Heart's Desire

excerpted from The Woman's Belly Book with the publisher's permission

"Follow your heart, live your dream." You might say these words to a friend when you're urging her to be true to herself, to honor her own sense of purpose.

How do you make your dreams into reality? You might begin by wishing upon a star, a lovely image of asking for heavenly help. Next, you clarify your heart's desire. Then you apply your "gut determination" to bring your dream down to earth.

This Picture Your Heart's Desire exercise refines the skill you've already developed in setting your intention and engages your Source Energy in supporting your life purpose.

What is your heart's desire? What do you want to be, do, and have that will make your dearest dreams come true? When you connect your gut determination with your heart's desire, you're on your way to making it so.

Remember a time - or make one up - when you wanted something with every particle of your being. You had no doubt about it. You were totally ready to receive it. You were willing to do whatever you needed to do within the bounds of ethical behavior to receive this goodness into your life.

Recall the state of your body. How were you standing, moving, speaking, breathing? What were the sensations in your belly? What emotions were you experiencing? What kinds of excitement were you feeling? That's what I mean by "gut determination."

Gut determination is not about forcing others or straining yourself. It is about cultivating the steadfast certainty that you deserve - and are already in the process of realizing - your heart's desire.

Energizing your belly with movement and breath is one way to develop your gut determination. You can focus this power by picturing your heart's desire.

Picture Your Heart's Desire

1. Get a stack of plain white paper and some colored markers. Enter into the Centering Breath.* (see below)

2. As you focus your awareness within your belly, let the knowledge of your heart's desire come to mind. What do you want so much you can practically taste it?

Keep breathing and focusing within your belly, waiting patiently to receive this knowledge. Your heart's desire may emerge as a visual image, a phrase, or a sensation.

Check in with your belly as possibilities arise, asking your inner guidance, "Do I really want this? Am I totally ready and willing to receive this in my life?" Wait until you see, hear, or feel a mighty "Yes!" in your gut.

3. Now, with a Romper Room mentality of having fun and making a mess, take the markers in hand and let lines, shapes and colors spill out onto the paper, allowing an image of your desire to come into view. Use several pieces of paper, as many as you need, to revise the image until you're satisfied it's the picture of your heart's desire.

4. You might prefer to represent your heart's desire with words rather than with a visual image. If so, write a few sentences to describe what's happening and how you feel as your dream comes true. Use your favorite color and style of lettering to put these words onto paper.

Place this image of your heart's desire at eye level on the wall in front of you as you practice belly energizing moves [or other spiritual practices], using the image as your visual focus. Experiment with making each of the exercises a gesture that draws this image into your body's center; brighten the image with each breath...

As you sense the image of your heart's desire developing within your belly, envelop the image in your feeling of gut determination. Cultivate a sense of gratitude as well, knowing that the goodness you desire is already on its way into your life. Your clarity of purpose, your gut determination, and your gratitude bring the blessing into being.

*The Centering Breath: "The Centering Breath is a pattern of breathing fully and deeply from our bellies, similar to the way we naturally breathed as babies." It involves placing your hands on your belly, paying attention to the rise and fall of the abdomen with each breath, and noticing any images or sensations that enter your awareness.

Excerpted from the book The Woman's Belly Book: Finding Your True Center for More Energy, Confidence, and Pleasure, copyright 2006 by Lisa Sarasohn. Printed with permission of New World Library Novato, CA, 1-800-972-6657, ext. 52.