A Daily Look Within – Day 24

It can be a little startling sometimes when someone comes up behind us and gives us an unexpected hug, can it not? We might not expect it, but we sure do appreciate when that happens. The embrace, perhaps even more than the handshake, is a very expressive way to show how much we feel, care about, respect, and welcome another person. When you are alone, do you ever wish you could hug your self? Sometimes people do try…and if we see them doing that action we can feel that something is not right or sense their need for comfort.

When we feel threatened in some way, one of the first actions we might do is to cross or fold our arms over our chest. This protective-meaning action is like our first line of defense against something our heart senses as a problem or possible harm. Until our brain can help sort it out, our heart knows to tell our body, “Better watch out…could be trouble.”

In addition, our body just goes along and does it often before our brain or other senses actually notice exactly what the danger or threat might be. It is no coincidence that our heart-center lays in such close proximity to our solar plexus–that “gut” feeling that so often goes off when something is not quite right. Our heart is closer to that warning center than it is to our brain, where “logic” would insist it makes the most sense. Sometimes illogical things happen, and our sensitive, nervy, and chemical-filled middle will be the first to let us know this is so.