Did you know that both heart and gut have minds of their own? Besides communicating with the brain, they might also be helping it develop, reducing depression and increasing our level of wellbeing.
The heart brain connection is an every moment of every day phenomenon taking place in complete silence, a never ending conversation of emotion based signals from our heart brain to our head brain that determines what kind of chemicals our head releases into our bodies.
Those little grey cells, as coined by the inimitable Hercule Poirot, are called neurons. We have approximately 100 billion of them in our heads. Incredible isn’t it? But what is even more incredible and what most of us don’t know is that we also have 100 billion of them in our hearts and even 100 million in our gut. Maybe it’s time to trust our digestive tract more and really get to grips with our gut instinct. But that’s another story! The real question is – so how many brains do we really have?
Far more than a simple pump, as was once believed, the heart is now recognised by scientists as a highly complex system with its own functional ‘brain’. In fact, the complex nervous system within the heart brain with neurons, neurotransmitters, proteins and support cells, like those found in the head enables it to sense, feel, learn and remember and make independent functional decisions. The heart brain sends messages to the head brain about how the body feels and much more.
The HeartMath Institute has recorded the heart to be approximately 60 times greater electrically and up to 5,000 times stronger magnetically than the brain. This awareness places the brain relatively weak in comparison to the heart!
The heart’s voice is your true self, a voice that offers more intuition and common sense intelligence.
Until the 1990s, scientists assumed, and most of us were taught, that it was only the head brain that sent information and issued commands to the heart, but now we know that it works both ways. Research has shown that the heart communicates to the brain in several major ways and acts independently of the head brain.
Although the heart and brain are in constant communication, we can intentionally direct our heart to communicate to our brain and body in beneficial ways. When we experience sincere positive emotions of care, compassion, love, forgiveness, gratitude or appreciation, the heart processes these emotions, and the heart’s rhythm becomes more coherent and harmonious. This information is sent to the brain and the entire body neurologically, biochemically, biophysically and energetically and increases our mental clarity and intuitive ability bringing us peace, stability and consistency. This is not just important for us in the here and now but will enable us to raise the next generation of peacemakers.
The heart speaks from genuine feeling and authenticity, in the present and the mind speaks from opinions, and longer held beliefs and fears. The idea that we can think with our hearts is no longer just an idea but is, in fact, a very real phenomenon. We now know this because combined research is proving that the heart really is the major centre of intelligence in human beings.