The Intelligent Heart
Heart-Brain Communicates with Mind and Body
Popular sayings about the intuitive and intelligent aspects of the human heart like “follow your heart” have long been considered to be strictly metaphorical, but scientific studies show that the heart is more than just a mass of muscle cells pumping blood throughout the body.
The heart is in constant communication with the body and brain using neurons, biochemicals, blood pressure waves and electricity, and has its own independent nervous system, and therefore, the heart has a much greater impact on information processing, perceptions, emotions and health than was ever acknowledged in the past.
Techniques have been developed by the Institute of HeartMath for use in personal, organizational and social settings that allow individuals to access and influence the communication coming from the heart to the brain.
Heart-Brain Concept
In the early 1990s, the “heart-brain” concept was introduced by Dr. J. Andrew Amour and became a pivotal part of medical science’s newest discipline — neurocardiology.
Amour’s research looked at the heart’s complex network of neurotransmitters, support cells and proteins, and determined it was a nervous system that was similar enough to the brain itself to qualify as a “little brain.”
And while the heart’s inherent nervous system primarily puts its 40,000 neurons to work interacting with the cranial brain and other independent neuronal processing centers distributed throughout the body, the heart can learn, remember, feel and sense all on its own, evidenced by the ability of the heart to survive the temporary (and sometimes permanent) loss of nerve connections to the brain during a heart transplant.
The existence of an intrinsic nervous system within the heart itself allows it to survive in a new host without the help of the brain.
Heart-Based Living
Researchers at the Institute of HeartMath in Boulder, Colorado, have developed a training system that offers tools for tapping into the heart’s multi-faceted communication system that can provide increased insight into mind and body.
Based on research that overturns the common understanding that heart-brain interaction is one-directional with the heart simply responding to the brain’s commands, HeartMath trains practitioners to tune into all the signals that originate from the heart — neurological (nervous system), biophysical (pulse waves), biochemical (hormones), and energetic (electromagnetic). Findings show that individuals experiencing positive emotional states manifested a more coherent heart rhythm, which in turn changed the information flowing to the brain.
The HeartMath method intentionally focuses on using the pathway from heart to brain to influence perception, mental clarity and intuitive awareness with the intent of improving health, vitality, performance and quality of life.
Science is proving that the many sayings passed down through the ages about listening to the wisdom of one’s heart are based on more than sentiment and metaphor. The human heart is an integral part of the complex communication system threaded throughout mind and body.
Neurocardiology and the work of the Institute of HeartMath are developing new insights into how the heart communicates with mind and body, and offer exciting new tools for navigating the heart-mind connection.
The Heart Has a Brain
|
What do you think about this article?
Latest Articles