The cd entitled Chakra Breathing Meditation by Layne Redmond is a wonderful meditation that energizesyour entire body. Layne teaches you how to do a full yogic breath. Then using breath focuses on energizing each chakra. The last part of the meditation is done synchronizing breath with walking and focusing on 7 of the chakras.

The practice this breathing meditation is to synchronize mind and body. She states” Our breathing patterns are a reflection of our state of mind… when breathing becomes calm the mind becomes calm.”

I have only tried this with people who practice meditation and everyone that has done it has loved it. I think that a person who is just beginning to meditate could follow this cd very easily.

Let me know what you think,

Blessings, Eileen

YOga can be a wonderful way to relax, calm your mind, get in touch with your body. I take Yoga in Woodstock, IL. at the Yoga Lounge.

The nice thing about yoga is that whatever your physical abitilities are there is a way to practice. It increases flexability and strength. Part of the practice is getting in touch with your body and not going beyond what your body can do but still pushing yourself a little farther each time.

Breathing is a very important part of yoga. My instructor will often add instructions for breathing as well as the pose itself. Breathing energizes the body. Many of us do not really breath fully during the day. Our breath is shallow. A deep breath can be very calming and centering.

If you try a yoga class and you do not like it I urge you to look for a different class. There are many types of yoga. Somewhere out there is a class just for you;

Listening to music is just another way to make yourself feel good and shift you to a good place when you are not feeling up beat.

My husband and I like to attend music festivals and enjoy hearing new groups. We enjoy feeling the connectedness to other people as we all sit and listen to music. We enjoy dancing.

Last evening we attended ON THE WATERFRONT in Rockford Illinois. It is a very reasonable event and has lots of different music choices.

We enjoyed a band called Trombone Shorty from New Orleans. Trombone Shorty has a web page and a my space page so look him up. HE is a very excellent trombone player and a real showman. HE is very energetic. At the end of the show, he switched to play the drums, the guitar player, who was excellent played the sax. The sax player played the guitar. The bongo drum player played the trumpet.
The base player played the trombone and the drummer played the base guitar. And then they all played excellently. He got everyone in the audience up dancing by the end of the show.

My son and daughter in law were with us and they really enjoyed the show too. I would say they are a band for all ages. (Though some seniors did get up and leave during the show)

It was a tough choice to pick one band. Puddle of Mud was playing at the same time as well as the Marshall Tucker band and there is always a great band at WNIJ’s stage. They have a country stage as well.

On Friday night we listened to Tab Benoit. He is a wonderful musician from New Orleans as well. His style is more rockabilly which is a New Orleans style. Check him out online.

The New Orleans musicians always have a uniqueness that is the result of growing up in a special musical melting pot.

Tab appealed to the members of the audience to call the White House and ask that New Orleans get help. There are hundreds of people there living in tents as well as people living in FEMA trailers. I have been praying for all these folks as we wait to see what will happen in this hurricane. He said that he has been told that calling has more effect than emailing.

I really can’t imagine all that these people have been through since the last hurricane. I had been to New Orleans several times before Katrina and several times since. It is difficult to describe how the people have been affected. Many lost everything. Some people that still have their house may not be living there now as the drug dealers moved into the empty houses and have made some areas unsafe. One cab driver told us he is waiting for more people to come back so he can move home. The media focuses on the 9th ward which was the most severely hit by Katrina but other parts of the city were affected as well.

I have to say that many, many people told me their stories this last time I was in New Orleans.

The people who live in tent city really affected me. I was wondering where do they go to the bathroom, or shower, or cook. They live under the viaduct. At jazz fest you pass them as you drive from the hotel area to the fairgrounds.

