How Heart Coherence Helps Create Less Stress and More Inner Stability

What Is Heart Coherence?

Heart coherence is a high performance and healthy state physically emotionally mentally and spiritually that brings out the very best in us.

Heart coherence brings breathing, blood pressure, hormonal response and heart rhythms in sync with each other creating less stress and more inner stability.

Tuning into your hearts wisdom creates a profound shift within that helps you approach situations with more emotional balance compassion clarity and personal confidence.

How Does It Work?

The quality of the signals the heart sends the brain greatly affect our perceptions, brain function and emotional experience.

The heart sends more information to the brain than the other way around.

There are 4 ways that our heart and brain communicate.

1. via the nervous system

2. through hormones

3. pulse waves with neuro transmitting chemicals in the body and

4. blood flow through the heart and the electromagnetic field

New scientific research shows there is more communication going from the heart to the brain than the other way. The heart is a highly complex information-processing centre with its own functional brain, called the heart brain, that communicates with and influences our brain via the nervous system, hormonal system and other pathways. New science is emerging that the best indicator of a person’s emotional state is heart rate variability, or heart rhythms. Stressful or depleting emotions such as frustration, anger, fear and overwhelm lead to increased disorder in the higher-level brain centres and autonomic nervous system, which is then reflected in the heart rhythms and adversely affects the functioning of virtually all bodily systems. The heart actually manufactures and secretes a number of hormones and neurotransmitters – including atrial peptide, which plays an important role in fluid and electrolyte balance and helps regulate the blood vessels, kidneys, adrenal glands and many regulatory centres in the brain. Increasing the levels of atrial peptide apparently inhibits the release of stress hormones, reduces sympathetic outflow,and appears to communicate with the immune system. The research also suggests atrial peptide can influence motivation and behaviour. In a study conducted by Dr Joe Dispenza in 2016, he measured immunoglobulin A (IgA) in 117 test subjects. The participants were asked to move into an elevated emotional state such as love, joy, inspiration or gratitude for nine to ten minutes, three times per day per day for 4 consecutive days. After 4 days, average IgA levels increased by 49.5%!

(source: https://lifestylemedicine.org.au/content/brain-and-heart-coherence/)

What Happens When We Are Not Coherent?

We all know that elevated emotions such as joy, compassion, love gratitude and appreciation feel much better and when we live from these emotional states we feel more harmonious and stress free. On the other hand emotions of anger, frustration, hate shame, guilt and lack, produce actions and behaviours that are more unkind such as impatience snappiness and anger towards self and others. We also know that when the brain is stressed and overwhelmed it is harder to remember things and make effective choices. It is also much harder to communicate effectively, rationally and calmly. When you are in this state your brain has become incoherent. Dr Joe Dispenza teaches "thoughts are the language of the brain and feelings are the language of the body. What you think and what you feel creates your state of being."

When you have a thought (or a memory), a biochemical reaction happens in your brain causing it to release chemical signals. These chemicals make your body feel exactly the same way you were thinking. For example, if you think an anxious thought, you then start to feel fear. The moment you feel anxious and fearful, your body releases a cascade of hormones and other biochemical reactions that influence you to think more fearful and anxious thoughts, you then get caught in a loop where thinking creates feeling and your feelings create thinking.

With adrenaline and cortisol coursing through our system our focus becomes narrowed, we go into fight flight freeze response where our sympathetic nervous system is activated and you start living in survival. Your digestion slows down, this is not the time to eat, your immune system becomes less active, its not the time to heal, it is not the time to be intimate or get creative take up new hobbies and learn new skills. Our brain becomes less coherent and able to make wise balanced decisions. We become less patient, kind, giving, loving and compassionate and social.

How To Be More Heart Brain Coherent

1. Spend time in nature.

Nature is a wonderful demonstration of coherence and living in the moment. Spending time in nature strengthens and balances your energy. Some ways to take time out in nature may be to go to the beach, hiking, lay on the grass, enjoy waterfalls, lakes and rivers. Spending time in nature cleanses old energy, and infuses you with fresh nourishing Qi. It elevates your heart energy and gives feelings of internal peace and joy.

2. Get enough alone time.

Spending time alone to recharge is a wonderful way to help brain heart coherence.

3. Spend time with people who make you feel good.

When you socialise with others, be thoughtful who you choose to surround yourself with. Choose those who nourish your soul and elevate your energy. Plan fun activities to do together like painting, dancing, cooking and yoga.

4. Meditate.

Meditation is a helpful way to bring your heart and brain into harmony.

5. Breath work.

The simple process of sitting and breathing in and our of your heart centre, feeling elevated emotions and brining those elevated emotions into your heart space is a powerful way to create heart brain coherence.

6. Cultivate elevated emotions.

Bring emotions of appreciation, compassion and love into your awareness.

7. NRG Yoga

NRG Yoga encompasses breath work, meditation and energy work to help your mind and body come into alignment and create more coherence and harmony in your life.

Heart coherence can be self created and when we bring this practice into our everyday life it allows us to be the best most authentic version of ourselves...x

For more information on heart brain coherence visit: heartmath.com