Heart coherence is a natural state of the body when your heart rhythm is in synchronization with your breathing, with your brainwaves and other body systems. Your heart speeds up slightly during the inhale and slows down as you exhale. The state of coherence is usually achieved when taking about 5 - 6 breaths per minute, so a fairly slow and calm breathing rate. It is a very healthy state in which the damage caused by stress is reversed and the body regenerates itself.
There were many tests carried out, mainly by Heart Math Institute in California with reference to the impact that the emotions and heart makes on our body’s systems and how imperative are interactions between the heart and brain. During stress, the heart’s rhythm pattern is uneven and distorted. It turns out that such heart rhythm has a huge impact on the brain, that in a stressful situation it is difficult to think clearly and logically. However, during the state of coherence, the heart rhythm graph is even and harmonious. It is closely related to the rhythm of your breathing and it then resembles a regular sine wave. It turns out that this steady heart rhythm while being in coherence with the brain can bring many benefits including an improvement of the immune system, reduction of cortisol (the stress hormone), there is also a decrease in cardiovascular risk, a decrease in high blood pressure and an improvement in concentration and memory.
It is very important to notice that we can learn ourselves how to be in the state of heart coherence. Through regular practice we can bring ourselves into this space in a few minutes, in any situation we need. Coherence is like frequency waves - when you are angry, your heart sends incoherent signals, and when you feel grateful, you are emanating a beautiful coherent signal out into the world. There are many heart coherence meditations available that proved that it not only benefits you, but those around you as well. Many worldwide meditations for coherence are successfully set to gather as many meditators at the same time creating consistence heart waves for global healing.
If you would like to learn more about coherence, here are three basic steps you can do to bring yourself into its state and maybe help others around you by introducing them to the waves of love, gratitude and compassion.
Close your eyes, lie down or sit in a comfortable position. Count to 5 in every inhale, and the same with every exhale. You can extend it as long as it still feels calming. Your goal is to breathe 5 to 6 breaths per minute. This will put you into a basic state of coherence.
Bring your attention to your heart area, feel how your heart beat calms and how it synchronises with your breath, slowly move your thoughts to someone or something that you truly love.
Bring an emotion of appreciation, compassion, or love into your awareness. Feel it with all your physical body and bring it back into the area of your heart. This usually brings your coherence ratio higher.
Effective heart coherence involves drawing the emotions of love, gratitude and kindness into our mind and our body while maintaining stable breathing. Love is the purest energy possible, it is the driving force of most aspects of our lives. It is enough to say that if we love something it will always thrive, even if it is a simple thing like your house, car, work. When you love it, you will care for it, look after it and grow it well, when you stop loving no matter how much work you will put into it, it won’t blossom the same way. I believe that time around Christmas is an exceptional moment to practice love and kindness meditation, to create heart coherence within ourselves and send love to our close ones, especially this year when we often can’t celebrate it together. I think this year we should put some extra effort into it, for our mental health we should try to bringing more joy and gratitude into our lives. Through meditation we are learning to be more in the present and to be mindful. Every person that practices it, finds that there is more joy in a mindful state of performing every day activities than in waiting for big future events. Enjoy the little things, bring back your childhood memories, share these with your close ones. Send good energy, full of love and gratitude to your family and friends, smile at the stranger that passes by, wish happiness and health to everyone and be thankful for receiving it back. Happy Christmas Everyone!
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