Book Summary by Linda Brown

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     The search to rediscover the truth of her heart began when the author, Gail Harris, became aware that she had lost it. She possessed a poor self-image, emotional pain, and negative voices. She held inside an old grief over losing twin daughters prematurely twenty-two weeks into her pregnancy. When she realized the angry, bitter person she had become, she forced herself to feel the grief and pain.

She also participated in a women’s empowerment workshop, and eventually arrived at the realization that ones inner voice is an understanding of the heart rather than of the mind. Harris started paying attention to how her body felt when she experienced different events in life. She began sharing her experiences with other women. She learned to trust what her intuition told her.

     Your Heart Knows The Answer is “a guidebook for learning the language of the heart.” The most important message the book is that where I am is where I need to be. When one lets their heart guide them, things flow more easily, and the person has a sense of where they belong.

They experience more love and a more positive attitude, because the voice of truth is always kind and loving. Each of us has different gifts, and allowing the still, silent place within to acknowledge vulnerability is an act of strength.

     Harris related a story of having been given morphine following a burst appendix. The doctors and her mother wanted her to continue taking the drug, but intuition told her to stop, that the morphine was killing her. She listened to her inner voice and refused to take it. The doctor prescribed a different painkiller.

Suddenly she felt better, and her condition improved immediately. This got her to thinking of the different voices each of us lives our lives by. She realized how many times we do things to please other people. The part of us that reacts to the external world is ego. Ego is based on fear and illusion.

     Your ego voice keeps you out of the present and by so doing, you are not able to access the energy you need to pursue what it is that you want.

     Gandhi defined truth as being what the voice within tells you. We all long to connect with that truth, which empowers us. Another name for this voice is intuition. The voice of the heart always wants what’s best for your soul’s divine potential. The higher self is sacred. Your highest self reveals all things to you.

One reason we don’t hear its voice is that unfortunately, most of us in childhood were taught to drown out its voice. In addition to not following it for this reason, we also have trouble differentiating between it and the voices in our head. Many voices in our head try to keep us down by telling us we’re not good enough.

Obeying the voice of the heart means having faith in our own abilities, sticking up for ourselves, taking risks, and facing our fears. Unfortunately, too often it is the voices in our head that we live our lives by. If we followed our heart, we would each be living the life we were meant to live, where our every dream would reach fruition.

     In order to hear the heart’s voice, one must listen for it. One must also practice heeding what it says. The phrase “My heart knows” is a metaphor for inner wisdom.

     Voices of the head cause you to feel panicky, frustrated, and lethargic. They cause you to procrastinate, leave you feeling victimized, tear down confidence, and invoke fear and anxiety.

     Voices of the heart are the complete opposite of voices of your head. Voices of your heart make you enthusiastic, joyful and calm. They create the energy you can feel rising up your spine. Voices of your heart inspire you to serve others. They never cause suffering to you or others.

     You can dialogue with your heart, asking it such questions as “How will I recognize your messages?”, “How can I trust that what you tell me is my truth?”, “Who is the magnificent person inside of me?”

As you learn to trust your heart, make incomplete statements that the heart’s voice can finish for you, such as “When I accept myself . . .”, “Loving my body is important to me because . . . “,” The love I have attracted in my life . . . “, or “My heart knows that I deserve what I desire because . . .”.

     The heart’s voice is always there and it is always in present time; in fact, your being present is a prerequisite. The voice of the heart speaks with unconditional love and is always direct and specific. It is nonjudgmental and non-authoritative. It is creative and visionary.

Although the voices of your head are always calculated, the voice of your heart speaks to you all of a sudden, when you’re not thinking of anything specific. Sometimes it comes after meditation. It doesn’t use logic and it speaks when you are open to hearing it.

Sometimes the voice is accompanied by images. The voice of your heart is representative of your higher self. Some people even give this higher self a name or a symbol.

     When you live according to what your heart knows, the use of ceremonies, meditations and affirmations will reinforce what you’ve learned and will honor your higher self. Ceremonies make real what is in your heart.

They involve acting out, making your intention come to life. They can involve praying, writing your problems down on a piece of paper and then burning them, the lighting of a candle – the list is endless. Often ceremonies include symbolic objects.

The use of ceremony is a means of letting go and trusting in the Divine. Harris suggests that you create a personal altar where you display objects that have special meaning for you.

     Recognizing the voice of the heart is also helped by meditation. Meditation helps you release negative emotions. Meditation inspires creativity and offers guidance. The more resistance you feel during the meditation process, the more you are benefiting from it. Sometimes a meditation is centered on a particular thing (such as concentrating on the breath); other times a meditation involves thinking of nothing.

     Another way of acquainting yourself with the voice of your heart is by journaling. Within the sacred pages of a journal, you can honor who you are and the wisdom you possess. You learn to set intentions that foster spiritual growth.

     It is impossible to fully know another person until you fully know yourself. It is also necessary to know your shadow self, the negative parts of you that didn’t mature, of which you are ashamed.

This dark side of your personality offers valuable information about yourself. We all have a shadow side – it is important to accept it and engage in an intimate relationship with it. The key to empowerment as an individual is loving yourself as you are, faults and all.

     Some people believe they don’t deserve the things they want, but if we believe we do deserve what we desire, and if those things are aligned with our highest potential, we will be drawn to the right people, events and timing to achieve our goals.

     Each of us has our own unique form of creative _expression. The Greeks created a myth of the Nine Muses of Creativity, goddesses who ruled over all of creativity. Each of them was assigned a name. Together, they represent intuition, insight, imagination, life force and awareness. Many people invoke one or more of these muses to aid them in their creative endeavors.

     Another realm where “the heart knows” is spiritual partnership. One risk in this type of relationship is losing your sense of self and becoming dependent on the beloved for your happiness. At the opposite end, one can remain too independent. The key to living within a spiritual relationship is balance. This is the key to living a full life, as well.

     Each of us is meant to experience self-love and to truly connect with other people and with God. Living in the Now, following the voice of your heart, is saying “yes” to life.

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