The Institute of Heart Math is an organization that has published scientific studies relating to the amazing connection between the heart and brain. I will share some of the studies in this blog but please feel free to visit their website for more information: https://www.heartmath.org/research/
The heart is the first organ that forms during development. It is the center of our being as it directs the flow of life force throughout the body. It even contains neurons (brain cells) giving it the ability to think and relay messages to the brain. The heart is the largest generator of electromagnetic energy in the body, and measurements reveal that the frequency of the heart's energy field is 5000 times stronger than that of the brain. This field moves at the speed of light and extends up to 12 feet around the body. This field is called a torus (see image below).
The heart communicates with the brain in several ways:
neurologically: transmission of nerve impulses
biochemically: hormones and neurotransmitters
biophysically: pressure waves
Using ECG and EEG instruments for measuring heart and brain waves, it has been scientifically verified that when two people are in proximity of each other, the heart field of one person affects the brain waves of another! Not only is the energy and information flowing through your heart's energy field transmitted throughout your body and brain, but it interacts with other people as well, communicating your internal state to the environment.
BOTTOM LINE: Choose your surroundings wisely. Don't bother with forced interactions that don't serve your growth. You instinctively know when you are around someone with good vibes or not. Vibes speak louder than words.
Emotions are the function where mind and body most closely and mysteriously interact. Negative emotions lead to increased disorder in the heart's rhythms and adversely affecting brain function, the autonomic nervous system and the rest of the body. In contrast, positive emotions create increased harmony and coherence in the heart rhythms, improving balance in the nervous system. Our emotions have a profound influence on our overall health and organ functions. Disharmony leads to inefficiency and increased stress on the organs while harmonious rhythms are more efficient.
Spiritual teachers have always said to love one another, to have compassion for our fellow human beings and to live in appreciation of life’s gifts. Yet today we find that sustained positive emotions are not as prevalent in most people’s lives as we might expect. Such states, along with their numerous benefits, remain, for the most part, transient experiences in people’s lives, occurring randomly, and dependent to a large degree on arrangements of external events. Once we can establish an emotionally positive internal environment, it becomes a natural state of being and profoundly influences our perception of our external environment.
“The brain is a faithful servant, it is a machine. The heart is the compass.”
