12 Types of Meditation Series: Heart Coherence Meditation

Heart Coherence is a unique form of meditation that focuses on the connections between the heart and the mind. It is modern, scientific, and utilizes positive emotions. It also has many measurable benefits and is relatively easy to do. Let’s explore this valuable practice.

Here are some ways in which Heart Coherence meditation is different from other forms of meditation:

Heart-centered focus

Most styles of meditation focus on the breath, body, or mind. Heart Coherence meditation is one of the only types of meditation with a conscious focus on the heart and in the connection between the heart and the mind.

It’s New

Whereas there is evidence of people meditating as far back as 5,000 BCE, Heart Coherence meditation is relatively new. Heart Coherence meditation was developed in the early 1990s.

Scientific Roots

Most other forms of meditation were first created by spiritual people, sages, or Holy Men. Scientists from institutions like the HeartMath Institute in California created Heart Coherence Meditation.

Emotional Activation

Many forms of meditation, like Zazen Meditation or Mindfulness Meditation, focus on awareness but without focusing on any specific emotion. What makes Heart Coherence meditation different is that it purposely works to develop positive emotions.

Heart-brain Synchronization

Heart Coherence meditation is the only practice that aims to link up the heart and the mind. Through this practice, the heart and mind become harmonious and in sync with each other.

Immediate Effects

Most meditation practices require a long time and consistent practice to create benefits. But, in contrast, Heart Coherence meditation can produce changes that are noticeable in just a few minutes.

The HeartMath Institute (HMI) is one of the organizations that has studied and helped create the Heart Coherence meditation method. Founded in 1991, HMI focuses on studying the interaction between the heart and brain. They also study how and how heart rhythms influence health, cognitive function, and emotional states.

The HeartMath Institute’s research provides a solid scientific foundation for understanding how emotions and heart rhythms affect people. Here’s an overview of their key research findings:

The Heart and Brain Communicate

HMI has found that the heart and brain communicate and that the heart sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. This communication affects how you feel, how well your brain works, and how well your body works as well. The HeartMath Institute’s research shows that when the heart and brain are matched up, it leads to improved performance, emotional regulation, and mental clarity.

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Coherence

Heart rate variability (HRV) is the variation in time between each heartbeat. Sometimes the time between the heartbeats is smooth and even and other times, it’s erratic and out of order. HMI found that when people experience positive emotions like gratitude or compassion, their heart rhythms become smooth and harmonious. In contrast, negative emotions like stress or frustration make HRV patterns erratic and disordered.

Physiological Coherence

The HeartMath Institute has shown that when the heart and mind are matched up, it makes the body calm.

The Role of Positive Emotions

HMI’s discovered that consciously activating emotions like love, gratitude, or appreciation leads to more balanced heart rate rhythms, which helps balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of the nervous system. This balanced state improves overall well-being.

Impact on Cognitive Function and Performance

HMI has demonstrated that heart coherence leads to clearer thinking, more creativity, and better stress management

Social and Relationship Benefits

HMI research has shown that heart coherence improves interpersonal relationships and reduces conflicts by fostering greater understanding and emotional connection.

Coherence and Global Impact

One of the more unique areas of HMI’s research explores what happens when large groups of people practice Heart Coherence meditation at the same time.  Their Global Coherence Initiative (GCI) studies how the total of all human emotions affects the earth’s magnetic field and how global events (like major political events or natural disasters) affect collective human emotions.

Measurable Health Benefits

Numerous studies at HMI show that heart coherence techniques can lead to improvements in physical health. The benefits include lower blood pressure, improved immune function, and reduced stress and anxiety.

Heart Coherence Meditation Process

Here is an example of a Heart Coherence Meditation session in seven steps:

Step 1: Find your meditation position

When meditating, it is important to position your physical body in a comfortable posture, that allows you to breathe well and is sustainable. The last thing you want when meditating is to be distracted in the middle of your practice because your foot fell asleep.

Step 2: Focus on your heart

Next, you would bring your attention to your heart and the center of your chest. Spend a few moments becoming aware of your heart. Imagine the shape of your heart in your mind. Imagine your heart beating. Tune in to try to feel your heartbeat without touching your hands to your chest.

Step 3: Heart-centered breathing

Imagine that your heart is breathing. Visualize your inhaled breath going directly into your heart, bypassing the lungs. Then, on the exhale, visualize your heart exhaling the breath. This is done with a long, timed breath consisting of a six-second inhale and a six-second exhale. You can take time to settle into the rhythm of the breath and continue heart-centered breathing.

Step 4: Add positive emotion

With your breath firmly anchored to your heart, begin to introduce positive thoughts that make you happy. These thoughts can be of your favorite person, a special place, a positive memory, or even a favorite song. Picture these happy thoughts in your mind and feel the positive feeling grow inside of you.

Once you have established the positive feeling, imagine that energy in your heart. As you continue heart-centered breathing, feel positive emotions strengthen and strengthen your heart.

Step 5: Heart and Brain Connection

The next step is to imagine that the positive feeling in your heart is sending signals up to your brain. Visualize a white light connecting your heart and mind. Imagine the white light flowing from the heart to the brain and then back from the brain to the heart. Feel your heart and mind synchronizing and breathing together, connected. Feel your heart and brain working together.

Step 6: Feel the effects

With your heart and mind synchronized, feel your body becoming more and more relaxed. Imagine the heart and mind connection healing your body. Feel how all of your body’s systems are working perfectly and naturally. Feel stress leaving your body. Feel how the meditation is making your body and mind calmer, healthier, and stronger.

Step 7: Return back

Slowly bring your attention back to the real world. You can use a counting method, such as counting up to five, to slowly reintroduce you back to your usual environment.  

Benefits

Heart Coherence Meditation offers several benefits for both mind and body. Here are seven key benefits:

1. Reduced Stress and Anxiety

By regulating the heart rate and calming the nervous system, heart coherence meditation helps reduce stress and anxiety. This promotes relaxation.

2. Improved Emotional Regulation

Heart Coherence meditation improves your ability to manage emotions. This reduces emotional reactivity and increases resilience. In short, it teaches you to not react to moment-by-moment emotions.

3. Improved Cognitive Function

Heart coherence meditation helps improve your focus, mental clarity, and memory. It can also improve your decision-making abilities.

4. Better Physical Health

Because the method reduces stress, regular practice has been linked to improvements in heart health, blood pressure, and immune system function due to reduced stress on the body.

5. Better Sleep

Heart coherence meditation can lead to deeper, more restful sleep by calming the mind and body before bed.

6. More Positive Relationships

By promoting positive emotions like gratitude and compassion, heart coherence can improve relationships with others.

These benefits make heart coherence a powerful tool for holistic health and well-being.

Heart Coherence meditation is a fantastic daily practice. It is unique in that it is modern, having been established in the last 40 years. Heart Coherence Meditation was created by scientists and has been studied in contemporary medicine. What’s best is that it offers quick results and can become a valuable part of your daily routine in no time.

Namaste.

Burak Uzun is an award-winning writer and a meditation teacher.

Burak Uzun also co-wrote a feature film called Team Marco, which was featured in over fifty film festivals around the globe and was distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Please feel free to reach out to Burak here.

Learn more about SOCA LLC and Burak’s classes here.