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Heart... for more than just heart health

7/29/2020

Last week I spoke about the qualities of the heart. Did you notice which qualities were more prominent for you as you went about your day and week? Did anything change from just noticing?

This week I want to share a bit more about the heart and how the heart can actually show us much more about ourselves, including overall health and wellbeing.

Take a look at the 2 pics. What do you notice about them? Which one would you rather have?

Without even knowing what they are, you’re probably picking the one on the right. The smooth wave pattern just feels better and easier. Right?

These pics are actually of different heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a measurement of the changes between heart beats and is an accurate indicator of health and wellbeing, both in the moment and over time. It’s an output of the autonomic nervous system’s response or reaction to life (rest-renew-recover or fight-flight-freeze) and indicates the level of connection or disconnection a person is having to a particular situation at hand.

As you can probably guess, the left one is someone not feeling at their best… agitated, stressed, overwhelmed. The right one in someone feeling at ease and appreciative.

HRV also translates into how the brain is able to function since 90% of the signals between heart and brain are afferent, meaning the heart sends much more information and data to the brain than the brain to the heart. In the left pic, the signals are jagged, translating to incoherent thinking; not clear, creative, or high quality. Compare this to the coherence of the right pic and the preferred choice is clear. I don’t know about you but I want to have that smooth wave pattern, all another reason why it’s important to activate heart qualities as much as possible.

If you think this is important, especially now during this time of major change, stay tuned for next week as I’ll be sharing an upcoming program that will help you stay more deeply connected to heart so you (and your family and community) can reap the many benefits throughout your whole mind and body.

Peace and Love,
Shanti
HeartMath is a registered trademark of Quantum Intech, Inc

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What qualities do you associate with Heart?

7/21/2020

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If you were to offer three words to describe what it feels like when you’re fully in your heart, what would they be?

A recent gathering of friends shared inclusive, understanding, forgiving, tranquil, confident, validating, grateful, comfortable, at ease, learning to be myself. Pretty great... and I made a pretty picture with all of them.

If you were to offer three words to describe what it feels like when you’re in your head, what would they be?

While I didn’t ask this of my friends, I might say intense, analytical, focused, confused, constricted, indecisive, judgmental. While not all bad, that’s a lot of mixed messages.

An obvious difference between the heart and the head, at least for me, is the quality of presence I have when I’m in my heart. I’m present to whatever or whomever. There’s openness, flow, receptivity, and trust. I’m not hooked into my agenda of task mastering one thing so I can jump to the next, excluding data that doesn’t meet my standard of what I want or really like (a.k.a. judgment), or flipping back and forth trying to make the best and most perfect decision.

With heart, things in life just are and I meet them where they are just as I am. It’s a refreshing way to live and each moment feels alive. It's pretty darn wonderful!

So how to live more fully in the heart, especially during these ever changing and disruptive times? (2020 has surely been the biggest convoluted mess I’ve ever experienced!) How do you come into heart? What are some activities or intentional ways of being that help you to be there more often? It’s different for everyone and I’d love to hear what it’s like for you.

For me, it’s setting the stage with morning coffee time on the back porch, eavesdropping on all the chatty birds. It’s purposefully tuning in to my heart and what’s alive for me there, meditating on spaciousness and acceptance so I can bring that intention and energy for forth. Heart is also pausing periodically throughout the day to rest and offer space as a transition in between different work activities (slow to know). And then, of course, my end of day gratitude and appreciation practice – what worked well, how did I contribute, and what does my body and mind need to rest.

Living from heart builds awareness, inner strength, personal choice, fortitude, intuitive connection, and resiliency... all desperately needed as we're experiencing these magnificent societal changes.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing more about the heart and its transformational qualities. Stay tuned. Stay connected. Stay in heart.

Sending you a ton of Peace and Love,
Shanti

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Heart... for more than just heart health

What qualities do you associate with Heart?

Author - Shanti Douglas

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