflict resolution, and building stronger relationships. Increasing our heart qualities is how we can begin to heal separation and solve problems that seem to have no solutions.
Patience
Love in the form of patience supports our ability to manage our energies from a place of ease in the heart, especially when people say things we don’t agree with or we’re in situations we don’t like. We often forget to practice patience when we need it the most in relationships.
Kindness
Love is being kind to people, even when we disagree. Kindness feels good to our heart and to those who receive our kindness. Practicing kindness helps to ease separative thoughts and feelings and often makes situations better.
Compassionate Latitude
Compassionate latitude understands that most people (including us) are doing the best they can based on their upbringing, stress overload, and the clouded thinking many are experiencing during these unpredictable times. Practicing compassionate latitude can quickly begin to reduce reactivity and prevent stress build-up. Having compassionate latitude can help us get over communication challenges more easily and manage disagreements without cutting off our love or holding others accountable for our stress.
Forgiveness
Many people separate from a family member or friend because they felt hurt by them and, therefore, won’t forgive them. It’s understandable why we can feel it’s appropriate to hold onto bitterness and anger. But as we practice forgiveness and get more heart energy moving in our system, we release pent-up hurt or animosity and its negative effects on our mental, emotional, and physical health.
Unforgiven feelings can quietly drain our energy, creating shades of flatness in our joy and happiness. The genuine practice of forgiveness increases the love flowing through our system and releases neurochemicals and hormones that soothe and improve well-being. Forgiveness often happens in stages.
Gratitude
Many books recommend practicing gratitude daily for mental, emotional, and physical health. They suggest practicing gratitude first thing in the morning to set a positive tone for your day or before bed to reflect on people and events you feel grateful for and enjoy the heart-opening it gives you. Sincere gratitude is one of the quickest ways to heal feelings of separation. Tuning our heart to gratitude provides an uplift or warmth that soothes the nervous system. It’s like a tonic for our soul, just as expressing gratitude to another uplifts their spirit.
Moving love through our system with acts of kindness, compassionate latitude for different beliefs, forgiveness, patience, and gratitude is activating the intelligence of love. As more of us practice these heart qualities, it puts more love into the energetic field, making it easier for others to do the same and eventually nations. We’re all connected energetically. This is how love can go viral. Love activated is the only thing that will change the world.
Meditation: Moving More Love Through Our System
- Breathe in love and get still in your heart. As you breathe out, radiate love into your mental, emotional, and physical system. See your heart, brain, and nervous system aligning in harmony and coherence.
- Now, envision yourself moving more love through your system by practicing heart qualities to reduce separation or improve a relationship. Ask your heart’s intuitive guidance for which heart qualities are most important for you to practice now, e.g., patience, kindness, compassionate latitude, forgiveness, gratitude, or another heart quality to increase love and heal separation.
- Next, breathe in the quality of love that your heart is guiding you to practice. As you breathe out, radiate that heart quality into the energetic field or to a relationship or situation to help heal separation.
It’s beneficial for each of us to take a week to practice a few of these heart qualities in different situations. Being genuine in your approach often brings a lift in spirit that can help you move through challenges that may arise. The main benefit of this exercise is that it helps to integrate more love into your system, which increases the connection with your heart’s intuitive guidance and direction.
