Master your Heart Centred Practice

May 2, 2020

In our industry there is a lot of talk about heart-centred businesses and for us specifically heart-centred Kinesiologists. This is what I call the ‘new paradigm of Kinesiology’, where we lead our clients and ourselves into a heart-centred life.

In order to create this much desired heart-centred Kinesiology business we need to first understand what this means from a scientific and philosophical perspective. It is from this understanding that we can begin to embody this practice inside our clinics and in every area of our lives.

Let me explain….

In history the heart has always been represented as a symbol of health, wisdom, intuition, guidance and higher intelligence. Even the Ancient Egyptians, referred to the heart as IEB, believed that the heart (rather than the brain) was the center of life and the source of human wisdom. The Greeks also considered the heart to be an independent source of heat within the body and the Romans understood the heart to be the body’s most life-giving vital organ.

Within the last century, this history of the heart has flowed into scientific research and understanding how our heart affects everything within our lives (within our bodies and in all our interactions in life). The heart is no longer seen as just an organ that pumps blood, oxygen and nutrients around the body!

**HEART FACT… The heart of an unborn fetus starts beating before the brain has developed.

To begin to understand this scientific research I would first like to explain Heart Rate Variability (HRV) or our heart’s rhythm. Our HRV will change according to our emotional state. This idea was first published in the American Journal of Cardiology in 1995, in the article called The Effects of Emotions on Short-Term Power Spectrum Analysis of Heart Rate Variability. They concluded that “positive emotions lead to balance within the sympathetic nervous system and anger on the other hand can significantly increase fight or flight activation”.

Heartmath Institute (a not for profit research institute in the United States since the early 1990’s) has continued this research and learnt that when we experience feelings of anger, anxiety, stress, frustration, overwhelm etc. our HRV will be irregular and erratic (when looking at HRV waveform it will appear to be uneven or jagged in appearance). This is called an incoherent heart state. On the opposite scale to this when we experience feelings of love, joy, gratitude, acceptance, appreciation etc. our HRV will be regular and harmonious (the HRV waveform will appear smooth and ordered). This is called a coherent heart state.
(See image below).

(Image taken from Heartmath Institute)

The HRV is an important indicator within our bodies on how our Automatic Nervous System (ANS) is functioning. This is because our cardiovascular function is maintained and automated by our ANS. Therefore, when we are in a coherent heart state, our internal body systems will work in harmony together in a more relaxed and effective state improving our overall health and well-being.

**HEART FACT… 3 minutes of heart coherence (feelings of joy, love, gratitude and appreciation) can give you up to 6 hours of improved internal body functions.

The term ‘heart-brain’ was introduced in the early 1990’s by Dr J Andrew Armour, a Neuro-Cardiologist found that the heart actually communicates with the brain. In his work he found that the heart has its own complex processing centre that operates and processes information independently from the brain. In fact, the heart has over 40,000 neurons and a complete network of neurotransmitters.

Heartmath have continued from this research and found that the heart actually transmits more information up to the brain than the brain sends information down to the heart. This heart information is used by the brain to make choices, especially strategic thinking, reaction times and self-regulation. Therefore, when your heart is in a coherent state it will impact on your ability to think clearly.

One of my favorite research experiments that Heartmath have done is where they monitor people via ECG (Heart Electrical Activity), EEG (Brain Wave Measure) and SCL (Skin Conductance Sensor). These individuals are taken through a heart-coherence meditation (where they focus on feelings of joy, love, gratitude and appreciation) for 10 minutes. They then sat in front of a computer screen, where randomly emotive images were shown on the computer screen, ie: a cute dog, crying baby, and injured person. These individuals did not know what type of emotive image would appear on the screen. Yet 4.8 seconds before each of these images appeared the heart would send a strong pattern of neural signals up to the brain before there was even a pre-stimulus response anywhere in the brain. Shortly after the brain received these neural signals the frontal areas of the brain would have a change in activity.

