The Confident Heart. From Fear to LOVE by Nils Klippstein - HTML preview
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4. Building Inner Sanctuary
In order to develop our heart centre, we first need to build a warm, cosy and safe inner sanctuary, so that our inner protector feels comfortable letting its guard down. This concept is reflected in the German word 'Geborgenheit', which describes a deep sense of comfort, belonging, safety, and emotional warmth. It is that feeling of being perfectly held and utterly, completely safe. Remarkably, this feeling does not come from locked doors or high walls, but from a soothing internal radiance. It is a safety that nourishes, rather than restricts.
That's the main difference between a sanctuary and a fortress. The fortress offers a rigid, cold safety based on protection from perceived threats. It has an energy of alertness and resistance. In contrast, the sanctuary provides a warm, flexible safety based on supporting your growth and well-being. Its energy is one of acceptance and nurture. The heart centre is the source of this inner home. It is the part of you that can naturally generate the warmth and light of Geborgenheit, creating a sanctuary built on conscious, loving presence.
Some simple, always-available practices turn the theory of Geborgenheit into a tangible, lived experience:
Heart-Centred Breathing
This is your most fundamental tool. Rather than being a formal meditation that requires silence and solitude, it is a constant, gentle return to your centre. No matter where you are – standing in a queue, walking down the street or in the middle of a conversation – you can simply focus your attention on the centre of your chest. Breathe LOVE in and out through this space as though your heart itself were breathing.
This single act instantly pulls your awareness out of your mind and into the calm, intuitive space of your heart. It is the master key that unlocks your sanctuary at any moment.
You can intensify this experience by using your imagination. As you inhale, imagine drawing in a golden light that grows brighter and brighter within your heart. As you exhale, feel its warmth spreading into your body and the aura surrounding you.
The Soothing Circuit
When you are feeling stuck, overwhelmed or scattered, you can use the intuitive wisdom of your hands to instantly create a sense of acceptance and balance. Simply place one hand over your heart centre. Then, let your other hand intuitively find a spot on your stomach that feels like it needs holding.
Keep your hands in these positions and rest. Breathe normally. There is no need to visualise or do anything. Just feel the connection. Notice how the gentle, accepting weight of your hands tells your nervous system that you are welcome here. This gentle process encourages different parts of yourself to communicate, be heard and find peaceful integration within the safe sanctuary of your body.
If you feel you need to further encourage the flow of stagnant energies, caress your chest gently in small circles. Move your hand slowly and lovingly, as if comforting a child. This gentle, circular motion can help to soften the armour around your heart centre, easing emotional tension and deepening your sense of being cared for by the touch of your own hands.
Physical Anchors of Comfort
When the inner feeling for comfort seems out of reach, your body can lead the way. We can use physical sensation and touch to signal safety to the deeper, subconscious parts of ourselves.
Hugging a pillow: Hold a pillow to your chest or stomach, allowing the gentle pressure to soothe you. This simple act of self-comfort can instantly satisfy your longing for Geborgenheit, providing the feeling of an embrace.
Wrapping yourself in a blanket: When you are going through a difficult time, wrapping yourself snugly in a soft blanket can help. To intensify the effect, you could be 'fully free' under the blanket (in Sanuela's books, this refers to being naked). This creates a physical cocoon. It mimics the primal safety of being a baby in a blanket, telling your emotional body and nervous system in a language they understand: "You are in a safe place. You are held. You can let go and allow yourself to just be."
The best thing about your inner sanctuary is that it is portable. Once you have learned to generate the feeling of Geborgenheit, you carry your home with you wherever you go. Difficult conversations, crowded buses and stressful meetings are no longer threats that overwhelm you, but simply environments in which you can choose to breathe consciously and reconnect with your inner centre. This emotional independence is the key to true resilience.
From this place of inner stability, beautiful expansion becomes possible. While your inner sanctuary is essential, this sense of safety can be nurtured and amplified within a community of like-hearted souls. This tribe of chosen humans provides a space where you can be as authentic and vulnerable as you wish, knowing that you will not be judged. It is an extended sanctuary where hugs are longer, listening is more attentive, and the shared energies of acceptance and LOVE become a continuous source of healing. (*)
So the first step is always inward. You cannot build a strong, lasting external community from a place of inner emptiness or need. First, you must have created a stable, loving home within yourself. When you then connect with others, you do so from a place of abundance, not from lack. You don't join a soul family community to find Geborgenheit; you go to share what you have already cultivated within yourself.
Your inner sanctuary is the non-negotiable foundation of the confident heart. Each time you breathe into your heart and feel its warm glow, and each time you wrap yourself in a blanket of self-care, you lay another brick for this new home. The journey begins here, with the gentle and courageous daily act of coming home to yourself.
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(*) More about this here: Soulfamilies. Living, Loving and Growing Together