February LOVE Letter

Holly Purdy
Feb 1, 2025
3 min read

"If we want there to be peace in the world, then we have to take responsibility when our own hearts and minds harden and close. We have to be brave enough to soften what is rigid, to find the soft spot and stay with it. We have to have that kind of courage and take that kind of responsibility. That’s the true practice of peace."

- Pema Chodron

It’s a new month and a new opportunity to stay open to life. How are you doing and feeling as we head into February? How are you taking care of yourself?

I don't know about you, but for me January felt LOOOOOONNNNGGGG. But- it’s a fresh month, with an opening for a fresh start. We’re always offered the opportunity to begin again, with fresh eyes and heart, so let’s do it!

This month, I am leaning into the intention of OPEN-HEARTEDNESS- to keep my heart open for myself and the greater good of those around me. As humans, it is natural to get overwhelmed and closed off especially in times of transitions and conflicts. As if being human isn’t challenging enough, we really pile it on with our modern area of screens, social media, technology, and the hateful and harmful narratives found in so many of these places. Keeping an open heart means keeping SPACE inside of us for all the good and love that is around and inside of us always.

Think of yourself as a small tea cup with a finite capacity for what can be poured in and emptied out. If you're already full of yesterday’s cold tea, then how are you going to pour in some fresh hot tea? If we try to pour new goodness into an already full cup (of the old, stagnant stuff) it will spill out. If we try to pour out from an empty cup, we soon find that that also doesn’t work. So, our work is to create balance and open up space for giving and receiving the good stuff.

If you’re feeling “hardened and closed” then it’s probably time to tend to the heart to create an open space. Look at what’s there, and be with it to release it. This is hard work, and thank goodness that we can turn to yoga, movement, mindfulness, and community to create space in our hearts and minds. This month, try making a commitment to both being with your heart, and releasing what’s feeling rigid there. Also, dabble more regularly in things that make your heart feel warm and squishy. Lastly, no need to force your heart open, in fact it can’t be forced! So go super easy on yourself and others and see what happens.

Here are a few more ideas to cultivating a softer heart:

Create loving boundaries around your heart- if it isn't going to uplift or be helpful and healing, maybe it can wait for another day.
Commit to a daily heart opening practice of some kind. Lean into what makes your heart feel open. It could be singing or deep breathing, playing an instrument, writing love notes, cooking a meal, dancing, getting on your mat, or being outside. Do a little each day and especially when you notice a sense of being “closed off” creeping in.
Loving Kindness for yourself and others. Put your hands on your heart and breathe deep. Send a well wish to others for loving-kindness.
Be gentle with yourself and others, ok? It’s ok to do that.
RELEASE CONTROL. (easier said than done) What can you control right now? A lot of what's happening “out there” can't be controlled. But what is happening inside of us is always within our domain.
Attend any of our upcoming workshops and extra classes that create space for goodness. Psst, we have SO MANY good things the next two months to foster open heartedness.
Limit screen time.