In class today with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen at the Body-Mind Centering Association conference, Bonnie said, “the heart is in every part.”  She was showing us how to move from a sense of the heart being carried by the vessels and the cells into every part of our bodies. Earlier that morning we had been moving from each lobe of each lung, and then exploring the cradling relationship between the lungs and the heart.

Moving this way was surprisingly emotional.  Carrying the quality of heartfulness out to the periphery of the body, allowing the movement to be shaped and supported by heartfulness was a mix of sorrow and exhilaraton.  I had to keep pausing to absorb, to listen, to recuperate.  Bringing awareness to the differentiation of the lungs laid the groundwork for the heart work.  Bonnie says, “Awareness is the motor act.”  Most people feel that it is the motor act that creates learning, but Bonnie has learned that awareness can create the same profound change and learning.

The heart is in every part also means that we can bring heartfulness to every moment, every action, every word.