So, give a call today. Or send a donation to habitat for humanity.
Blessings, Eileen

Sweat lodge is a unique experience that is part of the Native American tradition. They probably vary by facilitator and tribe and by who attends the particular sweat. I was lucky to attend the first sweat lodge at a friend’s land where Native Americans had previously performed ceremonies.
Our leader was a Cherokee Indian named Carlo. He has Sitting Bulls peace pipe. He goes all over the world doing sweat lodges with peoples of all nations to promote peace. In the sweat lodge all people are the same. There is no separation by color, race or creed.The other members were Carlo’s cousin Mary, myself, Paul, Allen and John.
The sweat lodge is a way to detox and clear the toxins out of your body as well as a way to connect spiritually to all the people sweating with you. During the day of the sweat lodge I fasted and prayed. I also did not have caffeine or alcohol for 24 hours. I was nervous that I would not be able to complete the experience as I tend to overheat easily. I asked for guidance from God and my guardian angels.
The sweat lodge is a prayerful experience. This physical lodge is made of saplings covered with canvas cloth. In the center is a pit which holds stones which have been heated in the fire. The leader carefully picks these rocks so that they do no break during the ceremony and hit anyone. There is also an alter outside the door. I know there was a medicine bundle on the alter two feathers and a plaque of a spider. The medicine bundle contains the peace pipe, feathers and some other items.
Our lodge faced the west with the door to the west. We offer tobacco to the fire. Then burning sage is used to purify each of us. The smoke wafts around each of us . We follow the leader entering from the north and going clockwise around the inside until he stops at the door. The woman go in first then the men. The lodge comfortably fits 6 of us.
Carlo tells us of sweat lodges he has done with 60 people. That must have been very interesting.
The five of us are sitting on mats facing the fire pit. Carlo does a blessing and the doorkeeper( the person who brings the stones and closes and opens the door) brings 5 very hot stones and they are placed in the pit. The door keeper brings water to the door and Carlo blesses the water then pours water on the hot stones. When the door is shut it is absolutely dark. Mary told me that this can be very scary for some people but I did not mind it at all. It may have been that I was prepared by her for the darkness.
The heat is intense. Mary, Carlo’s cousin has lent me a towel. I cover my legs and arms with it. She also gave me sage rolled up to hold over my nose if the smoke gets to me. At times I put the towel over my face so the smoke does not get in my eyes. The first prayer begins in the West.
Carlo starts with a prayer sending love and healing to all the people’s of the earth and asks Source for endurance so we can all make it through the sweat. He says that we already have strength but we need endurance to go beyond what we are capable of tolerating. He sings an Indian song and several of the other participants join him. I join him in spirit asking our creator to hear these prayers and to give me endurance. I think it is about 30 minutes but it may have been shorter and the door is opened. Fresh air enters and cools. Carlo asks if we have questions. My mind is an empty slate. Paul, sitting next to me asks a very good question but I am not able to recall it. Carlo tells us that when the canvas is off the branches forming the lodge it would be possible to see different sets of stars from each area of the lodge. It is also going to be a sacred energy spot that the owner will be responsible for maintaining the space.
The doorkeeper adds 5 more hot stones to our fire pit. Each stone is blessed as it is placed it the pit. One stone glows orange and looks like it has a symbol on it. Water is blessed and poured over the stones. The door is closed. This prayer is to the north. Carlo and the others sing another Indian prayed song. Again, I just try to envision my prayers going up with the song to the creator in the smoke. After about what seemed to be 30 minutes or so the doorkeeper opens the door and cooler air wafts into the lodge. Ahhhh. The doorkeeper is feeling ill, overheated. He brings us some more stones for the fire pit. Carlo blesses each stone and then the water when it arrives. The doorkeeper brings the peace pipe. It is filled with tobacco and blessed. It is passed to each one of us. I have a hard time inhaling the tobacco. It has to be relit. When we have passed the pipe the doorkeeper shuts the door. He stays outside. Carlo pours water over the stones and the heat rises up. I felt so hot and I was going to take the towel off my face and legs but it is hotter without the towel so I leave it on my body. This time the prayer is to the east. Carlo starts a song and the others join in and I can feel these prayers going up with the smoke.
When the door opens, I feel the need to stretch my back. I do a yoga pose called child. My face is near the grass and it feels cool here. I return to sitting. There is not much room to change position. The doorkeeper brings 5 more stones. Carlo blesses each stone. It is mesmerizing. Carlo blesses the water and then passes each of us a horn of water to drink. It tastes so sweet. The door is closed and water is poured over the hot stones and the heat is intense. I suddenly feel a blast of water hit my face. Thank you I pray silently. AS it is dark, I am unable to tell if anyone else gets hit with water or if Carlo just knows that I am soooo overheated. This last round is to the south direction. Here we each offer a prayer, silently or out loud. All of us offered a prayer out loud. I think there was a final song. Then we were able to offer any other prayers that came to us. I was thankful for my friends opening their land for this lodge and for Carlo coming from MO. to lead us. I was thankful for Mary, Allen, Paul and John. I was thankful that it was almost over and I had made it to the end.
WE headed outside and I felt a little shaky and very warm. The evening air was cool and we cooled off quickly as we were soaked. After 10 or 15 minutes, I walked back to the house to ground myself. As I walked, I heard drumming coming from the east. I went in the house to change into dry clothes.
Our friends had made Elk chili for dinner. We are and shared and enjoyed the time.
Carlo told me that he has a 120 acre retreat center in Mo.
I thought it was a wonderful experience. Carlo said that he does not usually offer water during the sweat but I am glad he did.

