Unfolding the Enfolded...

Recent research has established that the heart has its own brain, a cluster of more than 40,000 neurons, which communicates with the body's brain and also acts as a transceiver of information.

 Furthermore, tools and techniques focusing on the heart have been developed to improve heart function, reduce anxiety and stress, improve clarity in thinking and promote wellbeing.

Research in the field of neurocardiology is contributing to the emerging view that the heart has a complex, self-organized neural system that maintains a continuous two-way dialogue with the brain and the rest of the body.

Findings reported by Institute of HeartMath reveal that the heart is actually a sensory organ and a sophisticated information encoding and processing center, with an extensive intrinsic nervous system which enables it to learn, remember, and make functional decisions independent of the brain's cerebral cortex. It is sufficiently sophisticated to qualify as a heart brain.

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A study published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine suggests that the heart responds to intuitive information before the brain does.

[The study]...replicated the general finding of previous studies by providing further evidence of a physiologic response to a future emotional stimulus occurring before the stimulus is actually experienced. [p. 141]

The researchers suggest that the heart has access to a field of information not bound by spacetime, functioning like a radio receiver tuned to an intuitive frequency spectrum.

Research reveals that a rhythmic pattern of variability in our heart rate is related to our health, our emotional states, and our thinking. When heart and brain waves are 'in sync', i.e., the heart rate varies over a 10-second cycle, we have heart coherence.

What's coherence? Well, it refers to the ordered, harmonious functioning of a system.

When a system is coherent, it means that virtually no energy is being wasted and therefore its power is at maximum. Coherence is efficiency, the power to adapt, to innovate, to be stable, yet flexible, to be resilient.
[Neurofeedback ]

Find out more about the science of the heart, including coherence, hear rhythms, heart rate variability and the effects on performance.

TestEdge National Demonstration Study (TENDS)

The Institute of HeartMath offers a variety of free services and resources, including:

Research Publications: Published Research Papers and Scientific Abstracts include Basic Research, Clinical, Organizational and Education Studies and Emotional Energetics, Intuition and Epigenetic Research.

Science of the Heart: A comprehensive document providing key background and detailed summaries of IHM’s research studies in a variety fields. Includes: Heart Rate Variability; Entrainment, Coherence and Autonomic Balance; Head-Heart Interaction; Music Research and more.

Develop Intuition: Includes Comprehension of Intuition: Intuition Research Publications, Benefits of Developing Your Intuition, and Techniques and Technology on How to Develop Your Intuition.

Emotional Security Tool Kit: Learning programs, activities, and tools to help children and teens build self-responsibility, emotional security, and tolerance.

Addressing Anger – Teacher’s Guide & Lessons Plans: This program is to help students of all ages understand and constructively deal with the human emotions of anger and resentment.

The Scientific Role of the Heart in Learning & Performance e-book: New implications for higher-order thinking skills, learner readiness, decision making and test taking.

IHM Newsletters: Each issue covers IHM’s major activities in the fields of education and research and also provides you with knowledge about reducing stress and improving your personal performance. You will find information about the latest scientific findings from our on-going research activities, new “math” that has yet to be published in the HeartMath books, and updates on HeartMath products and services including how they are being incorporated in schools, businesses, and social service programs.

HeartMath Report: An online journal devoted to developments in how thoughts and emotions affect our health, performance and relationships.

The Quick Coherence Technique for Ages 12-18: Helps students perform better on tests, get along better with others, and relax and calm down when feeling anxious or stressed

emWave PC Stress Relief System (formerly FreezeFramer ) is a relatively low-cost HRV training system reported to bring about decreases in stress and blood pressure and increases in clarity, calmness and control, productivity, goal clarity, job satisfaction, communication effectiveness, improvements in employee health and well-being, and reductions in employee turnover.