From an early age, we are taught that our heart is a regular pump that moves the blood through our veins. And that the brain controls this pump. And that is how it works for almost all body processes; they are all regulated by our brain. At least, that’s what I’ve always learned in school. Not long ago, however, scientists have been investigating other functions of the heart. What seems? The heart is not an ordinary blood pump at all but a brilliant organ. It even has its own brain, and there is even a heart-brain connection between the “heart and the brain.”
Intelligence and the heart-brain connection
In the world’s oldest writings, reference was made to the ultimate wisdom that houses our universe. At that time, people already wrote about making contact with the universe and that you could draw insight from it. However, it took until the twentieth century to show how we could connect to “the field” for science. This happens through our heart brain. This group of 40 thousand neurons acts as a transmitter and can connect to the energetic universe that surrounds us through emotions.
A continuous flow of communication occurs via this heart-brain connection between the “heart brain” and our brain. So it’s not that the brain only sends signals to the heart. This also happens vice versa. Imagine if you ever had a moment when you felt you couldn’t trust a particular person. Then you reasoned with your brain, “Well, maybe I could be wrong.” Subsequently, it turned out that this person could indeed not be trusted. You had better listen to your feelings. This is a typical example of heart intelligence.
The heart signals significantly affect brain function: they influence emotional processing and higher cognitive abilities such as attention, perception, memory, and problem-solving. In other words, not only does the heart respond to the brain, but the brain also responds to the heart continuously. So there is a constant interaction between our heart and our brain!
HeartMath Institute research
The effect of heart intelligence on our brains has been extensively studied over the past 40 years by the United States’ HeartMath Institute. Initially, research was mainly conducted into how the heart functioned during short periods, i.e., during a few heartbeats.
Later the research expanded, and they did more research on heart coherence, emotions, and how they related to each other. Based on all these scientific publications, HeartMath also developed several techniques to apply in daily practice to take full advantage of heart intelligence and deal with stressful situations.
The coherent heart rhythm pattern
HeartMath research has shown that different heart activity patterns lead to other emotional states due to their effect on cognitive and emotional function. For example, during stress and negative emotions, there is an irregular and non-coherent heart rhythm. When there is irregular and disordered heart rhythm, the neural signals that the heart sends to the brain are corresponding.
As a result, these incoherent signals limit our ability to think clearly, remember, learn, reason, and make effective decisions. This is also a reasonable explanation for our impulsive behavior in stressful situations.
With an ordered and coherent heart rhythm pattern, the heart sends ordered and positive signals to the brain. As you would expect, cognitive function improves, and positive feelings and emotions are also enhanced.
Improve your heart coherence with the heart-brain connection
When the heart and brain work together optimally, this benefits our health. To achieve this collaboration, we must be aware that we have a positive feeling in our own hands. This may require some explanation.
There is a thought underlying every emotion or feeling. This means that when we have a less pleasant feeling – for example, fear, anger, insecurity, or stress – it is the result of a thought. Since we can always make a conscious choice for ideas we have – the formation of emotions occurs at the subconscious level – we can choose a positive thought instead, giving us a positive feeling.
You can create a coherent heart rhythm, and when you have mastered the right skills, you can create a positive mood with a finger snap! It’s a matter of learning, and the more you practice, the easier it becomes for the heart-brain connection to do its job. It’s as easy as that.
By experiencing positive emotions, you can create a coherent heart rhythm. So when you experience feelings of gratitude, love, and caring, it benefits heart coherence. These positive emotions are more pleasant to experience than anger, agitation, and other unpleasant feelings. They also contribute to the better health of the whole body. This way, we can perceive, think and perform better.
HeartMath Institute has developed several techniques to improve the heart-brain connection and to train heart coherence. Every time you perform these exercises, you will get better and reap more benefits. The equipment – also developed by HeartMath – makes it possible to measure your state of heart coherence.
