Over twenty years ago, I lived at a yoga ashram for about six months. I was there to learn how to teach yoga and immerse myself in the yoga lifestyle. It was one of the most formative experiences of my life — though I didn't fully understand why until recently.

Every morning, we'd wake up early — somewhere around 5:30 or 6:00 — and sit for a long meditation before breakfast. We're not talking five or ten minutes, which was all I'd ever done before. We're talking an hour, maybe longer. And like most people who are taught to meditate, I was told to focus on my breath and concentrate on my third eye chakra.

So that's what I did. I sat there every morning and directed all of my attention to the space between my brows, just like I was told. And every morning, I got a headache. Not a mild one — a deep, pounding headache that made the whole experience miserable.

I went to the swami, the guru at the ashram, and told him what was happening. His guidance was simple: stop meditating on your third eye. Meditate on your heart chakra instead.

So I did. And it worked. The headaches disappeared, and something about the practice finally clicked for me. Meditating on my heart felt natural, like coming home to a place I didn't know I'd been missing.

At the time, I didn't think much of it beyond relief. I was just grateful to have found something that didn't leave me in pain. But now, looking back with the benefit of two decades of perspective, I can see that moment for what it really was: my body redirecting me toward the work I was actually meant to do.

The Heart Work I Didn't Know I Was Starting

Because I spent all those years meditating on my heart chakra, my inner work naturally followed that energy. Over time, I found myself drawn to the deep, sometimes painful, always transformative work of the heart — learning to love myself, learning to set boundaries, learning to show up for myself and others in honest and grounded ways.

That work wasn't glamorous. It wasn't the kind of spiritual journey that sounds impressive at dinner parties. It wasn't about awakening psychic abilities or unlocking higher consciousness. It was about sitting with myself, facing the places where I felt unworthy of love, and choosing to stay anyway.

And here's what I've come to understand: that heart work was the foundation for everything. Love — real, grounded, self-aware love — is what allows you to access the deeper levels of your spirituality. Without it, you're building on sand. So many people get caught up in the head, in the third eye, in chasing the higher experiences, and they skip right over the heart. They skip the part where you learn to be grounded, whole, and compassionate with yourself first.

Your Body Is Talking — Are You Listening?

Now I teach people how to set boundaries, how to practice self-love, how to do the heart-centered work that transformed my own life. And when I look at the arc of my journey, it all traces back to that ashram, to those headaches, to a body that was trying to tell me something important.

My body knew what my mind didn't. My mind said, "This is how you're supposed to meditate. Everyone does it this way. Focus on your third eye." But my body said, "Not you. Not right now. You need something different."

I think about where I would be if I had just pushed through those headaches. If I had ignored what my body was telling me and forced myself to keep doing what I thought I was supposed to do. I probably wouldn't be doing the work I'm doing now. I probably wouldn't have spent all those years building the foundation of self-love and boundaries that everything else in my life stands on.

This is the message I want to leave you with: sometimes the path you think you're supposed to be on isn't the path that's actually meant for you. Sometimes the way everyone else meditates, or heals, or grows isn't your way. And your body will tell you. It might tell you through a headache, through tension, through a feeling of resistance that you can't quite explain. When that happens, don't override it. Get curious about it. Ask what it's pointing you toward instead.

Your body is not broken for not fitting into someone else's method. It's wise. It's guiding you. The question is whether you're willing to listen — and trust that where it leads you is exactly where you need to go.