Connecting with our heart's intuitive guidance and wisdom

Heart Intelligence is a book written by the founder of HeartMath®, Doc Childre and colleagues who work together to develop a system of effective tools and technologies that bridge the intuitive connection between heart and mind and deepen our connection with the hearts of others.

I first became interested in Heart Intelligence by listening to a presentation by Deborah Rozman, one of the authors of Heart Intelligence, sharing findings of academic research carried out at the HeartMath Institute into Heart Rate Variability and Coherence. The work underpins a model that enables people to align their heart, brain and intuition to achieve higher potential without necessarily using spiritual language.

I wrote about the presentation in a previous post The Intelligent Heart and have more recently read the book. I wanted to share some of the things I learned in Heart Intelligence following my review of Human Heart, Cosmic Heartby Thomas Cowan MD who demonstrates that the heart is not merely a pump, rather a hydraulic ram that plays an critical role in regulating our highly intelligent circulatory system. 

HeartMath® Institute

The HeartMath Institute was founded in 1991 by Doc Childre who is the originator of the HeartMath® System. This is a set of practical, heart-based technologies and tools that all people can use to reduce stress, improve performance, and enhance health and well-being.

Heart Intelligence contains the story behind the HeartMath® system together with supporting evidence such as provided by pioneering, neuro-cardologist, Dr J Andrew Armour, who introduced the term Heart Brain. His research reveals that the heart sends it's own messages to the brain using its own complex instrinsic nervous system that acts as a brain in the head. This heart-brain has been shown to sense, process and encode information internally.

According to HearthMath Inc, understanding and developing Heart Intelligence helps us to move from old habits of separation to increased love and new connections; it provides a roadmap for connecting with our heart's compassionate care and kindness; it shows us how to respond to inner promptings so that we can make more effective choices in life, and provides practical tools for following our own heart's intelligence and intuitive guidance to become our true selves.

This correlates very well with my understanding of the heart and it's central place in our lives when we know that when we think, speak, act or behave from our heart, it makes us feel good. This tells us that we have chosen to do the right thing which brings immeasurable rewards in the long run.

A book of chapters

The introduction, written by Doc Childre, talks about the understandable stress caused by uncertainty being felt on a global scale. He reminds us that despite the struggles, most retain a positive outlook and more of us are reimagining our future for the better.

This is expanded upon in further chapters written by Doc including Heart-Based Living, Raising Our Vibration, Moving in a State of Ease, Becoming Our True Self, Compassion (the need of the times) and Broadcasting Love.

Other chapters include Attributes of Heart Intelligence and Global Coherance: The Planetary Potential (Deborah Rozman); It's Heart-Time and Social Coherance: Learning to Get Along (Martin Howard); and, The Intuitive Heart and Heart Coherance: Access to Heart Intellligence (Rollin McCraty).

Each chapter contains research findings that corroborate the key revelation that the heart has its own brain which manages a fully functioning nervous system sending messages from our higher consciousness to our brain first. The key message is that when we endeavour to tune into our heart's steady beat and intuitive flow of heart-felt wisdom, it becomes second nature and this brings untold benefits to our lives.

Heart-based living

Heart-based living is described as a natural self-maintenance, self-transformational practice. It is described as a basis for learning how to get along with each other and work together in harmony. This is done by increasing our care and cooperation for the best outcome for everyone and the beautiful planet we call home. When recent years have taught us that we are all connected, we can see that caring for ourselves and others is caring for the whole.

Doc Childre believes, as I do, that we are in a transitional period where more of us are deciding to open our hearts to compassionate care so that we can create a different world from the one that has been created so far.

It is where we start the healing of separation which is essential for a shift into the next level of intelligence for humanity - and many people are feeling that life is shaking us awake to this requirement.

Enlightening research

Deborah Rozman points out that indepth research into the physiology of heart-brain communication began in the second half of the twentieth century.

This started with pioneery physiologists, John and Beatice Lacey, who conducted research that showed the heart actually communicates with the brain in ways that greatly affect how we perceive and react to the world around us.

Having discovered that the heart possessed its own nervous system and brain, Dr J Andrew Armour went on to find evidence that the heart's brain possesses a capacity to learn, and even has short- and long-term memory and neural plasticity. 

This proves that the heart is intimately involved in how we think, feel and respond to the world with further resarch showing that ascending neurological signals sent from the heart to the brain continuously interact with and modify the activity in the brain's higher cognitive and emotional centres.

Heart-felt frequency

Many of us know that every day we process countless frequencies through our mind, brain and heart which materialise through our thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions.

Doc Childre dedicates a chapter to this important aspect of who we are when our thoughts, feelings, emotions and intentions are energetic frequencies influenced by beliefs, memories, choices, environmental stimuli and more.

He says that sometimes we operate in a higher vibration and sometimes a lower one and that we can better manage these variations in energy when we learn how to consciously intervene, reset and lift our attitudinal vibration to handle whatever comes up more cost-effectively.

The rewards for getting into the habit of connecting and communicating with our heart's intelligence are numerous. As Doc Childre says: When our vibrations are up, our heart energy flows through our interactions. We naturally generate uplifting feelings from a more empowered demeanour. We are kinder, more gracious and we genuinely connect with other. We respond to stressful situations with soundness and clearer discernment. We are less vulnerable to frustration, impatience, anger or anxiety, and we feel more self-secure and less critical of others.

And my favourite: we are drawn to notice Nature, flowers and trees that we usually sleep-walk past, as our preoccupations rob us of this gift of conscious connection.

Ultimately, the calm yet vibrant state of being we experience when we are tuned into our heart-space, has a profound and positive impact on our health, our relationships and our quality of life - for ourselves but for humanity as a whole.

Heart-felt change

We are reminded to spread a little kindness on a day which has been allocated for such an endeavour. These are Kindness Day UK and World Kindness Day which are held on 13 November every year. However, this does little to help us transition to a higher level of consciousness where unconditional love, compassion, humility and kindness are a given.

Let's not wait until this far away day which will come and go in a flash as people revert back to their old ways. Instead, practice radiating or sending love while sitting in stillness with your heart. Give as much love to yourself as you would any of your loved ones by feeling appreciation and gratitude for all you have known, all you have felt and all that you have ever done.

We are reminded of The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm who says the same as Doc Childre: Love is an action word for achieving our next awareness level of collective intelligence.

Let each of us take the action required to love ourselves and each other from our hearts so that we can bring heart-felt change to this world. As always, thank you for being here and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sue Cartwright

Spiral Leaf

Buy the book!

Heart Intelligence: Connecting with the heart's intuitive guidance for effective choices and solutions by Doc Childre, Howard Martin, Deborah Rozman and Rollin McCraty

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