No one escapes the experience of stress, and some stress is actually good for you. Moderate amounts of stress — the kind that kick in your fight or flight response — can help you perform better. It can also improve your heart function and make your body resistant to infection.
However, when your level of stress starts impacting your health, your ability to think clearly and take action, it's time to assess and address.
Cardiac Coherence
Whether it's the Greeks or the Babylonians, Traditional Chinese Medicine or Ayurveda, it has long been known – and science is now bearing this out – that the heart has intelligence. Your heartbeats and heart rate are linked to your emotions. Good news and bad news both impact your pulse.
HeartMath, founded by Doc Childre, has done a good amount of research in this ‘new science.' One of the measures of heart health is your cardiac coherence, which is the coupling and synchronization of the rhythm of breathing to the rhythm of the heart.
When cardiac coherence is established within the body there is synchronization with other systems inside and outside the body, such as respiratory, cardiac, digestive, and immune systems. Cardiac Coherence also elicits a general feeling of wellness accompanied by a change in the magnetic field of the heart, and has a healing effect on others up 1.5m around the person in resonance.
Tap Into Your Heart Intelligence
The next time you're feeling overwhelmed and can't find the inner abundance that yields infinite gratitude, try this simple exercise, shared by my good friend Ellen Britt of Marketing Qi:
- Bring your attention to your breathing, in…and out…in…and out…
- Gently shift your attention to the area around your heart. You may want to place your hand, palm down, over your heart area so you can feel the warmth of your hand flowing into your chest…
- In your mind's eye, breathe in and out through your heart area. In…and out…in…and out…
- Bring to mind a time when you felt appreciation and gratitude (perhaps when you held your first child in your arms or were in a place of great natural beauty)… savor that feeling for as long as you want…
- Bring your attention gently back to your breathing…in…out…in….out…
- Return to the present moment, knowing that you can return to this place of calm whenever and wherever you like.
Use this simple tool to focus, and follow, the intuitive information of your heart. You can learn not only how to better make decisions, you can also learn to use the power of your heart to manage your mind and emotions. Then the power of gratitude is sure to follow.
Image: Flower in Wall at El Morro San Juan, Jason Sturner
Hi Adela, I am in huge gratitude to you.THIS IS WONDERUL! HUGS AND HAPPINESS.X
Thanks, Rosemary. 😉