February 2006 | Body & Mind Health
HeartMath Equals Healing
By Julia Mossbridge
Most of us have learned that our emotions start in our brains and result in physical changes to match. Conventional wisdom is that when your brain decides you’re happy, neurons fire and send signals to your facial muscles to smile. When your brain thinks you should be sad, other neurons open tear ducts.
Recent scientific evidence suggests that this one-way communication starting in our brains and manifesting changes in our bodies is only half of the story. It turns out that bodily changes can result in brain changes. For instance, you may have heard that even if you don’t feel like smiling, when your facial muscles produce a grin you will actually feel happier. It’s as if the brain doesn’t care whether the physical shift is a cause or an effect of the mood; smiles and happiness are just supposed to go together.
In fact, the influential psychologist William James (1842-1910) proposed that our emotions are not primarily determined by cognitive calculations (such as “I am afraid, so my heart will beat erratically”) but by physical ones (such as “My heart is beating erratically, so I must be afraid”). According to this idea, mastery of our involuntary physical responses could impact our emotional experiences: we could avoid feeling hurt, angry, stressed, or frustrated even when the circumstances might suggest that we “should” feel that way.
I’ve always been a fan of William James, and have always respected his intuition. But even if he’s right, how can anyone who is not a yogi or a Tibetan monk learn to control involuntary physiological responses?
One solution is biofeedback, designed to train the user to create even and rhythmic heartbeats. It is still used for these purposes today. However, biofeedback has recently been revisited in a more technologically advanced form, based on recent discoveries about the role of cardiac rhythms in affecting mood, immune function, stress levels, and cognitive ability. One of the most well-tested cardiac biofeedback technologies is the HeartMath system, developed by the HeartMath Institute.
What I love about the HeartMath people is that you don’t actually have to buy the HeartMath software to get some benefit from their work. They have two simple, low-tech tools: the Freeze-Frame and the Heart Lock-In (see www.heartmath.org). Both tools ask the user to focus on the heart area and recall an experience of appreciation for something or someone. As a result, both tools complete the communication circle from the brain (focus on the heart and recall appreciation) to the body (create more regular heart rhythm) and back to the brain (improve mood and cognitive functioning).
The cardiac effect on brain function touted by HeartMath is consistent with research by neuroanatomist A.D. “Bud” Craig at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix (unaffiliated with HeartMath). His recent article in Trends in Cognitive Sciences (December 2005) suggests that the left and right sides of the heart deliver different sorts of information to the left and right sides of the brain. The left and right insulas, areas of the brain thought to be involved in emotional regulation and self-awareness, receive this input.
His evidence and that of others points to the right insula being involved in creating fight/flight or stress responses, and the left insula creating what he calls “affiliative” experiences such as joy. Craig says HeartMath complements his work. Maybe on Valentine’s Day, we can all focus on our hearts in a new and potentially life-altering way.
Julia Mossbridge, a Chicago-based writer, is also a cognitive neuroscientist and the author of “Unfolding: The Perpetual Science of Your Soul’s Work.”
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