UNDERSTANDING THE HEART III

[continued from the Last Post.]

According to research findings of the Institute of HeartMath:

• Scientific evidence shows that the heart sends us emotional and intuitive signals to help govern our lives.

• The heart starts beating in an unborn foetus before the brain is formed. Scientists still don’t know exactly what makes it start beating. The heartbeat is generated from within the heart itself and doesn’t need a connection to the brain to keep beating.

• The heart has its own independent nervous system, referred to as “the brain in the heart.” There are at least 40,000 neurons in the heart – as many as are found in various subcortical centres in the brain.

• Positive emotions such as happiness, appreciation, compassion, care, and love improve hormonal balance and immune system response.

• It has been concluded that both intelligence and intuition are heightened when we learn to listen more deeply to our own hearts.

• Information sent from the heart to the brain can have profound effects on our higher brain centres.

• Our emotional states are reflected in our heart rhythms, as seen in the heart rate variability (HRV) measurements. Our heart rhythms affect the brain’s ability to process information, make decisions, solve problems, and experience and express creativity.

• Positive feelings such as appreciation create increased order and balance in the autonomic nervous system, resulting in enhanced immunity, improved hormonal balance, and more effective brain function.

• By intentionally altering our emotional state through heart-focused techniques, we modify input from the heart to the brain. The changed information flow from the heart to the brain can facilitate higher brain function.

• When we get the head in sync with the heart, the power of both works for us and we can make changes that we know we ought to make.

• Physiologically, it simply doesn’t matter whether your anger is justified or not. The body doesn’t make moral judgments about feelings; it just responds accordingly.

• Accessing the intelligence of the heart — bringing about balance and clarity of perception — is an effective stress-reducing prescription. It will give you the intelligence you need to transform stress into an opportunity for empowerment.

• Our mental and emotional diets determine our overall energy levels, health, and well-being to a far greater extent than most people realise. Every thought and feeling, no matter how big or small, impacts our inner energy reserves.

• Look at life as an energy economy game. Each day, ask yourself, “Are my energy expenditures (actions, reactions, thoughts, and feelings) productive or nonproductive? During the course of my day, have I accumulated more stress or more peace?”

• Judgment creates stress and incoherence, and these limit the full range of our intelligences. Yet we’re socially conditioned to judge. One of the important things to note about the downside of judgment is that the person judging is the one who’s hurt the most.

[To be continued in the Next Post. Excerpted from the 'Lifescaping' seminar participant's manual. The 'Lifescaping' seminar is conducted by Dilip Mukerjea about four times a year under the auspices of the Singapore Insttitute of Management.]