The main objective of this site is to help you have the
experience of living increasingly from a core of calm, ease, and
contentment – and to be more creative, compassionate, and effective in
all that you do.
Your heart-brain, much like your mid-prefrontal
cortex (or MPFC), can have a profoundly integrating and harmonizing
effect on your brain and body, making that core more accessible.
Whereas
the power of your MPFC is cultivated primarily through mindful
attention, the power of your heart-brain lies in its capacity to evoke
positive emotions - in the form of love, compassion, empathy, goodwill, etc. When you focus those positive emotions towards others, not only do they feel safer, your emotional brain feel safer as well. And when it feels safer, it spends less energy looking for potential threats to your
self-image, your self-esteem, or the fulfillment of your desires. And that means you'll have more energy for more constructive purposes, and it will be much easier for you to connect to other people.
The most powerful balancing influence on your brain takes place when your MPFC and heart brain are both activated. And that happens when
you're attending to your experience with mindful attention along with a positive emotional regard. We call this "mindful, heartful attention". It helps you to see people and events with greater clarity, and to
have access to an intuitive intelligence that just "“knows" the right
thing to do.
Mindful attention, which activates your MPFC, can be very powerful. However, if you’re caught in a wave of strong negative emotion or reactivity, evoking a positive emotion can be a faster way to shift your mood, integrate the different parts of your brain, and connect you to your core. This is because the heart-brain, which has been around for a longer time, can work faster than the newer, less experienced MPFC.
Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of the rhythm of your heart beat. As the name implies, it reflects how much variability there is in the space between heartbeats. You might think the more steady it is, the better it would be – but the opposite is true. Higher variability in heart rhythm means you’re more adaptable, and is associated with better all-around health.
HRV varies depending, in part, on your emotional state. When you’re
experiencing frustration, anger, fear, or other negative emotions, the
pattern of your HRV is jagged and disordered. This is referred to as an
"incoherent" HRV. However, if you evoke a feeling of appreciation,
compassion, or other positive emotion, within seconds that pattern can
become smooth and ordered – or "coherent".
The more coherent your HRV, the more likely it is that you will be enjoying good health and emotional balance.
Your emotional state and HRV also affect the functioning of your
higher brain. When your HRV is incoherent, it’s harder to think
clearly. When it’s coherent, your brain’s electrical rhythm can
synchronize to your heart’s coherent HRV, making your thinking more
coherent as well.
So when your heart brain and head brain are synchronized, you not only feel better, you’re smarter.
You might be inclined to think that between your
heart brain and head brain, it would be your head brain that calls the
shots. But the heart brain doesn’t just automatically bow down to the
directives of your head brain. It makes its own decisions.
When your head brain feels threatened, it sends out alarm signals that cause your heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing, etc., to rev up. But if, in
response, your heart emanates a coherent pattern, that will send messages
back to your head brain telling it to calm things down. And your head
brain obeys.
Evoking positive emotions by activating your heart-brain has many positive effects, both physical and psychological. Heart-brain researchers have shown that when you practice evoking positive emotions like love, appreciation, and gratitude on a regular basis, it has a powerful integrating effect on your brain and nervous system. They refer to this state of mind-body integration as "psychophysiological coherence".
Physically, coherence results in organ systems that function more efficiently, and collaborate more harmoniously, with each other. Among others, these systems include the:
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As a result of greater coherence, you have more energy, and at the same time it’s easier for you to relax. It also helps to reduce any physical pain you may be having, and increases your resistance to various illnesses.
Psychologically, coherence is associated with:
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Note: Coherence corresponds to what we refer to as "integration."
As you explore the
various practices in the Techniques section of this site, you’ll
discover that they work well together to bring balance into your life.
Breathing and relaxation help calm your autonomic nervous
system and relax your muscles. Imagery activates the right hemisphere of your
brain, which helps you be more in touch with your body and emotions. Concentration makes any practice you do more powerful. And both
mindfulness and heart-centering will help you free your attention from the things you get overly caught up in, making it possible for your to experience your core.
But of
all the techniques, you may find heart-centering to be an especially powerful one. After you've practiced it for a while, you may find it can quickly shift your mental and emotional state, allowing
you to have a more ongoing experience of your core.