From Meditation To Daily Life: Living From An Open Heart

What does it really mean to live from the Heart?
How can meditation shape the way we meet our relationships, navigate challenges, and discover a deeper sense of purpose?
In this episode, Hridaya Yoga teacher David Coleman explores how a regular meditation practice helps us cultivate inner stillness, deepen our connection to the Spiritual Heart, and bring that presence into everyday life. Together, we reflect on the role of intention as a guiding force, the importance of learning to trust our inner wisdom beyond ideas of success and failure, and how every experience—pleasant or challenging—can become an opportunity to live with greater openness and awareness.
This conversation offers practical insights into living with more presence, clarity, and trust in the unfolding of life.
Hridaya was born from a deep yearning to share the message of the Heart with the world.
We aim to help you connect with the inner Self and embrace a life of love, freedom, and joy

Transcript

Living from the heart sounds simple. Until you are actually living with other people. In this episode, David brings the teachings of the spiritual heart out of the meditation hall. And into the texture of daily life. Drawing on his experience of community at Hidaya as one of the most demanding and most generous laboratories for this kind of practice. He talks honestly about the dynamics that arise when people live and work together closely. And what it takes to stay rooted in the heart when those dynamics get difficult. Not by avoiding the challenge, But by meeting it with presence, Wisdom, And a genuine willingness to keep showing up. Because living from the heart is not a feeling we wait for. It is a choice we make, Again and again, In exactly the moments it is the hardest. Welcome, David. Thank you for having me. Hi, Thank you so much for joining this. Well, I want to start with the start, I would say. The first question that I would like to ask you is what does it mean to live from the heart and what is the spiritual heart teaching us? We go to the very heart. Always. And so actually the word hrudaya means the spiritual heart so hrudaya yoga is actually this yoga of the spiritual heart. And at Herdaya we speak a lot about this idea of living from the heart and actually the main practices we have. Are based in centering and rooting ourselves in the heart. And here the heart is seen as much more than just a physical organ. It's rather the very center of our being we could say so connecting with our heart is like a way of connecting with the very core and the very center of our being. So in Hrudaya meditation, We actually meditate upon the heart. We center in the heart, A little to the right, More details on this. And it's actually a very intuitive and experiential thing for All of us, We know that there's something special about our heart. That our heart is more than just an organ, More than just a space within our being. But is actually the source of our pain. Our emotions, It's the source of our. . . Core, It's the source of our center. When we have a moment of silence. A very meaningful moment in our life, Or a very impactful moment in our life. When we feel a sense of deep connection with someone or with ourself, We can feel it in our heart. So actually connecting with the heart is something very experiential, More than it is theoretical. It's a way of connecting. With ourselves and others. Deeply intimate. And the journey of the heart, We could speak about many aspects because this journey of the heart can take us in meditation. Deeper to the presence of our being. And it's why it can be such a powerful anchor in meditation. But this idea of living from the heart is that when we start connecting with our heart, We actually can start to awaken. And the heart naturally has these qualities that are associated with this deeper core and center of our being. Qualities like wisdom, Qualities like love, Qualities like compassion, Qualities like presence. All of these can naturally start to be open as we start to connect with the heart. So this idea of living from the heart. Is a way of living from that center of our being, Living from love, Living from natural wisdom, Living from compassion. So what we can say these noble values, Noble human values of our being. And therefore we can say the heart, It's a journey. We often say this at Hruday. It's an anchor for meditation. It can be very practically a way of bringing our attention to center in our heart over and over. But in a more broad sense it becomes like a living practice to live from our heart and to live from these qualities and values that awaken more and more as we connect with them. Does it mean that, For example, When bringing the spiritual teachings or the connection with the spiritual heart towards daily life, Would it mean something like you're meditating and through the meditation, Through the silence, Through the centering the attention, And we know that where your attention goes also all your energy goes, On your heart, On that center, That you get access to a certain wisdom of yours, To information that is wider than what we're used to. And that then that information is invited to be experienced in the daily life? Would you resume it like that? It's a very beautiful way to resume it. Yes, Very much so. And in general, The relationship between meditation and daily life is in this way. So meditation. . . Is much more than just a technical practice or a formal practice. Meditation gives us different techniques and there are many, Many techniques of meditation. The breath, Visualization. A mantra. Which are all different ways to help focus our attention. If we just