Heart Breathing
Harmonizing Mind and Body Through Heart-Focused Breathing
" The heart sends more information to the brain through the nervous system then the other way around." -Rollin McCraty, Ph.D
In our fast-paced, high-stress world, many of us struggle to keep our minds and bodies in a state of equilibrium and tranquility. When life's demands continuously trigger our nervous systems into a "fight-or-flight" stress response, it takes a toll - leaving us feeling anxious, overwhelmed, and out of sync.
Fortunately, research from the HeartMath Institute has illuminated a simple yet powerful way to physiologically overcome stress, cultivate inner balance, and recharge from the inside out. The key lies in heart-focused breathing exercises that engage the heart's intuition as an intelligent system for self-regulation.
The Science of HeartMath At the core of HeartMath techniques is the understanding that the heart possesses its own intrinsic nervous system - with an extensive network of neurotransmitters and neurons allowing it to act as a sensory organ and intelligence center for the human system. The heart is constantly sending signals to the brain that influence our emotional, mental and physical states.
By intentionally engaging the heart through conscious breathing patterns, we can bring our heart signal into a state of psychophysiological coherence - where the heart, mind and emotions synchronize and harmonize. This coherent state activates the parasympathetic "rest-and-digest" response, inhibiting stress hormones and boosting resilience.
The Power of Heart Breathing Heart-focused breathing is a deceptively simple technique with transformative effects on our well-being. It involves focusing attention in the area of the heart, breathing slowly and continuously through the heart area while making a sincere attempt to cultivate a regenerative feeling like appreciation or caring.
As you breathe in this conscious heart-centered way, you stimulate the body's naturally-occurring counterbalancing systems to stress. The impacts are profound:
- Lower blood pressure and stress hormone levels
- Increased cardiovascular efficiency and immune function
- Greater emotional balance, clarity and conscious perception
- Enhanced cognitive performance and decision-making abilities
- Improved vitality, regeneration and psychophysiological renewal
In essence, these exercises leverage the heart's intelligence to recalibrate your entire system - soothing reactive mind patterns, resetting core neurological rhythms, and restoring equilibrium on physiological and psychological planes.
Adding Heart Breathing to Your Day The beauty of heart breathing is that it can be practiced almost anywhere and incorporated seamlessly throughout your daily life. Taking a few minutes of sacred pause amidst your chaotic schedule to consciously harmonize body and mind can provide much-needed stress relief and renewal.
Most of us intuitively feel the wisdom of the heart and the settling power of conscious breathing. By uniting these elements, HeartMath empowers each of us with a profound self-regulation technique to stay balanced and resilient even during life's most demanding moments.
The Heart Breathing Practice
When faced with a challenging problem or difficult situation, begin by acknowledging the issue itself and any attitudes, emotions or feelings you're experiencing around it. Don't judge or resist these responses - simply allow yourself to notice them.
Once you've created that awareness, engage in this heart-focused breathing technique:
- Bring your attention to the area of your heart. Imagine your breath flowing in and out of this heart/chest region.
- Make a sincere effort to cultivate a regenerative feeling like appreciation, gratitude or care for someone or something meaningful in your life.
- From this more balanced emotional space, ask yourself: "What would be a more beneficial attitude, action or solution for addressing this situation effectively?"
- Remain attentive, quietly observing any subtle shifts in your perceptions, attitudes or feelings as you continue breathing through your heart center.
- Consciously commit to sustaining any positive attitude adjustments or new insights that emerged. Identify how you can apply these perspectives as you determine next steps for resolving the issue.
By beginning with honest self-inquiry, then shifting into a state of physiological and emotional coherence through heart breathing, you create an inner condition for wisdom and intuition to arise. Solutions and next steps often become clearer from this place of self-regulated alignment.
The focused breathing allows you to disengage from scripted behavioral responses and tap into the heart's deeper intelligence. You can then approach problems with greater balance, clarity and presence to catalyze meaningful change.
Click on the Video below to learn how to do the heart breathing with guidance: