Studies show the “heart brain” is a real thing. Here’s how to practice heart coherence and use it for good.
You’ve probably heard about being in “a state of flow.” It might happen during a yoga or meditation class, while cooking with your loved ones, or while you’re cutting a rug late-night with good friends. The flow state is the zone where our hearts, minds, and bodies are at one and we feel a deep connection with ourselves and others. When we feel this connection, not only within ourselves but to our environment and even to Mother Earth, we are actually being in coherence.
Scientific studies have shown that when we cultivate—intentionally or unintentionally—emotions of appreciation, love, and compassion (as opposed to anxiety, anger, or fear) the oscillations of our heart rhythm are showing as being more coherent or consistent. This coherence has been linked to a sense of wellbeing, as well as being more emotionally stable and reaching peak states of mindfulness.
Each one of us deals with stress differently—whether the stress is mental, emotional or social. This means that our heart coherence can fluctuate from moment to moment. We all seek different ways to live more at ease. But what if we could train our hearts to be in coherence more often? What if we could entrain others in our journey to happiness just by being in a state of deep appreciation for life itself?
When we cultivate appreciation and compassion, our heart rhythm actually becomes more consistent—which is linked to a greater sense of wellbeing.
Scientists have found that the signals the heart continuously sends to the brain actually influence the function of higher brain centers involved in perception, cognition, and emotional processing. Our hearts can also entrain the hearts of other people around us—research illustrates our hearts actually respond and are connected to the oscillations of the earth frequencies. What does that mean? The heart is basically it's own brain.
How to Actually Practice Heart Coherence
Remember that coherence is like a frequency wave. As an example, when you are angry, your heart sends uncoherent signals, and when you feel grateful, you are emanating a beautiful coherent signal out into the world. That’s contagious; it not only benefits you, but those around you as well.
Curious to try? If you want to explore with coherence, here are three of the basic meditation exercises you can do to bring you in a state of coherence—and maybe help others around you by entraining them into the waves of love, compassion, and gratitude.
Breathe five to six breaths per minute. This will bring you in a basic state of coherence. When I practice this, I see the oscillations on my monitor become smoother and coherent in matter of seconds.
Bring an emotion of appreciation, compassion, or love into your awareness. Feel it with all your physical body and bring it into the area of your heart. This usually brings your coherence ratio higher.
Practice a loving and kindness meditation more often. This meditation is based on compassion and self-love. We can never have enough of it.
BRAIN & HEART COHERENCE EXPLAINED BY DR. JOE DISPENZA
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