try to sit in meditation, We say for the next 20 minutes. Just rest in presence. Let go of thoughts and be empty. The first 30 seconds, Maybe yes, But quickly, You know, Our thoughts start to come. So our attention is used to going constantly into the thoughts and into, You know, Everything that tends to be running through our mind and arising in our awareness. And so in general, These anchors of meditation help to draw the awareness in a particular way. And as you said, The awareness, The energies, The whole focus of our being. And then what we start to open to in meditation. Of course, That is then something that can echo into our lives. Actually in yoga, They speak about the practice. They use this, The Sanskrit word is apyasa. And it means repetition. So. Heart of meditation practice and yoga practice is repetition. It's coming back. Again and again. Something that starts as feeling very technical. I try to focus on my heart and again and again my attention. Come back. But over time that which we start to open to through resting into our heart. So more than just the heart itself, But that sense of. Presence. That sense of intimacy, Self-connection and self-awareness, That sense of intuition, That sensitivity and openness. That starts to awaken in our being. That we can learn to come back to again and again. And then that can start to echo in our lives through practice. It's very much through practice and repetition. But I wouldn't say it's so much about like accessing a special knowledge in terms of something abstract or esoteric. It's rather accessing that deep intimacy of our being and that deep sort of self-connection and trust and openness. So something that we all intuitively know and we all feel in different moments. In meditation we learn how to open to that again and again and that journey can take us deeper and deeper into that. Of space or dimension of our being we can say like that and then definitely that can echo into our lives and it's like a feedback process so how we live our life will echo in the meditation as well if we spend one hour meditating every day and then we just live our life completely forgetting you know what we might be cultivating then of course the challenges of daily life echo in meditation. They tend to reflect in what we think about in meditation, What arises and In this way, Meditation can be such a great teacher for us because we can start to become aware of and feel what feels out of coherence in our daily life, What doesn't. Different situations, Reflection can come through meditation. And that then can inspire us and inform us in how we live our lives. For example, This horizon or this taste we get in some meditation is about our whole lives. It's not just about a technical practice. Somehow. I really love that you repeated the word repetition and that you talk about the heart as a journey because I believe many people maybe in the audience listening to us today might relate to that, But we can have that tendency to, For example, From the mats to the daily life, To say like, Okay, Wow, I uncovered something in my meditation. I discovered something. I have an answer to something that felt or complicated for me. And then once we got in the daily life and that we are invited to experience it. And that it might get complicated or challenging there can be the tendency arising of self-blaming and guilt that oh but i had it already figured out how come it's not fluid. How come that situation is still arising, Although I had already understood it? And that very fine nuance, But so important nuance in the repetition. Situations in daily life are going to arise. You said earlier when we were preparing the podcast something that I really loved. Is that you said well conflict is part of the human interaction and not seeing conflict or challenges as a problem but just as almost the definition, Not the definition but a part of. Daily human life yes yes uh there's no doubt and actually this was also my experience especially when i started uh learning meditation and in my learning of meditation was mostly meditation retreats where I started learning. And I did experience this sort of like. . . What I would experience in meditation and that sense of presence that could be opened of course over time in the beginning meditation itself. It's quite a challenge many times. It's not that also in itself just to learn meditation. Requires continual practice. But, You know, Starting to notice this disparity between, You know, The sense of presence and the sense of openness that can come in meditation or understanding that can come or insight that can come. Sense, Yes you know. I want to treat everyone in my life with love. And then you go out into live. And it's a genuine, Pure intention that you connect with. But then, In life, It's not easy, Right? It's not easy for anyone. So I would almost say challenges will come. And this, This will happen. This will definitely happen in the spiritual journey. At Hridayah, We say, For example, Meditation, It's a lifelong commitment to reality. Which is a very beautiful way of putting it. I find it's beautiful. It's not about something that in one year, In two years, Now I got it, You know? But it's this lifelong commitment to reality and to learn continuously. And this will come, This challenges and difference between what we feel in a meditation practice or in asylum retreat, And then what it's like in daily life. Because there's so much more activity, There's so much more doing, There's the responsibilities we have, There's the interactions, There's the mirror of other people. So very naturally, Our attention tends to get drawn into all of this. And that's why this coming back in