appreciation and gratitude

The level of coherence you experience during feelings of appreciation can be measured by sensitive instruments. Coherence also can be measured using heart-rate variability (HRV) – the naturally occurring beat-to-beat changes in heart rate, which can be seen in an electrocardiogram (ECG).
Measuring coherence can accurately show heart, brain and nervous-system interactions that are sensitive to changes in emotions. 

While an individual is experiencing coherence, the heart rhythm appears as a smooth wavelike pattern on an HRV graph. Contrast coherence with incoherence, created by negative emotions such as frustration and anger, which can often disrupt the synchronization of the body’s systems and create jagged or chaotic patterns on a graph.

Advanced research at the Institute of HeartMath and elsewhere has provided evidence that gratitude is not simply a nice sentiment or feeling. Sustained feelings of gratitude have real benefits, including the following four benefits:

• Biochemical changes – Favorable changes in the body’s biochemistry include improved hormonal balance and an increase in production of DHEA, the "anti-aging hormone."
• Increased positivity – Favorable changes in the body’s Daily gratitude exercises can bring about a greater level of positive feelings, according to researchers from the University of Miami and the University of California, Davis who studied this process in 157 individuals over 13 days.
• Boost to the immune system – The IgA antibody, which serves as the first line of defense against pathogens, increases in the body.
• Emotional “compound interest” – The accumulated effect of sustained appreciation and gratitude is that these feelings, and coherence, are easier to recreate with continued practice. This is because experiencing an emotion reinforces the neural pathways of that particular emotion as it excites the brain, heart and nervous system.

Thankfully, gratitude and appreciation can create their own positive psychophysiological holiday in your body – without the necessity of a feast. Sincere self-evoked feelings of gratitude and appreciation are explained in-depth by Institute of HeartMath founder Doc Childre and Director of Research Dr. Rollin McCraty in their e-book, The Appreciative Heart: the Psychophysiology of Positive Emotions and Optimal Functioning.

heart intelligence

Let's watch these three YouTube videos on heart intelligence. Why? Heart intelligence is the foundation of our being – that we intuitively understand because we experience love (attraction to something desired). Our physical world is (has been) largely driven by rational thought which often preempts or misuses heart intelligence. These videos give us the opportunity to create better balance in our feeling and thinking centers to increase coherence which equates to vibratory ascension.

The Heart's Intuitive Intelligence: A path to personal, social and global coherence
(Published on Apr 22, 2013)

The Institute of HeartMath shares fascinating understandings of the human heart as explored in more than 20 years of its research. The 'Did you know' facts are lesser-known gems of information to enlighten curiosity on how your own thoughts and emotions are affecting yourself and others.

HeartMath Research Director Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., says, "It's important to take a pause and really consider what our emotions are contributing to our environment and to other people. Our research and its applications can help people create a positive emotion-based environment that has real effects on physiology." 

McCraty said that the true nature of human emotion is one of care and love. He said HeartMath and other research shows that by focusing on these core heart-felt emotions, it can enhance one's connection with others, and that this connection extends far beyond the individual.

Learn more at http://on.fb.me/explore-IHM where you can also download a free ebook.

Gregg Braden - The Field, Miracles & Heart Emotions
(Uploaded on Aug 8, 2011)

Author Gregg Braden discussed the science behind miracles, the existence of an energy field that connects everything, and the power of heart-based emotion. Miracles appear inexplicable to the laws of nature as we understand them, yet they could be linked to the interconnected field around us, he outlined.

Our hearts generate strong electric and magnetic fields in our body which can change the structure of atoms; through heart emotions (as opposed to just thoughts) we contribute to the larger field around us, and can create peace and healing, he continued.

Recent discoveries about how the heart works show that it's in communication with the brain all the time-- a kind of coherence. Interestingly, he noted that the layers of the earth and its atmosphere (such as the ionosphere) share the same frequency as the heart/brain coherence. The Global Coherence Project is being developed to monitor how positive heart-directed intentions affect the field. Life affirming feelings help to perpetuate the field, whereas negative emotions contract the field, Braden suggested.

Gregg Braden – Institute of HeartMath 
(Uploaded on Oct 7, 2010)

For over 22 years, Gregg Braden has searched high mountain villages, remote monasteries and forgotten texts to uncover their timeless secrets. Combining his discoveries with the best science of today, his original research crosses the traditional boundaries of science, history, and religion offering fresh insights into ancient mysteries. 

The Institute of HeartMath is an internationally recognized nonprofit research and education organization dedicated to helping people reduce stress, self-regulate emotions and build energy and resilience for healthy, happy lives. Personal coherence, also known as psychophysiological coherence, refers to the synchronization of our physical, mental and emotional systems. It can be measured by our heart-rhythm patterns: The more balanced and smooth they are, the more in sync, or coherent, we are.

Global coherence refers to the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the greater community of human beings, while acting in concert with their own hearts, each other and nation to nation in harmony with our living planet. HeartMath believes coherence on a grand scale is highly achievable when large numbers of people focus their heart intelligence on a common goal.