Heartmath described the findings of this experiment “The heart and brain are connected to a source of information that operates outside the classical boundaries of time and space. In physics this is called nonlocal information. These experiments also suggest that as we practice being in a more heart coherent state, we have a closer alignment to that source of information”.

This illustrates that our hearts are connected to a higher source of knowledge and wisdom. A wisdom that transcends the bounds of time and space, which connects us with our highest good. This is what we have innately known and embodied for centuries before, which science is only beginning to understand.

**HEART FACT… The heart sends more information to the brain than the brain sends information to the heart.

Our hearts produce the highest electromagnetic field within our bodies. In fact, Rollin McCraty found in his research that a Heart ECG will transmit 60 times more amplitude than a Brain EEG. This powerful field can be measured several feet away from a person’s body and links individuals together when they are in close proximity. When we combine this knowledge with basic quantum physics that we are energy first and physical second, this information shows us that our hearts have the largest connection to all energy around our physical bodies, connecting us as one giant energy field.

This electromagnetic field explains the feeling that we get when we walk into a room of people and feel a sense of connectedness or a negativity that we are unsure of. This is scientifically shown in another Heartmath experiment between Josh (a 15-year-old boy) and Mabel (his dog). They both were attached to ECG monitors and placed into separate rooms. Josh then entered the same room as Mabel but stayed at a distance and consciously sent the dog loving thoughts. When Josh was doing this, his heart rhythms became coherent and consistent with Mabels.
(See image below)

Hesychasm is an Eastern Orthodox Church practice of meditation and prayer dating back to the 4th century. In this practice one curls forward over their heart space, drawing all of their attention and consciousness to their heart; within. This practice symbolised the union of the infinite through the heart space and from the heart space.

This is explained by Meggan Watterson as “that voice of love within us is the truth of who we are. This voice is the direct connection to the spiritual world that we all contain. No matter what we are doing, or who we are with, or where we are in the world, the ground is made holy the moment we’re present enough inside our own bodies to hear the presence of love”.

**HEART FACT… ‘Nous’ a French word means the eye of the heart. Translated to the vision or perception of the soul.

When we combine all of these scientific facts with the age old knowing of the heart, we begin to understand why it is so important to lead from our hearts within our practices and also with in everyday of our lives.

For me, the heart is an open space that is filled with a pure love and acceptance. Where everything is perfect in the isness of life. In this isness brings us a deep sense of knowing the truth of life and remembering that we are all one. Connected as one through our heart space – energetically first and physically second.

It is here in the heart space that we connect to the true wisdom and knowing of life, where all our answers lie and peace is found. This wisdom speaks to us in the silence of our mind, when we take time out in meditation away from the busyness of life to sit in the Sunyata (Sanskrit for stillness, emptiness and silence) of life. Within our selves in meditation we can connect to our heart space. But only in the Sunyata. It can never be forced or judged. It is always there for us and waiting for us to devote our time and energy into this space of love.

Our heart is the space where love never ends and true acceptance for all that is resides.

To serve our clients from this space is a privilege and one that I honor. To be fully present in my own heart space allows me to be fully present to my client’s heart space. And most importantly open my clients up to their own heart space connection, where all their own wisdom and love lies.

This is where we naturally evolve into a heart centred Kinesiology practice. It is not forced or as a result of trying to create it. A heart centred Kinesiology practice flows with ease and grace from our own heart centred life.

Remember here that the heart-centred Kinesiology practice I am talking about is one that embodies and reaches every area of your life, way beyond your role with your clients. Gone are the days where we are only heart-centred or aligned when we are with our clients. This heart-centred practice needs to be a way of life.

To become congruent to your heart in every area of your life.

Trust me, when I say that once you know this information about the heart, you can never unknow it and it will become a new way of living, breathing and serving your clients!

Finally, I pose this question to you, my fellow Kinesiologist… how can you take these learnings and centre them within yourself and your Kinesiology practice? To lead yourself and your clients from a heart filled space, laying down our own self-doubts and littleness? To become the master of your Heart-Centred Kinesiology Practice. This is my vision for our Kinesiology profession and is the ‘new paradigm’ of Kinesiology!