meditation is a process again and again. So it's like balancing daily life with having a consistent practice. That's why in all the authentic spiritual traditions we see this recommendation. Because understanding and theory and inspiration is so important and beautiful. But the practice is what really helps us to start to feel it in our being, To start to stabilize it in our being. And then you learn through the practice. So you go out and you have a challenging day, A challenging week, Whatever it is, A challenging situation. And then in meditation, You come and you can feel all of that. You can feel all of that, But over time you learn how to rest with that in presence. And be present with what is there in the meditation and it's like insight and understanding can come. And then go back out into life, A little more glimpse, A little more taste. And then we try, We try to live life from that space. And then again, Challenges. So it's this continual process and continual dance that is happening. You shared with me a little earlier that living in community, Especially here at Hidaya, Was the most beautiful source of really practical experimenting and integration and also the most challenging part of living from the heart. Do you have some, I mean, Without naming anything, But some example of situations that maybe typically arise in human interactions and in community and how to stay centered in that? Definitely, We get many continual examples in myself and in community, Which is a very beautiful thing. It's why community can be so powerful. I actually just wanted to draw back though, Because what you mentioned in the previous question, We can judge ourselves or blame ourselves or feel a sense of guilt. That is also I find very natural to come. I experienced that in myself and many times when teaching at the school and receiving questions, You get that a lot. I know I should be living from my heart, But then this happened, Or but this is, And then I blame myself, And it feels like a vicious cycle. So I think one thing that's really good from the start. Is to recognize life. This is a journey and these challenges will come and it's not like a. . . Insights and glimpses and things we open to in our practice. It's going to mean that automatically those patterns of our being. Actually, In yoga, They have this understanding of karma, Which is a very big topic in the law of karma. But to put it simply, It's like the patterns we have, Tendencies we have. So the tendency towards comparing myself with others, The tendency towards getting frustrated and agitated in these circumstances. They're like seeds in our being. And then different circumstances can water those seeds. So in that situation, Anger can arise. In that situation, Jealousy can arise. There are patterns that. . . We all have patterns, But our particular sort of pattern makeup is unique to ourselves, You know, That we know. And the thing is, These things don't just go away with meditating for two months or for one year. It's rather that gradually over time, There's a process of sort of deconditioning and purification that happens. And that also could be a whole topic. But we learn eventually in meditation. Not to get rid of, Not to get rid of thoughts, Not to get rid of emotions. It's not, Sometimes this confusion comes that it's about cutting ourself off from the human experience when we speak about detachment and so forth. But it's rather the shift in our relationship. To our thoughts, In our relationship to tendencies, In our relationship to challenging emotions. Where we learn how to be present with what is there. The heart is a very powerful natural gateway towards that presence of our being. But that presence of our being, It's. . . It's like that space within ourself that can hold and be with whatever is there. So actually the practice is learning how to. . . Feel and touch into that presence of our being which is it's always here we are always here and presence is always here it doesn't always feel like that so what is often happening of course is we tend to be totally taken by and identified with our thoughts with especially when it's more challenging circumstances especially when something really triggers us you know then it's like There's the David who meditates and connects with his heart. And now there's just frustration and anger. And that's how it feels, Especially when we start the journey. But over time, We learn how to be able to be present with what is there in practice. And then we can start to see, Ah, I recognize that tendency. I recognize that pattern. I know that one in myself. And boom, It is there. I am feeling this way. This is the experience of this moment. But in this moment, Also. My heart. There is also presence. There is also this sense of. . . Resting or this sense of freedom of our being that can come gradually over time. And that is how this process gradually can unfold. For all of us, Of course, Experientially it's different. It's starting to learn that sense of freedom of our being. Which is there no matter what. Even in the most challenging of circumstances. But this takes time. And so it's very good from the beginning to accept, Yep, I am going to be challenged. It is going to feel like I swing from insights and beautiful moments to the most challenging moments. This is part of life and this is natural. It's not about denying the human experience, Rather self-acceptance, Authenticity, Being with ourselves as we are. Are very, Very supportive. Even in a single meditation session you can go from a moment of simplicity, Peace, Insight. And then the next moment you're arguing with your partner in your mind in meditation, One moment to the next, You know, It's just the nature of it. But gradually over time, And we start to know this space of our being. And then it's not about the sort of needing to. Try to stay there. Rather, That space, What starts and feels technical and challenging, Starts to feel natural. It's like I actually want to connect with my heart. I actually want to feel this presence of my being. It feels more authentically. What I am, Then. My running mind and monkey mind. And then that can start to become more like a gravity that I start to feel. So this is a little more on this. But community, At Hrudaya we're blessed to have a spiritual community and it's such a powerful thing and there are many traditions that have communities and it can be such a support and source of inspiration because a community Let's say from a spiritual perspective, We're coming together with a shared sort of vision and direction. Of course, We all come with different lives, Different intentions, But at the core, Let's say at Herdaya, The core of the vision of the community. Is to know ourselves in intimacy and authenticity more and more deeply, To reveal. Who and what we are, What life is, And to live from authenticity and from transparency. So there's a sort of core direction, And we can support each other to come back to that again and again. And we can share and have practice. That is so essential to be able to practice together. We have daily meditation at the school every morning, And it's like the way to start the day. But that being said, In general. People can be incredible mirrors for each other. I think we all know this. And community is just a way of learning this very hands-on and very immediately. So when you're a group of people that's working together, That's a lot. In Herdaya, It's a community. It's also a school. It's also offering many courses. So we're also working together. Those who are, Let's say, In this volunteer program, Working in the kitchen, They're working hard. In the heat five hours a day. Organizing the meals, Planning, Knowing what to do. And every department is like this. It's work. It's a lot, You know. So of course, The question is, Do challenges arise? Definitely. They are guaranteed to arise. Those challenges can be such a broad spectrum. Everything from the challenge of working in the heat and the physical body to the challenge of interacting consistently with people. Sharing with people constantly and different energies and different mentalities and different life experience. And because human beings, We are such mirrors for each other, We can feel each other. Even more sensitively than we usually think. Pick up on how each other are. We compare ourselves to each other. All of these different dynamics, Especially human to human, Can reveal a lot of the facets of the egoic consciousness, If we could say like that. I find alone in nature, Yeah, My thoughts can still be there for sure, But we put ourselves with other humans and it's like a direct mirror. So. Also, We have plenty of challenges that come. And. . . There. It's also a very powerful way of really trying to apply spiritual practice and spiritual understanding actually in these moments and actually in daily life. So when challenges are coming, When there's an interpersonal conflict between two people, Or when in a team there's a lot of different opinions about how something should be done. Or when people are feeling exhausted. How can we support each other? In this time and how can we. Come back again and again to sort of that intention that we have, Which is to live together. In a way that we support each other to connect with the heart, To connect with authenticity. And there's no black and white formula, No perfect thing, And it's not always easy. Um. . . But I would say one of the main supportive directions is intention. I love that you're bringing that up. This is spoken about in so many spiritual traditions. And that intention can be within ourself. That is maybe the most direct place to always come back to. It's from where I am. From where am I interacting? From where am I choosing to do it? And then we can also speak about a collective shared intention that we can help direct each other back to again and again, But from within ourselves. This intention can be such a powerful anchor. Because it can allow me, It brings like a principle. Or a core value or set of values that I truly, Truly want to live from. And then when things are very challenging. I can remember those intentions and it can help me to come back to it again and again. And that doesn't mean I will never be taken. I will. I still will. Years and years of meditation and I definitely still will. All of us will. But the capacity to come back can happen more quickly. The capacity to remember can start to stabilize more and more. So as a simple example, We may over time and through practice or just in our life we know. It makes more sense. To live. From a space where I really try to love people and I really try to uplift and support them rather than. . . Try to compete and try to constantly, Whatever it is, You know. But then, In different moments, Of course. Things are challenging and we don't feel that. We don't feel that sense of love or acceptance or embrace of another. Rather, It's strong emotion. It's whatever's coming, You know? But. . . Over time if we remember yes but love is more means more or that the capacity to stay connected to my heart and to stay true to what feels authentically true in myself more relevant than any of these circumstances that are coming. It doesn't always feel like that, But I know it in my being. Then that can start to become like a guiding light or a guiding direction in our life. So therefore, No matter where