Reiki is an ancient form of healing. I had my first session when I tried reikisagge which is a type of massage where you leave your clothes on and recieve lots of energy. I felt very relaxed and filled with joy after my session. I decided then and there to learn reiki and signed up for a class.

Rei is direction from a higher power and KI is our life force energy. Everything has life force energy that is alive. Reiki is passed down from teacher to student by a process called an attunement. The attunement opens a channel in our energy system the allows us to send energy form the source to other people. There are healers who are able to do healing without ever taking a class. It is one of the spiritual gifts. Other people are called to be healers and look for a modality that appeals to them. Reiki in not our own energy but comes from source so the healer does not get worn out giving reiki and in fact, the healer receives reiki while giving it.

Many of the people I know that do energy work use several modalities combined. Reiki is a wonderful base.

It may surprise people that they can feel energy treatments. I think it is no more surprising that we can feel energy from someone else than we watch tv and we do not really see how it gets into our living room. We talk on cell phones to people thousands of miles away and we do not even question how it works. We fly on airplanes that are large enough to carry tanks and hummers but we think that energy work from other people is not possible.

After the attunement reiki flows through us to ourselves or to other people, animals, plants, food ect. We just have to ask for it to flow.

It was started by Dr. Usui in Japan many years ago. The story goes that he was fasting and meditating on Mt. Kurama for 21 days.When he finished his retreat he headed down the mountain. He injured his leg and when he put his hand on his leg it healed. Reiki was discovered. He started healing leapers and again the story goes that they continued to beg even after he had healed them. So, to give reiki to someone, and exchange of energy must occur. The person recieving reiki must accept the healing to be healed. We can only heal ourselves. Eventually one of his students, Dr. Hayashi started a reiki clinic. A Japaneese woman from Hawaii, Mrs. Takata eventually learned reiki at the clinic. She returned to Hawaii and began teaching. She charged $10,000.00 so the practice of reiki was limited to a few.

After she died, one of her students decided to charge prices that are more reasonable and reiki began to spread across the west. She did not allow her students to take notes so there are a few variety of symbols. It is best to do the symbol as you learn it as the energy comes from source .

I have read many different reiki books and I think it is probable that reiki had existed in other cultures and practiced in different ways as a form of healing. I believe that we can all be healers if we so desire.

As we begin to heal ourselves, we are able to know that we are really all one, all part of God.
The more we practice reiki on ourselves and others we know that healing takes place on physical as well as spiritual levels. We are able to see that healing means loving each person as Jesus would love them. Healing means loving ourselves for the person we are not the person we wish we were.

There are four levels of reiki. Level one focuses on healing oneself. We can also give reiki to other people, animals, plants, ect. Once we are attuned to reiki we always have it. If we do not use it for several years it will come back whenever we want to use it.

After an attunement there is a 21 day period of cleansing. Sometimes when energy blocks are released there will be a release of toxins from our body. We may need more sleep, more food, less food, more exercise, lots of water, ect. It is also important to do reiki on oneself everyday during the 21 days.

Level two allows us to transcend time and space and send healing to others that are in another place. Reiki three uses three Japanese symbols that connect us directly to that healing energy. It is similar to the idea of sending a message over the email. We type the message out and push send and our message arrives to another person via their computer. In reiki it goes from person to person.

