What Are You Feeding the Field?
In my last blog, I shared how you can avoid stress by practicing HeartMath’s Coherent Communication™ to avoid drama and triggers when talking with others. (see post here) This week we look at another kind of communication, one that does not involve words and is mostly below our conscious awareness. It is the magnetic energy emitted from our heart.
“The tension was so thick I could cut it with a knife”, “she has a good vibe”, “get out of my space”.… What most of us don’t realize is these common expressions are based on physics and an understanding of the energy of unseen communication. In simple terms, we can sense or feel the magnetic energy of other people, just by being in the same room as them. And we also emit an unseen, but felt magnetic field based on our own thoughts, emotions, beliefs, and attitudes which reside just below the surface of our awareness. Scientifically speaking, we are all emitting a magnetic field, mostly from our heart. While the brain also emits a magnetic field, studies have shown these waves are only felt less than an inch away from our bodies, while the heart’s magnetic field has been measured by instruments three feet away. It is not just the words of other people that are deeply affecting our energy, it is their unseen magnetic charge that can amplify either positive or negative atmospheres of our schools, social spaces or home.
An appropriate question then to ask yourself often is “What am I feeding the field?”
HeartMath is Studying Social Coherence
The HeartMath Institute is studying what it calls “social coherence,” how even small groups of people being personally coherent (regulated emotionally and physiologically) can affect the atmosphere of a larger group of people. Researchers at HeartMath Institute tested this hypothesis by putting together groups of people in a room wearing their Inner Balance HRV device, which measures personal physiological coherence. Some of the people were trained in HeartMath tools like breathing in and out of the heart and radiating an uplifting feeling like appreciation. Others were not trained, figuratively kept in the dark about what was going on. Everyone was hooked up to an HRV monitor which measures physiological coherence, an indicator of emotional regulation capacity, autonomic nervous system function and health. What HeartMath discovered again and again is that when some people are purposely becoming more coherent through radiating uplifting energy of feelings like appreciation, care or compassion, their efforts created more coherence in people who were not even aware of what was going on. This study has been replicated independently by other researchers. “Magnetic Fields produced by the heart create energetic communication. The information about a person’s emotional state is encoded in the heart’s magnetic field and is communicated throughout the body and into the external environment.” Science of the Heart, Volume 2.
Shift and Lift™ Others without Saying a Word!
The implications of this research are huge. As individuals, we can affect the field of energy around us. We can actually change negative environments to more positive, healthy environments by getting ourselves in sync. Small islands of coherence are all we need, according to the HeartMath Institute.
I am currently working with educators who are facing very stressful environments. Teachers often feel powerless in the face of all the competing pressures they are facing. But when I coach these educators, I teach them that they can get themselves coherent first and then quietly radiate uplifting emotions to the students, parents, administrators and other stakeholders who may not be as coherent. Here is the tool that I am teaching them. Try the tool below next time you enter a room where the vibe is off and see if you can shift and lift everyone around you.
If you need help in getting more coherent and in sharing your coherence with others, please reach out.
Namaste,
Andrea