I am and no matter what circumstance I am in. That which feels authentic and true, I'm going to try to live from there again and again no matter what and come back to that again and again. And that pure intention. It can take different words and have different meaning for all of us, But in a way the actual pure intention is very much the same in all of us. If we ask many times, Like sometimes we'll ask Shraddhaya, We'll gather and we'll say, Okay, What do you want most in life? What is most meaningful to you? Many words come, But eventually, Peace. A sense of freedom, A sense to be okay as I am, A sense of love, You know, These very core simple. Which is really referring to living as we are in authenticity and in the freedom of our being. And so connecting without pure intention, It can be a practice. Which is we learn how to. Anchor in our heart and then really connect. What is really true for me? And from where do I want to live? And what is deeply meaningful? And what is real? And they're like living contemplations that we can have. And when we start to connect with them in an authentic way, They can start to become alive. And so then it can help to inform even in quite challenging or whatever circumstance it is. And also a trust can start to build over time. A trust in ourselves, A trust in our heart, A trust in life. Beyond the circumstances. And that also could open to a very big topic, You know? Because what does trust in life really mean? But in a simple way we can say. . . Oh. It's a trust in that very core of our being. Beyond concepts and beyond strategies and beyond. Success and failure and beyond, Right and wrong. But that very space of our being that when we let go everything else. Now we find that space in our being. And it's like a trust in that. Can come back to that and live from that. And we can help remind each other of this, And we do, And we try to. So yes, It's a little like this. But community becomes an incredible practice, An incredible practice because it also requires us to be authentic and really be where we are. This again ties back to your previous question when we compare or when we think I should be more evolved or I should be more spiritual or I should be more loving. That is also a tendency of our mind that most of us have. So it's good to see that. It's good to see that. It's not about what we should be doing. It's not about becoming spiritual as a person. But it's about this. Learning this deep authenticity and learning this trust in ourselves. Seeing that. Maybe we may discover that though. Yes, Authentically, I compare and get jealous and I want to win and I don't want to fail. Yeah, That's authentic. True. But we may also find a deeper authenticity in ourselves, Which says. Deeper than that. I recognize we're all human beings. We're all a part of life. I actually love these other beings more than I compare to them. And life is about much more than strategies, So the authenticity can take different levels as we go. Just like the intention somehow, Because when you were talking about the intention, I was prone to ask you about sometimes setting intentions from the mind, Or there is a big tendency to visualization also, Just a lot of this sharing lately about visualizing, Manifesting, And also the use of the intention in that, But maybe a bit more mind-driven. And I really love how you share about authenticity in different layers because I feel like it's the same with intention. It's almost what is the why of the why and what is really the core and the source the most the deepest intention behind it yes yes and And you know, There are many teachings around working with intention and manifestation. I'm definitely not an expert on several of these, You know, And I also would never. . . I think there's validity. It very much depends on one's own genuine curiosity and interest in what's really what one really wants to explore in life. So there can be many fascinating aspects related to many, Many topics in spirituality that we can find. But you know, For example, At Hrudaya, In my own experience, Its intention is deeply simple and deeply intimate at the same time. And like you said is less about. Thinking things, Visualizing things. Creating what we think should be. And more about deeply feeling, Resting into, And listening to our own being. So. . . Because we always have many intentions happening at the same time. That is definitely true. In any given moment, There's so many things that we are being driven by. Desires, Aversions. It's constantly happening. But connecting with, Let's say. . . The purity of our intention or connecting with our intention. It's like a way of connecting with a deeper core intention of our being despite all of the push and pull that is constantly happening inside. And one very simple way of doing this is actually letting go. Any trying to figure out the intention, Any visualizing, Any trying to understand and rather Resting with ourselves as we are. Resting. This is where the heart can be a very powerful anchor. And then just allowing silence to teach us, Allowing the presence of our being to teach us because in that Intention can come beyond words. It's like annoying. It's like annoying And knowing that. . . With you. I feel that feels deeply true in my being. To live from presence and authenticity feels deeply true. It feels like. . . And that feeling and that sense is actually more. The real intention than the thoughts that can then be connected with it. At Hridayah, For example, We do this consecration like we did at the beginning of the podcast. Many traditions have a form of sort of consecration. And indeed it's a way of setting an intention and also offering something we're about