With all this talk about Venus retrograde, I find myself thinking about romance. What is romance, really?
For me, it reaches beyond what the movies have taught us over the years. I understand it as a quality of the heart. In the language of yoga, I connect it with Anahata, the heart chakra. When I feel that opening, tenderness, beauty and love begin to flow.
Romance can live within us whether we direct it towards someone or not. We can feel it through art, music and beauty. It reaches beyond the body and the senses, yet it touches them deeply too.
For me, beauty and certain playlists open this door. What amazes me is that a song can move me even when I do not understand its language. I do not need to understand the words. I feel the music in my body, as though every cell is listening.
There are moments when there are no thoughts. I simply feel my heart alive—like butterflies in my chest, a sweet fluttering. I become so aware of my heart that I feel exactly where it is.
It is as though I am alone in my own beautiful place. In my mind’s eye, I can see the ocean and the sky so clearly, even though I am nowhere near them.
My body becomes soft. I am no longer trying to control the moment. I am in flow, in surrender. I am simply living this moment of beauty. Whoever is around me, for a little while I can let myself be here, fully immersed in what I feel.
And my creativity flows. Here I am, in this state now, writing these words.
After a long time of painful things, there was a moment when I thought I had lost this part of myself. So when it begins to return, I welcome it so much: the softness, the fun, the beauty. The feeling of being alive in this way again.
Having experienced pain, sadness and the hardness that can come with them, I feel such compassion for people. I know how different life can feel from inside those places. And I know the difference when openness returns—when there is room again for flow, romance and love. I have felt both deeply.
In this state, love seems to overflow towards everything and everyone. I feel it towards the people I care about, towards my clients, towards life itself. For a few moments, it asks for nothing. There is no particular object, no result I need to achieve. There is simply love.
I wonder how our world would feel if more of us could experience this, even for a few minutes. Would we listen differently? Speak more gently? Meet each other with more compassion?
Perhaps a moment of love changes what we bring into the space around us. Perhaps peace can begin in something this small.
And I ask myself: do I really know the fullness of love? Have I given myself room to experience it without needing it to come from someone else?
I am curious about being filled from the inside out. About love and contentment that grow within me. I can feel that fullness and still desire romance with another person—the tenderness, the affection, the pleasure of sharing it.
Who am I beneath the things I identify with? Beneath my roles, my achievements, my possessions, and the small things my ego holds on to?
Who am I when I experience love without an object?
I do not have a finished answer. But sometimes, through music and beauty, I get a glimpse. And I want to welcome it.
If you are curious too, here are three gentle practices inspired by Tantra that you can explore.
1. Let the music move you.
Choose a song that touches something inside you. You do not need to understand its words. Sit, sway or move however feels natural. Notice where the music meets your body. When the song ends, give yourself a quiet moment to feel what remains.
2. Give your heart a little space.
Sit comfortably and, if you like, rest a hand on your chest. Let your breath come naturally. Notice whatever is there: warmth, movement, tenderness, or perhaps very little. There is no feeling you have to create. Give yourself permission to be with yourself as you are.
3. Stay with the feeling beauty awakens.
Spend a few moments with something beautiful—a flower, a crystal, the sky, a piece of art. Notice what happens within you. Then gently soften your gaze. Can you stay, even briefly, with the tenderness or pleasure it awakened, without needing to keep looking at it? Let the feeling come and go freely.
Perhaps we begin with a few minutes. A song. A breath. A moment of beauty.
What is romance for you? And what helps your heart feel alive?