The heart is the emotional center of the soul. Your emotional heart has an energy field that reaches out around you like a bubble, and that is how your heart can affect the energy of the people around you.
The Science of the Emotional Heart
More and more research is coming out on the heart, and how important its spiritual and emotional health is, along with its physical health. The heart and its energy play a big role in our world and our environment.
The HeartMath Institute has studied the heart’s electromagnetic field, which can be measured several feet away from the body. Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., their director of research, explains that our emotions are reflected in the patterns of this field. When we learn to shift our emotions, we change the information our heart is sending out, and that can impact the people around us. In his words, “We are fundamentally and deeply connected with each other and the planet itself.”
Check out this video on heart energy and some of the research:
From Desire to Words
I believe the heart is where desires are born. Those desires turn into thoughts, then feelings, and finally they show up in our words. When we speak our desires out loud, we bring what was born in the heart into this physical realm. That gives those thoughts and desires power, whether they are negative or positive.
If you do not know what your heart desires, look at your dreams and what you dream about. Your heart has a way of speaking to you there.
Your Heart Talks to Your Brain
When we feel positive emotions like gratitude, love or appreciation, the heart’s rhythm becomes smoother and more coherent. Research shows the heart actually sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. That is why it is so important to teach yourself a positive mindset.
This goes for everything we put out there, even words typed online in a negative comment. What you put out into the universe comes back to you. You can read more in this article on how your thoughts and intentions create your physical world.
The Heart Comes First
The heart is one of the very first organs to form, and it starts beating around 5 to 6 weeks of pregnancy. HeartMath research has even found that a mother’s brainwaves can sync with her baby’s heartbeat. Many people also believe the heart holds its own short-term and long-term memories. Your emotional heart is much more intelligent than you might think.
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23
How to Strengthen Your Emotional Heart
One of my favorite descriptions of the heart comes from Glenda Green’s book Love Without End: Jesus Speaks, where the heart is described as “a magnetic vortex.” The idea is that the heart works best through innocence. It attracts and receives, while judgement divides and repels and shuts the door of the heart. If you want a strong heart, you first learn to see with innocence, to accept, and to forgive.
As you strengthen your heart, you may first notice small changes, like more passion for living, more peaceful sleep or better digestion. As you keep going, your life begins to bear more abundant fruit, and you find the energy to make bigger changes. Here are some simple ways to start:
- Practice gratitude. Gratitude is one of the fastest ways to bring the heart into a peaceful rhythm and raise your vibration.
- Forgive. Judgement closes the heart. Forgiveness opens it back up.
- Watch your words. Speak what you want to grow, because words carry the power of the heart into the world.
- Breathe into your heart. Put your hand on your chest, slow your breathing, and think of someone or something you love.
Above all else, guard your emotional heart, for from it flow the springs of life that determine your course.