to do. Offering an act, Offering. . . Work we're about to do. And at Hrudaya, We're always consecrating to what we call the spiritual heart or to the essence of our being. So it's like a way of saying. . . I'm offering myself and my actions to something more than me. Any particular outcome more than what I think maybe should happen, You know? I recognize, Yes, I have intentions, But also, I don't know the entire universe. I don't know all of life. So actually, I offer this to life itself, To that essence of life, To that. To that very essence of our own being as well. And may therefore this action Be in the name of that. May that be what moves through me. It's like a way of saying that. So actually in consecration the most relevant part is not the words but letting ourselves empty and become open and become transparent and really allow that depth or that stillness or that presence to be there. So it can be very free actually to consecrate because you can recognize I'm not fully in control. I can do my best. Put my heart into something, And that's the best I can do. And then I let go, I open, And I allow life also to move through me. For me, This was a very powerful practice because I could tend to get very anxious, Want to control things, Want to know what will happen, Very nervous, All of these things. So when I started really practicing with consecration and with intention, It was actually very freeing for me. I'm not fully in control. I can let go. And still, From there, It's not about being passive. It's not about not trying or not caring. But it's about trying from my heart more than from fear, More than from strategy. Let me pour my heart into this. And then this is the very best that I can do. Come with me. And then I will learn. I will learn because I will again be taken by many things. And then, But then. Connecting with our heart starts to bring a sort of sensitivity where we feel. That action actually didn't feel so in alignment. Actually, Pain was brought in that circumstance. Actually, That wasn't true. What I did there, What I said there wasn't true. And there, There's a big difference between judging ourselves. With our mind and saying what was right and wrong, Because we can go back in the day and judge ourselves plenty. And more that sensitivity we start to develop like a faculty or a being. Not because of some moral code, But because I know that just didn't feel right. So it's like a sensitivity that starts to come, And for me this was incredibly supportive. In actually having a sort of guiding. Principle in my life that was not about dogma or morality or judgment or all of these things. It's so beautiful. Thank you so much for everything that you've been sharing. David, Is there a last thing that you would like to invite our audience to contemplate on today concerning, Well, The topic of today of living from the heart? I would just say that this inspiration to connect with the heart and live from the heart It's something very simple and very experiential. So it's not an abstract or esoteric teaching or something very complicated. But rather, For example, Hrudaya. What we're doing with meditation on the heart is we're just resting our attention to our heart. And we're just actually opening to feel. And to be experiencing that space of the heart. Not think the heart, But just to rest there, Just to rest there. And so if you're inspired to explore this connecting with the heart, I just would encourage that everyone can do it. It's very experiential. It's very natural. And it's just about calming to rest with our heart and to allow ourselves to feel and open that space of our being. There are many, Many beautiful aspects and insights and wisdoms that come from within your own being that can allow to be open. So this is just one invitation, Is that it's something very simple and very experiential. And also, Just maybe to reiterate, Because it was very helpful for me, If you are exploring a spiritual path and a spiritual practice, To remember it's a lifelong journey, And it's about our lives, And it's about what is real and what is true and what is authentic. So more than just. Mastering a technique or wanting to become a perfect person or a spiritual person and then judging ourselves in this cycle that we spoke a little bit about. Rather see it as a deep journey into the real, Into the authentic, Into the true. So when you find in meditation and in practice those moments where you really feel your presence where you really feel authentically connected with yourself those are the moments that can inspire us the most so trust there's already a calling and inspiration towards knowing life towards spirituality, Trust that that calling is something very authentic within you and the practice helps to nourish that. And then challenges will absolutely come. And we all have karma, We all have thoughts, We all have emotion, We all have ego. So actually it's much more about learning to recognize this and recognize it's all there. It's just, It's not the essence of what I am. It's what arises in my experience. It's what's been built up over time. And I can learn to more and more bring understanding and presence there. And that actually brings more freedom. Because if I can recognize there are lots of thoughts, But also I'm here. The thoughts are not entirely true. That process starts to happen. So it's authenticity and acceptance and earnestness from what feels really true and alive in the spiritual practice. Thank you so much, David. Very nice to speak about these topics. We could speak a lot more of it. I love it. I think we're going to have so many more episodes, Much more than that. Than what you might think you want. Thank you so much.