Level three focuses on a healing symbol that is a powerful healing symbol especially for our life purpose. At times other symbols may be added as different teachers may be taught different symbols. My teacher learned from William Rand then from teachers in India.

Level four brings a few more symbols that are used in passing attunements down to other people. It is the master teacher level. Even an inexperienced teacher passes on reiki. Many teachers ask to be guided by spirit when they teach.

Reiki is just one form of energy healing. It leads us on the path to discovering what is best for us. Have a great day.
Blessings, Eileen

Family time, time spent with our family members while on vacation or time spent together can be very restorative. Being able to act like kids by enjoying time together playing games, walking, boating and eating together can bring us to a place of joy and calm. It gives us time to reconnect. It can be time to get reacquainted with the people that know us best. The freedom of being able to share time together but also feeling comfortable spending time apart from the group for some quiet time, just connecting with nature is the gift that family gives us.

We were able to spend a week in Stanwood, Mich at Canadian Lakes in a house. My three sons, my daughter in-law, significant other of son #1 and friend of #3 son were in residence. Down the road were my sister and her family and my brother’s daughter in another house on a connecting lake. We were also blessed to be able to bring our dogs along as well.

The house was on the lake. We could hear the loons on the lake.We enjoyed the sunsets and the stars. We saw an eagle being chased by a black bird, ducks, geese, deer, lots and lots of deer and lots of wonderful wild flowers.

We spent time canoing, kayaking, paddle boating, pontoon boating, biking, hiking, golfing, eating and playing games. We play cribbage. My son and husband played backgammon and taught the game to a few novices. We enjoyed several campfires. The youngest son and friend fished as did my sister’s kids. We did not eat any of the catches.

Our time together with no schedule was such a blessing. Now we are all back to our respective homes, and jobs and schedules, but the sweet memory of that time of timelessness is still with us.

Take some time today to play and get in touch with your inner child by hanging out with your family and get to know them for who they are today.
Blessings, Eileen

Body talk is an amazing therapy that is phenomenal. My body talk practitioner is Val Gomogoda at Options 4 Health in Marengo and McHenry,ILLinois. The idea is that the body talks to itself to promote wellness, and healing. When emotions or illness block our energy pathways, parts of the body may not be able to communicate to the body as a whole.
I decided to try body talk when several of my friends told me about some of the amazing results they were having. My hip had been bothering me so I decided to see Val.
She had me ly on a table, fully clothed. She asked me why I had come and explained that she is only able to work on issues that my body wants to talk about. Luckily for me my body wanted to talk about my hip.
She scans your abdomen then by using a form of subtle muscle testing talks intuitively to your body.When she finds an issue she explains what it is and then has you hold a hand on your hip for example while she taps your forehead then your chest. She has you deep breathe while the tapping is happening. You can feel a shift in your energy.
She also taught me a wonderful tapping technique to use as many times as I want to focus.
Anyway, after my first appointment, my hip has not bothered me at all. It had been waking me up at night.
She says your body processes the changes over the next 1-3 months though some changes may take longer.
Tonight when I went, I was quite surprised to find that said my body wanted to release a worry that I had over a family member. I did not realize that I had held onto this worry until she brought it up. When she had me tap, I could feel that my body did not want to let it go. She continued to tap and I continued to deep breathe and suddenly could feel it release.
I would recommend that you try it especially because it is really easy. There is no homework, no daily treatments, it doesn’t hurt and you feel great afterwards.

