Are you blocking the things you need?

With Valentine's Day on our minds in recent weeks, I've heard a theme over and over again from clients and friends. So many of the people who have crossed my path recently are deeply in need. They need more love, more abundance, more money, more opportunities in their lives.

They are experiencing a deep sense of lack, sadness and frustration about not being able to get these needs met.

Yet when we start to explore the deeper levels of why these needs are not being met, we discover that it is extremely difficult for these individuals to receive what they need. Their hearts are locked up tight to keep them safe, but an unfortunate side effect of this self-protection is that it also keeps out the things they need.

Most of us have hearts closed to some degree as a self-protection and survival reflex to keep us from getting hurt on many different levels. If your heart is locked up safe, and for good reason too, know that it is going to take some gentleness, compassion and practice to unlock the door and let love in again. Yes, love. Remember last week we talked about how even money is an expression of love?

If your heart has been locked and closed for a long time, it's pretty darn scary to unlock the deadbolts and open the door. My suggestion has been to challenge yourself to practice opening your heart a crack and receiving at least one thing each day. Start off small, like allowing someone to hold a door open for you or letting yourself receive a smile from a store clerk and feel it in your heart.

You can also practice the below visualization that we did at the Creative Retreat a few weeks back. It's called the Ocean of Abundance and it's by Louise Hay.

Here's what she has to say:

"Your prosperity consciousness is not dependent on money, your flow of money is dependent upon your prosperity consciousness. As you can conceive of more, more will come into your life.

I love the visualization of standing at the sea shore looking out at the vast ocean and knowing that this ocean is the abundance that is available to me.

Look down at your hands and see what sort of container you are holding. Is it a teaspoon, a thimble with a hole in it, a paper cup, a glass, a tumbler, a pitcher, a bucket, a wash tub, or perhaps you have a pipeline connected to this ocean of abundance.

Look around you and notice that no matter how many people are there and no matter what kind of container they have, there is plenty for everyone. You cannot rob another, and they cannot rob you. And in no way can you drain the ocean dry.

Your container is your consciousness, and it can always be exchanged for a larger container. Do this exercise often, to get the feeling of expansion and unlimited supply. I sit at least once a day with my arms stretched out to the side and say, "I am open and receptive to all the good and abundance in the Universe." It gives me a feeling of expansion.

The Universe can only distribute to me what I have in my consciousness, and I can ALWAYS create more in my consciousness. I am an unlimited being accepting from an unlimited source in an unlimited way."