Our Hearts Know Best

Our dear friend Bob Banner of HopeDance Magazine brings so much awareness and wisdom to those of us who live on the Central Coast.  He recently showed a film called "The Power of the Heart" which left a profound impression on me.  There was so much goodness in it that if you get a chance, you really must see it.  I'll share a little of what I can recall with you here.

The HeartMath Institute has been researching the intelligence of our hearts for nearly twenty years and not long ago they conducted an interesting experiment.  In it, they showed volunteers different randomly selected photographic images that were chosen specifically to elicit strong emotional responses.  The photographs ranged from puppies and sunsets to violence and destruction.  Electrodes were placed on the bodies of the volunteers which could read the responses of their nervous systems.  Information was gathered from several areas on their bodies: the heart, the brain and the gut.

As the volunteers watched these images, a very intriguing pattern began to reveal itself.  Several seconds before an image was shown, the heart responded either positively or negatively depending on what the image would soon be.  This heart response immediately sent a message to the brain which would then send the information to the gut.  When this happened, the subject would feel the result, either relaxed or agitated.

The experiment showed that not only are our gut feelings accurate, but our heart knows the truth of our feelings first.  The brain is next in line.  And the gut brings it to conscious awareness. 

Our hearts tune us to our life.  They are faster and wiser than our heads.  They let us know if we are loved and welcomed.  Our heart knowledge pervades the Universe.  It teaches us that our soul is not in the intellect.  

The Sioux nation has a saying, "The longest journey you will make in your life is from the head to the heart."  And there is a lot to this.  Here in the west, we constantly defer to our minds.  We dwell in the past and in the future, always trying to figure things out.  But it is the heart energy, which knows the power of the present moment, that is meant to guide us.  My teacher and mentor, Jana Massey used to remind us of this.  She would say, "The heart is meant to be the true leader in our lives."

Maya Angelou said, "I believe the heart is the only thing you can trust."  Deepak Chopra said that we need to ask our hearts everything.  "Where do I want to go?"  "Who should I spend my time with?"  "What should I do with my life?"  Your heart will bring you alive.  It will guide you true by the voice that comes forth from inside of you.

© Josephine Laing, 2014


                  (The amazingly beautiful begonia in the photo was grown by Paul Carlisle)