Have you ever thought about where your beliefs originate? Have you ever wondered if what you were taught as a kid is true?
Why do we believe something that someone else thinks is rubbish? We all have core beliefs.
Many of our beliefs start while we are in the womb according to several authors. The first book that I read that had this idea is ” Feelings Buried Alive Never Die…” by Karol K. Truman. She brings up an interesting idea that we may take on our parents fears and beliefs while we are in the womb.
I would imagine that a most parents have a the fear of not having enough money when the wife is pregnant. This can happen with every pregnancy because every child affects the finances of a family. If the family thinks they are not financially strong enough, they will worry about the loss of the mom’s income or not having a big enough apartment or not having medical insurance…… ect. The baby picks up these fears and emotions. We may be born carrying the fear of not having enough.
Our parents beliefs may have been passed down to them over many generations. We may have accepted family beliefs as our truth. For example, our beliefs about other races, or politics or religion are learned from our parents.
I bring this up because it is just the starting point of things that we have in our belief systems that may not be true for us. Sometimes,unless someone else questions our why we believe something, we may not even question what we believe.
So we have beliefs that come from the prenatal time, then the beliefs that come from our infancy which may be related to our gender, our race, our religion, and our family. If a parent is upset that you are a girl when they wanted a boy or vice versa this can impact the belief about ourselves.
Can you imagine that if you had been born into a different religion that you would believe it instead of what you believe now?
Personality can regulate our beliefs, too. Some people come are born with strong ideas and personalities. Other people may be more open to adopting all their family beliefs but that does not mean that they will not have challenges to those beliefs in their life.
In the book “The Four Agreements” by Don Miguel Ruiz, he gives us four guidelines for living.
The first is be impeccable with your word. Then second is do not take anything personally. The third is do not make assumptions. The fourth agreement is always do your best. I am focusing on the first agreement which is be impeccable in your word. He says that when we say something unkind or hurtful it can become someones truth if they decide to believe it. When a parent gets angry, they may make a remark that they will negatively affect their child. They may not remember saying it to the child.
There are times when I would find myself exasperated and wanting to have a child stop whatever they were doing and would yell at them. I am sure that I wounded my kids with my angry out bursts. The real damage occurs if I attack one of their traits and they believe it… for example you are so disorganized, you always wait to the last minute, you are not smart enough, you are lazy, ect.
Parents are not the only originators of false beliefs. You may feel you are a bad person because you do not follow all the beliefs of your church. You may have a teacher that choses to pick on you or makes you think you are stupid. One of the high school students that I know told me that his teacher said he was stupid in front of the class. I asked another student in the class what he thought about the teachers remark about that student. He said that it was true that the young man was stupid! So we may believe that we are better than others by remarks made by those in authority.
There is some evidence that if teachers are told that a student who has been doing poorly is very intelligent that the teacher will treat them differently and the student will eventually do better.
Experiences that generate fear can create a belief that life is not safe. We can have fear of getting divorced, fear of having someone close to us die, fear of being robbed, ect.
Another common belief is that you must work hard to make a living. I think that if you follow your passion you can be quite successful.
But we are affected by the beliefs of our parents, their parents, their parents ect. So if we grow up thinking that being an actor is a sure way to starve and that is our life work, we have to look at our belief system and then go to our heart. Follow your heart is an old saying.
When I was in college, I wanted to major in horticulture. My folks had me talk to a nurseryman and he said he paid college graduates $6.50 per hour. They felt my salary would be too low to justify spending money on a horticulture education. Eventually, I followed in the tradition of my mom and her sisters and became a nurse. I started out at $6.50 per hour. But medicine was an acceptable profession in my family. I would imagine that the nurseryman strongly encouraged his children to go into horticulture. Our family values can affect how we value various life paths.
I did not have a strong enough passion to direct my life work. I must have changed my major on a daily basis back then. I like soooooo many things. I still feel that way today. I love gardening, spending time outside, playing in the dirt,growing beautiful flowers. I enjoy bird watching. I love the varieties and types of birds.
I enjoy children. They bring out the joy and fun in living. I can honestly say that both my husband and myself loved doing things with our children. We still love to hang out with them and play games now that they are adults. We have to get our child fix when we see the nieces and nephews.
I love doing reiki and reflexology. I enjoy yoga and meditation. I love to walk in the woods. I enjoy playing golf. I love using essential oils and learning about them. I like to cook
Can I change my belief that work has to be hard to be profitable or can I turn play into my work?

