Karma Ura, who developed and fine-tuned Gross National Happiness as the official policy for thegovernment of Bhutan—and runs the country’s Bhutan Watch national development think tank—presented a suggestion, or a prescription, to help humans get to the heart of the matter of truly being present and experiencing and acknowledging living.

 “You need to think about death for five minutes every day—it will cure you, sanitize you,” he said. “It is this thing, this fear of death, this fear of dying before we have accomplished what we want, or seen our children grow. This is what is troubling you. We have to be ready for that moment we cease to exist.”

I’ve thought a lot about my work with clients and the children I support at an elementary school, and my personal relationships both past and current. This topic feels especially relevant because most of my work touches upon grief or anxiety to some degree.

The heart of it is that your fear of death is holding you back from living an enriching life. When we really get to the heart of it, we realize that we don’t know how much time we have to receive and express Love.

It makes every day an opportunity to act from a place of compassion and gratitude. February is American Heart Month, driven by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s mission to help us stay heart healthy. But as the month winds down, we can ask what is a healthy heart on an emotional level?

According to psychologists and yoga therapists, it corresponds with bonding, in all forms—from the physical to the emotional—and not just with others, but also with the world and the self.

We have to remember that the world around us is constantly changing. Attachment relies on the permanence of things. That creates suffering. If we can remember that everything is impermanent, then life and love can be rooted in reality.

Practicing Karma Ura’s suggestion is not only grounding but also humbling. It is a reminder to be present with ourselves, the moments we get to experience with our loved ones, and whatever task is at hand, because in the next breath we will experience something new.

Tell your loved ones how you feel, treat yourself with loving kindness, and commit to this beyond the month that our heart gets the most attention.

Life is impermanent and the pulse of life is love.

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