HeartMath and Peace

Transformation is fascinating. Sometimes it seems so complicated. And yet there are more and more approaches emerging that allow simple actions to provide life-giving vitality to transformation.

A recent guest at the monastery talked about using HeartMath to promote her own transformation and peacefulness. Basically, it means allowing an experience that generated deep appreciation or profound gratefulness to be remembered. And then to recall the wonderful feeling-of-appreciation it generated within you. It is actually the feeling that is the catalyst for change. One can slowly breathe an appreciative feeling into your heart as you inhale and then peacefully exhale. Every time you breathe in this way you actually change your biology. I was amazed to discover that HeartMath research has documented that practicing this kind of breathing results in a 100% increase in the anti-aging hormone, a 23% decrease the stress-hormone and an increased defense against pathogens.

Researchers have also found that it's not the brain, but the heart that has the strongest electromagnetic field in the body and emotions operate at a much higher speed than thoughts. So taking in an appreciative emotion while you inhale bypasses the mind's linear reasoning (which may include negative thinking). When loving emotions are taken into the heart, the exhalation can be peaceful.

According to Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, every peaceful breath increases the amount of peace there is in the world. Wow! What if our slow appreciative breathing not only transformed us into peacefulness but nudged our world into peacefulness as well. Who knows, HeartMath may be the "math formula" we need for creating a permanent peace movement.