Tapping Into Your Hearts Intelligence

Your heart knows.  It knows what you need to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.  The trouble is most of us rarely listen to our hearts.  We’re too busy.  We go here.  We run there.  We look everywhere for the answers, but we ignore our real intelligence.

Did you know that your heart has an intelligence that is separate from your brain?
It’s true.  Research has shown that the human heart has an intelligence does not rely on the brains input.  40.000 nerve cells are found in your heart’s sphere. Some centers in the brain, particularly the sub-cortical areas (the area that is emotionally driven) have less neurons than the heart.  The human heart also has it’s own independent nervous system.  It independently influences the body, and even the brain.

Our hearts intelligence is different from the intelligence of the brain.  Your heart wisdom comes on a more feeling level.  It doesn’t rely on logic, but seems to integrate feelings in making its decisions.

Why am I concerned about the heart’s intelligence?

I’m concerned because the intelligence of our heart may actually be more important than our cerebral intelligence.  In 1996 Daniel Goleman published an exciting new book called:  Emotional Intelligence

What was revolutionary about Goleman’s writing was that he concluded that success in life had more to do with what happens on an emotional/social level than on a thinking level.  So even though thoughts are important,  how we control our emotions plays a bigger part in success in life.

You know what I mean right?  I’m sure you’ve seen this in your business and personal life.  The people who advance, who get the best raises, and positions aren’t always the most capable intellectually.  It’s often the people who excel socially, who have the ability to bond with others who seem to make the most advances.

Here’s where your heart intelligence comes into play.  You heart’s wisdom is global.   It’s holistic.  Your heart integrates what is happening on an emotional, psychological, and spiritual level.  If we can gain the ability to tap into our heart’s intelligence it can have a profound impact on our lives.

Indeed researchers at the Heart Math Institute (http://www.heartmath.org/)  have shown that tapping into the hearts wisdom is something that can influence our overall health and well being.  Their research has demonstrated that it can reduce anxiety and eliminate worry.  Both of these negative emotions have been shown to create heart disease.  Tapping into the hearts wisdom is also something that can be done easily and practically.

The HeartMath Institute has invented a technique called Freeze Frame (r)  Freeze Frame is a method for instantly stopping stress. If you’ve never heard of it you might want to get the book:  The HeartMath Solution by Doc Childre  describes in detail the Freeze Frame method.

The Freeze Frame method is similar to other meditation techniques but its a quick method.  It consists of 5 Steps:

Step 1: Recognize that you’re feeling stressful and stop to Freeze Frame it.  Take a time out.

Whenever a person feels stressed out their body is out of balance emotionally and physically.  But because we’ve adapted to this level of stress we don’t always recognize it.  So the first step of Freeze Frame is to recognize that you’re feeling stressful and stop.

Step 2:  Stop what you’re doing and bring your awareness and breath down to the heart region.

Shifting our focus away from out outer environment and towards our heart we shift our perception away from the problem and towards the solution. Research has shown that the simple act of shifting the awareness to the heart enhances communication between the heart and brain.  The HeartMath Institute has also shown that this can calm the heart and brain.

Step 3: Recall a positive, comforting feeling that you’ve had in life and try to re-experience it.

If you have ever had a time where you fell totally connected, happy, and well- bring this memory to mind.  Let yourself feel the memory.  It should be a full re-creation of the memory.  It has been demonstrated that when we feel such feelings it can bring healing to the nervous system.  Its very important to let yourself go with the memory. It isn’t just visualization.  We actually need to a re-experience of the event.  Such a re-experience produces the same biochemical and hormonal effects on the body.  It can bring a real sense of well-being to our bodies.

Step 4:  Now using your intuition, common sense, and sincerity, ask your heart, What would be a more efficient response to the situation, one that would minimize further stress?

During this step continue to focus on your heart as you ask the question.  You’ll be surprised with the results.  You won’t get something every time, but if you continue to practice you’ll increase your ability to defuse stress.

Step 5:  Listen to what your heart has to say.

Our hearts do know what we need to be well.  If we take the time to listen to our heart’s intelligence, it will not steer us wrong.

Good luck in Tapping into Your Heart’s Intelligence.