Have you ever thought about what the word "Home" means to you? If you have ever been forced to leave your home, you probably didn't think about much else! Yet, somehow we easily forget how important the feeling of coming home is.

I was born in Bourne, my parents and my grandparents were/are from South Lincolnshire. This means that my Lincolnshire roots go back for many generations. This gives me a strong sense of "home", and the settling qualities of that feeling.

Yet, there is much more to it than that. I love going to Cambridge Folk Festival. When I go there, it feels like going home. There are several other places that give me that feeling. Not places that I have ever lived in but certainly places where I feel comfortable.

Let's dig deeper. When I practice Tai Chi, meditation or have a Shiatsu treatment. I feel like I have "come home" to myself.

This, I think is the crux of the matter. We all need to have that feeling of coming back to ourselves. Coming home. Home is literally "where the heart is" - not necessarily "wherever you lay your hat".

In oriental medicine, our heart is like our spiritual compass. If we are aligned with the energies of our hearts than we are aligned with our "true self". Heart energy also stands for joy, love, communication with others and self.

When we have feelings of joy, love and communication then the heart is singing. On a very deep level, our souls hear this song.

I was lucky. My childhood was full of all of the positive feelings of love and joyfulness. It makes sense then that being in the area that I grew up in will resonate with those feelings. Likewise with the folk festival. It is a place of great joy and communication to me. My heart feels it and enjoys that feeling.

Not everybody is so fortunate! There are many reasons why the simple measures that work for me may not work for you. Nevertheless, our hearts all desire love and joy for their good health.

So, what can you do? A simple answer would be to try a Shiatsu treatment to bring you home to yourself but whilst you are waiting for that appointment, have a try at this:- 

1. Choose a moment when you will not be disturbed for around 30 minutes
2. Sit and be quiet
3. Ask yourself "What do I feel like when I come home?"
4. Allow thoughts and images to travel through your mind. You will probably find a lot more than just the house you live in!
5. Feel into your heart - any thoughts and images that cause a feeling of joy in your heart are putting you on the right track.

This is simple but powerful. It can help you to unlock your unique "heart code" and open the way to a deeper level of joy and love within your heart.