One of my main goals at the present is to look at my spiritual beliefs. I have always believed we are all connected or one. I so not believe that God has created so many people of other faiths to go to hell. I believe that the greatest commandment is to love one another. I think that is how we connect to the oneness by seeing the love that we all are. By focusing on others differences we are not able to focus on the love that connects us. Labels can prevent us from going beyond our perception. For example…woman, man, black, white, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddist, all imply certain information. We think we know something once we have labeled it. The question is do we know that what we have labeled someone or something is true?
So I am challenging my beliefs by asking if what I believe is absolutely true. That is the “WORK” of Byron Katie. I love to watch the videos on her site for they have a universal appeal.
I am challenging you to start to notice your beliefs. Do you really believe you are a separate being, different from other human beings..either better, the same or worse. Do you believe you are richer, or poorer? Do you believe that a bigger house, or a nicer house, or no house would make you happy? do you believe that you have to work hard or hardly work? Do you believe that you will go to hell or someone else will go to hell? Do you really have all the answers?
Well, my thought for today is Stop Thinking. Enjoy feeling, being and creating. Blessings to you, Eileen

The attitude of gratitude is about shifting your thinking to a state of appreciation. It helps you shift from feeling upset or cranky to joyful.

The other day I went into a tizzy state because I had to go to the dentist and get a crown. I knew that I was being silly to let the upset feeling take over my mood. I kept trying to shift and it just didn’t happen. When I got to the dentist, the tension I was feeling was like a vise in my heart area and just below my heart. At times I felt a flutter in my lower abdomen. Ah, how we emotions can talk to us if we pay attention to our body.

When the assistant took me back to the dental chair, I intentionally tried to shift to the attitude of gratitude. I was thankful that we have modern tools, that we have medicine to numb the area so I would not have to feel any pain. I was thankful for the dentist and his joy of being a dentist. I was thankful that his assistant was willing to do this job which requires spending the day looking in people’s mouths, seeing us drool, helping us collect our spit ect. I really could feel the energy shift but there was still a nagging worry hanging over my heart area.

Again I shifted into the attitude that I am so lucky to be on this earth, to live in a place where we have dental care, to be able to afford dental care, and I felt love and appreciation for my life. I could finally feel the shift. I felt happy and relaxed. But as he drilled away at my teeth, I found I had to focus on the feeling of appreciation or I slipped back into fear.

Yeah, when he finished, I can actually say that it never hurt, I was comfortable, and it was a good practice session.

And yes I am thankful that the dental appointment is over! and I can chew again. What a blessing.

There are many sites on line focusing on the attitude of gratitude. I have been trying to write down what I am thankful for every day. Sometimes days go by with no writing. I always wake up first thing and go through my list of thanks. The appreciation of the human body and all its working parts could fill one book.

I encourage you to try a daily appreciation journal. It really helps me to see all the blessings that are in my life. Wow. So as the people around you are complaining about gas prices, or life in general try to focus on appreciation. We are so blessed to live in a country where we can complain, where we are free to buy gas, go where we want, and spend our money the way we want. We are so blessed to be able to walk into a grocery store and purchase all kinds of foods from all over the world without a thought to how we are so lucky to have these choices.

I appreciate you, and the internet too. Have a beautiful weekend, blessings Eileen

Heart Math is not math but a way of learning how to control your emotions.

I learned heart math from Bonnie Moore, who is certified by the Heart Math institute.
I will explain heart math in my own words but I encourage you to check out the heart math institute site. They have a more detailed explanation.

We have many sayings which point to the heart as our center such as “go to the heart of the matter” or ” we have such a heart connection”, “you got to have heart”, ect.

Heart math is a way to relearn our learned responses to things that upset us by going to the calm, loving energy of the heart.

As we grow up, we develop learned responses to life. If I am scared by a snake, the part of my brain that stores learned responses, called the amygdala, will store my reaction so that when I see a snake I will react quickly. My body responds with a fight or flight response. This kind of response causes our heart rate to increase, our blood pressure to increase and will encourage us to run away.

If I learn to love snakes I will store a warm fuzzy reaction in the amygdala.

If I learn to react to criticism with anger then my amygdala will often respond to what is perceived as criticism before I have a chance to think, by reacting angrily. Have you ever had someone get way angrier than your felt the situation warranted? They may have had a knee jerk response and reacted to the situation before they can think. Have you ever wondered what caused you to respond to a situation in an angry way that afterwards left you feeling embarrassed and out of control? If you grow up with an exaggerated learned emotional response, you may not even realize that everyone does not react the same way you react to things. It can be a relief to know that you can retrain your reactions. If I learn to be afraid of heights as a child I will store that information and heights will trigger a physical stress reaction. Sometimes our heart energy can override the stress energy and we can be flooded with loving emotions as we see a beautiful sunset, or a beautiful view, or we begin to associates heights with something positive. But more often than not, we will react first, think later.

