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We all know when we are in a state of flow. It might happen during a yoga or meditation class, while cooking with your loved ones or dancing with friends. The state of flow is the zone where our hearts, minds, and bodies are at one and we feel a deep connection with ourselves and others. When we feel this connection, not only within ourselves but to our environment and even to mother earth, we are actually being in coherence.
In one of the many scientific research done in the past fifty years on coherence, they have found that when we cultivate, intentionally or unintentionally, emotions of appreciation, love, and compassion, as opposed to anxiety, anger, or fear, the oscillations of our heart rhythm are showing as being more coherent, or consistent. This coherence has been linked to a sense of well-being, as well as being more emotionally stable and reaching peak states of mindfulness.
Each one of us deal with different levels of stress, whether it is mental, emotional or social and our heart coherence can fluctuate from moment to moment. We seek ways to live more at ease. The pursuit of happiness is never ending because we often look for outside modalities to help us find joy and meaning for our lives. But what if we could train our hearts to be in coherence more often? What if we could entrain others in our journey to happiness just by being in a state of deep appreciation for life itself?
These patterns has been observed in many researches on heart coherence. Scientists have found that the signals the heart continuously sends to the brain actually influence the function of higher brain centers involved in perception, cognition, and emotional processing. Our hearts can also entrain the hearts of other people around us—research illustrates our hearts actually respond and are connected to the oscillations of the earth frequencies. What that means? The heart is basically it’s own brain.
Merging Spirituality and Science
My quest to find explanations on my inner experiences during my meditations brought me to learn more about heart coherence. I have been meditating for over twenty years and I have explored many techniques. Though, I have been diligent about my daily practice over the years, I have had profound and meaningful experiences and felt transformed in moments when I was drifting away from the actual meditation technique—I was exploring my own path, so to speak. I often asked myself if I were doing something wrong by not sticking to the practice until I had a coherence test.
In 2006, I had the opportunity to go to a state of the art medical facility in Mexico to assist my parents doing a health assessment. As a guest, I could use some of the services they offered. In this retreat center you see medical doctors working hand-in-hand with alternative health doctors. You get to see very sick people and others just going for a rejuvenation retreat.
I was six months pregnant of my first daughter, and I was sitting on a chair, a sensor on my finger plugged into a computer. The practitioner asked me to stay calm and relax while staying in the room by myself for the duration of the test. He says he is going to measure my ability to relax and manage stress.
So, I stayed there, did my usual meditation routine; I slowed down my breath and started watching thoughts passing by. I was thinking about what I should be doing exactly and if I was doing it right, but I let that go. I observed physical sensations and after about a minute or two, I am in my usual meditation state. I am in my zone.
After about ten minutes, the men came back in the room. He looked at the monitor and asked me, “What did you do?” I back looked at him, puzzled. According to him (and the monitor), I was “in the zone.” My heart coherence was at 94 percent—and all I had been doing was meditating.
In that moment, I knew I was onto something. I knew meditation was good for me, but before that moment, I couldn’t comprehend the depth of my practice. I needed more explanations, and I knew that heart coherence was a good lead.
I knew that even though I was not doing exactly as what my meditation teacher told me to do, I was doing fine. I was not drifting away from meditation but deepening my practice by listening within and adjusting my practice to what felt right.
How to Actually Practice Heart Coherence
Remember that coherence is like a frequency wave. As an example, when you are angry, your heart sends uncoherent signals, and when you feel grateful, you are emanating a beautiful coherent signal out into the world. That’s contagious; it not only benefits you, but those around you as well.
Curious to try? If you want to explore with coherence, here are three of the basic meditation exercises you can do to bring you in a state of coherence—and maybe help others around you by entraining them into the waves of love, compassion, and gratitude.
- Breathe five to six breaths per minute. This will bring you in a basic state of coherence. When I practice this, I see the oscillations on my monitor become smoother and coherent in matter of seconds.
- Bring an emotion of appreciation, compassion, or love into your awareness. Feel it with all your physical body and bring it into the area of your heart. This usually brings your coherence ratio higher.
- Practice a loving and kindness meditation more often. This meditation is based on compassion and self-love. We can never have enough of it.
Give it a try. Raise your vibrations—and watch that of those around you do the same.
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Janick Léonard is the author of the book Make This Your Best Life and the founder of Yoga of the Seasons. She has been on a path of self-discovery since she was just a little girl. She is always evolving in her quest to find the meaning of life and to fulfill her dharma. She is a real trailblazer for the yoga community in Quebec, Canada. She offers online programs, conferences and workshops to guide women and moms of her generation to take care of themselves while creating a life aligned with their purpose. The post What it Actually Means to “Live From Your Heart” appeared first on Wanderlust.
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