The Heart Warmer Journey - Creating an intentional experience
This is a story that will be told in two parts.
The first, is the beginning thoughts & questions asked when dreaming of a “heart-centered” spa service.
The second is Nicole’s ending, the refinement & resulting creation of “The Heart Warmer Journey” at The Stable Spa.
Everything that we do here at The Horse Shoe Farm, and The Stable Spa in particular, we aim to execute with a high degree of intention behind it.
This is a small window into one of MANY conversations had between all of the staff here at THSF. These chats focus on ideating new concepts, breathing life and authenticity into old ones, maintaining high standards for guest experience, and everything in between.
PART ONE: Taylor’s Questions
What does it mean to care for your heart?
In trying to help market a service called “The Heart Warmer” at work the other day, my mind got to trace the edges of some thoughts that I had tumbled around a long time ago…
“Heart-centered.” “Heart-focused.” “Boundaries.” “Self protection.”
These are all commonalities of the modern human language now, epithets of wellness that are spoken in casual conversation without too much concern for their meaning, once they’ve left the lips.
Whenever I hear a phrase about healing, the heart, self-care… I get scratchy inside. These are some of the most valuable concepts in all of the human experience, and we throw the terms around as if we are sailors, swearing needlessly about the salty winds upon our face.
The crude notebook photo, depicts the shorthand version of a conversation between myself and Nicole, one of the wisest women I’ve ever met. It was her original explanation of this package that led me back to a place that I have spent a lot of time in, perhaps a lifetime ago now though. I can’t say for certain.
My question for her, was how do WE take care of OUR hearts? What can WE do, or what can YOU (as a therapist, a provider, a caretaker) do to take care of my HEART?
That’s such a massive statement to me. To take care of someone’s heart. That’s incredible.
What is a heart center, and how does one even begin to reach into someone else’s chest, or spirit, or pain, or calm, and offer any sense of “healing?”
I broke it all the way back down to “what is the heart, in relation to our being?”
To me, the layout looks something like this:
HEART - The framework. Unabashed freedom for love, giving, care. Unburdened by pain. The plans that we build our homes on.
VALUES - The foundation. From the heart we lay down our value sets. The things that will be the most important and valuable to us in life, both in ourselves and with others.
MIND - The walls, the functions. We start to get into protection and form here. Humans don’t survive long without protection. The frameworks and foundations of ourselves are beautiful, but vulnerable.
CHOICE & SHARING - Windows & doors. We build them into ourselves to make sure we can choose what enters our space, our personhood.
SPIRIT - The roof. When we allow our framework to flow through our foundation and into our home, we become a beacon of light for those who enter it. At some point, our home gets decorated with furniture, if we have cared for our heart. Then people flood in, drawn to the magnetic power of a love that is attended to, and is flourishing. When there is no room left, because we have shared it with so many, we climb to the roof to view the stars, longing for them to see us as ready, and call us home.
Nicole’s answers were thought provoking, profound, engaging, and sincere. One of her many talents is the ability to share in a feeling with another person, I mean REALLY feel.
The genuine way that she shows up in your space with you, is not a choice for her. Her heart is well cared for, by herself and the many who love her. Though it seems to me, if I were to expend energy in this way, it would deplete me of my resources… this level of empathy seems to refill her life-force like a wellspring.
It’s incredible. Just as I flippantly said it would be.
So, don’t take my word for it, because my words know not the depths of the human heart. Not in that way that some hearts can understand it, anyway.
PART TWO: Nicole makes it real.
I’ve never really thought of empathy refilling life force. But maybe it does?
Creating this Journey The Heart Warmer, took me on my own journey and it started with Taylor’s very first question, something that she does to provoke you to dig a little deeper. I appreciate that. Being provoked. When I’m having conversation with someone it’s more fulfilling to me when I am challenged on my own expression, beliefs and thoughts. And so it was that I dug a little deeper and started on my own journey into the heart.
What does it take to nourish your own heart so that you can show up in this heart space not only as a body worker but also a human being living in a human world? How can we as bodyworkers take care of someone’s heart?
I asked this question of myself and others over the coming days and I was met with experience's that challenged me in my approach. It was like “Are you sure you want to do this? Show up from your heart? Well here you go, show me you’re serious.”
To be honest it made me question a few of the ways I had shown up before. However, every time I approached a situation from my heart, with great intention to stay there, it resolved in a way that was beneficial to all.
To approach a situation from your heart takes courage and great trust and for me failing time and time again. It’s a practice. It’s a practice that you have to commit to and full heartedly believe in.
As we take care of our own hearts (how that is done differs from one person to another), we fill the life force within us and that overflows to all on our path.
And so with this, I ask you.. what does it mean for you to take care of your own heart?
And how do you make sure that you are showing up in life from your heart space in every situation, problem or challenge? Is it possible to be heart-centered in a world that increasingly challenges us to show up in so many other ways? How do you stay true to yourself, your values and your spirit while also opening your heart space to others?
I believe, it is not only possible but doable.
I can't take care of your heart for you, but what I can do is hold space for you and let your heart do what it needs. Whether that's diving into the depths and really feeling something you've put off feeling, or whether it's touching that life force and realizing the power that you have within.