By learning to focus on our heart, we can shift into a neutral place. We can learn to control our emotions rather than have them control us. When we shift into the loving energy of the heart we can think more clearly, we can do better in sports, learning is easier,driving is more fun and working is more relaxed as our interactions with other people improve.

The energy of the heart is actually a field of energy which interacts with other people’s heart field.
The variability of the heart can be measured. The measurement looks like waves. When we feel love, calm , joy or peace the waves are even and smooth.
When we experience negative emotions or anger the waves become very sharp and jagged and you can see the change in how the heart is responding. On page 5 of the Heart Math Institute it shows that your immune response can be lowered for 1 to 5 hours after an angry outburst.

Page 4 on the Heart Math Institute’s web site has research on how our heart energy interacts with other people’s energy. The research shows that one person’s heartbeat signal shows up in the brainwaves of another person.

So how do you do heart math? I learned first in meditation. While sitting in a comfortable position, I thought of something or someone that I love or appreciate. When you feel the appreciation, take a breath and focus on breathing that appreciation in through your heart center. As you practice this technique, you will become aware of your heart energy. As you practice, your heart energy will feel like it is expanding.

Once you have the feeling of the heart energy, practice holding that feeling of appreciation when you are doing the dishes, or brushing your teeth, or driving or in any non stressful situation.

When you are stuck in traffic, practicing shifting to appreciation. When you are under stress your stored learned response kicks in often before you realize that you have reacted in an old way. Do not berate yourself or give up if your old habits kick in during an emotionally charged situation. Try to go back later and practice shifting to the heart in that same situation and imagining a different outcome.
Try shifting into appreciation when you feel annoyed at family members before you talk. Try staying in appreciation when they respond to you.

As you practice shifting to appreciation and breathing the energy in through the heart, you can start to focus on sending love to other people. You can do this anywhere. If some one is upset around you try sending them love.

If you are not getting this, let me explain using the example of a baby or a puppy. When you hold a baby or a puppy, you look at them lovingly and are in effect sending them love. Imagine bringing that same feeling to all people in your day to day life.

I enjoy trying this on people who are upset and yelling. I shift to the heart and send love to them. They almost always calm down. I have tried this over the phone. When I have to complain about something to someone, I first imagine me talking to the person and send them love. Then I talk to the person from this neutral space.

As you practice this, you are able to sync your heart up to your head. The more you are in sync, the less you react to the stress and you are able to stay in the zone.

Have you ever played sports with someone who seems unshakable. This person has learned not to respond to the negative stress that affects his or her game. They stay calm, relaxed and tend to be good players. They also tend to be more fun to be around. I know that when I get upset during my golf game, my game tends to get worse not better. When I can appreciate the fun of the game, the people I am playing, the beautiful course, the joy of some good shots, and that I am able to afford to play I am blessed with a wonderful experience. It does not alway show up in my score, but it shows up in how my body feels.

Staying in the neutral zone is better for your heart, your blood pressure, and your immune system. Many times the things that cause us stress are just our reaction to the stress.

I used to thrive on stress. When life was calm for me, I was a little bit bored. There was no drama. Now I enjoy the feeling of calm and peace. With all the mortgage foreclosures, the world events that we see on the news but have no control over, we can choose to focus on keeping our heart neutral or stressing out. The way we react to life’s events affects the reactions of the people around us. It is time to practice sending love to others less fortunate than ourselves.

I love to be around happy bubbly people. And if I do not practice staying in the heart when I am around depressed or complaining people, I tend to leave them feeling depressed or down. If I can shift to appreciation, I am able to stay in the neutral zone while still listening to what they have to say. I do not have to agree or disagree, just be there for them. Sending them love may help them to feel better too.
I hope you can try this technique. I would love to hear from you when you try it.
If you would like to learn heart math contact my instructor. She can work with you in person or on the phone.

My instructor: Bonnie Moore
bonniemoore@moorehartgroup.com
1-815-222-3835
The Heart Math institute