To Manage Stress and Build Strong Families, We Must Get Out of Our Heads and Into our Hearts.

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PHoto Credit: Brain by Billy Bong Bing Bong

I recently read a book entitled HeartMath Solution by Doc Childre and Howard Martin.  It describes the physical and spiritual role of the heart in our well being, even going as far as suggesting that the heart has a “brain”.   When waves or impulses from the head and the heart are synchronized, stress levels are reduced, and mental clarity is increased.  The goal is to use their training to learn how to connect with and regulate the brainwaves of the heart so you can better manage your state of mind while reducing stress.

The book and the company’s website both explain and document their success in schools to improve performance on testing and with individuals to reduce stress.  Both are fascinating and I highly recommend checking them out. 

The people at Heart Math Solution feel so strongly about this head/heart connection, that they made a device called the emwave PSR that can help you monitor the stress signals from your heart so that you can then coordinate signals between the brain and the heart and reduce stress and increase your sense of well-being.  It’s a “stress GPS” of sorts.   If your or anyone in your life really suffers from stress, this may be helpful for them to use. 

It got me thinking about “the old ticker” and “the noggin” and the spiritual role they play in our lives.  If someone asks me to point to myself, my finger goes directly to my chest, not my head. To me, this suggests that we ARE our hearts, NOT our heads, and the more time we spend in our hearts, the more fulfilled our lives will be.  Yet, many of us live in our heads instead of being guided by our hearts.  It’s the age old struggle between the ego and the soul that keeps us from heart centered living.   Unfortunately, the ego (the head) often wins.  

Photo credit: Thinking by Almumen

Living in our heads causes us to be focused on the superficial rather than what is spiritually important.  Put another way, “head centered living” contributes to the dominant trends in our society of image, materialism, instant gratification, and self-indulgence.  I believe that part of the reason we are in such a global funk, is because our lifestyle causes us to live most of our time in our head rather than our hearts.  

Stress, of course, has a direct negative and sometimes life threatening impact on the heart.  In times like these, where a great number of people are under intense stress, this is particularly troublesome.  The more stressed we, become, the more stressed our heart becomes, giving us what is known as a heavy or broken heart.    

Polls show that 4 out of 5 Americans believe now that spirituality is directly related to their health.  But how many people actually dedicate time to study and practice improving this area of their lives on a daily basis?  Maybe besides our daily dose of cardio, we need a daily dose of HeartMath cardio. 

Photo Credit: Life is Like Tightrope Walking by Near Impossible

Maintaining our own head/heart balance is important, however, it doesn’t end there. Evidence shows that children are negatively affected by the head/heart conflict as well

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Consider this…according to the authors of the Heart Math Solution, “Feeling loved is more important to and for children than anything else”.   It is not just a want.  It is a must!  Kids, more than adults, are really in-touch with their hearts.  When they are tuned into their hearts, they are much more open- minded, cooperative, and secure.  They learn more effectively and have a greater sense of respect and honor towards others and themselves. 

Photo Credit: A Mother's Love by Pretty Freak Jesper

Emotional states are contagious.  Parents with emotional balance are more likely to produce children with emotional balance.  If we want strong families and well-balanced kids, we must practice “heart centered living”, daily. Our children (said in the collective “our”) will bear the responsibility of transitioning the planet to a higher consciousness.   They will need to know how to use their heads and their hearts to navigate the challenges they will face. 

According to the authors of the HeartMath Solution, “To improve our world, you have to go back to the basics, back to the family where the core heart values that make up a world worth living in, are meant to be developed and nurtured.” 

To manage stress and build strong families, we need to get out of our heads and into our hearts.

Photo Credit: Heart by Rom

P.S.  If you liked this post, you might also enjoy this post entitled:  Learning to Strike a Balance Between the Ego and the Soul

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