Follow Your Heart - Blog - Reeve Foundation

I saw this movie, really it’s a documentary, titled “I Am” written and directed by Tom Shayac. Tom’s list of past films include: Bruce Almighty, Ace Ventura, and the Nutty Professor, which are pretty funny films by my ridiculous sense of humor. But this film is not funny, it’s serious. It addresses real world issues that need to be asked and the film asks two questions, “what’s wrong with our world?” and “how can we make it better?”. Tom, traveled the world asking men and women from all sorts of career fields including, science – David Suzuki, philosophy, academia, religion – Bishop Desmond Tutu, art, environmentalists, psychology and the list continues.

Tom found out that there was a great deal happening in the world and as it states in the movie notes, “He learned that the heart, not the brain, may be man’s primary organ of intelligence, and that human consciousness and emotions can actually affect the physical world, a point Shadyac makes with great humor by demonstrating the impact of his feelings on a bowl of yogurt.” Yes, he connected with a bowl of yogurt, terribly odd and mind expanding, but he connected in a good way, a way that shows how much impact we have that we don’t and see with our limited physical vision.

I’m not going to tell you the answers to those two questions, you need you watch the movie for those answers, and, it’s well worth watching so check it out. But what I am going to tell you about is HeartMath (the labs where he has the yogurt relationship moment) and their desire to activate the heart of humanity and create a more “heart connected world.”

I’ve been aware and have practiced some of the “coherence” programs since before I saw the yogurt experiment in the movie. So when I saw that experiment in the movie I became ecstatic that I had, not only heard of just what they talked about in the movie, but also felt my heart beat. I felt pretty hip and current in that moment.

If you haven’t heard of HeartMath it’s a 501c3 organization started in 1991 by Doc Childre. HeartMath has some products that can basically give you real-time information about your bodies, very much like biofeedback programs, and then the ability to self-monitor stress to relieve the stress and create actions to gain control over our emotions. This training can be integrated into daily living so when in need of chilling out, you know how do it on the fly without having a cocktail, or smoking or even taking medication. The training puts you in the driver’s seat and in control of your life. I know that the more independent I can be when it comes to my health and wellness the better I like it.

The products, emWave Pro, emWave2 and the Inner Balance System for iOS, which cost $129.00, are all created so you can see how your emotions and body reactions are fluctuating. HeartMath calls this the Heart Rate Variability and those variations produce a wave on the screen that looks a lot like a sine wave. I think it’s pretty cool and a great tool.

But for now, if you want to start practicing paying attention to how you feel and controlling your emotions, here’s a practice very much like the breathing practices I have shared with you in previous blogs. This one is a little different, because you focus on breathing in and out of your heart and it’s like some heart-centered meditations practices.

It’s called Heart Focus Training. When doing this you focus your attention on the area around your heart and in the center of your chest. Now, imagine your breath is flowing slowly in and out of your heart area, this will calm down and reduce intense emotions that create stress on our minds and bodies. Now, think about and activate a positive feeling or recall a time when you felt good inside your mind and body. Hold that feeling. Now, notice what is happening in your physical body, with your emotions and your mind while you make this shift to breathing into your heart. Do this for 3 minutes. Take the time to write down what comes up and how that changes with practice. Take the time, daily with this practice and it will create a blending of your heart and mind building coherence and more ease into your life.

Blessings to All, in joy,

Candace

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About the Author - Candace Cable

Candace Cable

The opinions expressed in these blogs are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.