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When it comes to health and wellness, the heart is the hub of the wheel. It
generates more energy than any other organ of the body, beating an average of
100,000 times per day or 2.5 billion times over the course of an average
lifetime. So it's worth paying attention to all those articles about heart
health. Fueling the heart with oxygen-rich blood that is low in cholesterol,
triglycerides, homocysteine, and inflammation is an investment in the future
that reaps rich benefits in the present.
The heart is not only a physical pump. It is an electromagnetic organ often
identified as the seat of emotional and spiritual energy. Taking care of the
heart, then, involves far more than just changing the oil every 3,000 miles. It
involves paying attention to and engaging the heart at every level.
The most obvious level is the physical one. No one can walk up at a steep hill
at a brisk pace without engaging their heart. The heart rate increases, along
with our respiration rate, and we start sweating to bring down our body
temperature. This does not weaken the heart. It makes it stronger. Anyone who
thinks they are doing their heart a favor by taking it easy all the time does
not understand how the heart works. The worst thing you can do with an engine is
to let it idle, at the same low speed, ad infinitum.
So, too, with the heart. We have to mix things up in order for the heart to be
healthy and fully engaged. We have to both increase and decrease the heart rate
from its normal baseline, at regular intervals, if we hope to make the most of
those billions of beats.
If vigorous, aerobic exercise increases our heart rate above the normal
baseline, meditation and breathwork move in the opposite direction. They assist
us to lower our heart rate below the normal baseline. In this quiet state, not
only does the heart get to rest but we become more aware of our own emotional
and spiritual energy. This benefits the heart physically and renews the
connection of body, mind, and spirit.
Do you find it difficult to take the time to meditate and breathe? Two computer
games are now on the market that will assist some people to do this more
regularly. Both involve what might be called a heart mouse. Instead of
controlling things on the screen by pointing and clicking with your finger, the
biofeedback sensors enable you to control things by raising and lowering your
heart rate and, in the case of one game, your skin conductivity.
To raise your heart rate while sitting still requires rapid, invigorating
breaths. Belly laughing, which fully engages the diaphragm, works great for this
with the added benefit of getting more laughter into your life. To lower your
heart rate requires slow, deep breaths -- in through your nose and out through
your mouth.
The two computer games are similar as to the technology but different as to the
screen content and themes. The Journey to Wild Divine
Click
has a mythical, new-age story line while Freeze-Framer
Click
has more of a scientific tone. For those who are computer oriented, the engaging
sights and sounds of these games -- along with the novelty of controlling things
on the screen without typing, moving your mouse, or talking -- may be just what
the doctor ordered for those who want to engage their heart for life.
Coaching Inquiries: Do you pay attention to your heart rate? Are there times when
you intentionally raise it through exercise and lower it through breathwork?
Would computer games be a good way for you to do this on a more regular basis?
Who could assist you to develop practices that would lead to a healthier heart?
 To reply to this Pathway, use our
Feedback Form. To learn more about our
Wellness Coaching programs and to arrange for a complimentary wellness coaching
session, use our Contact Form or
Email Bob.
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran
LifeTrek Coaching International
121 Will Scarlet Lane
Williamsburg, VA 23185-5043
U.S.A.
Telephone: 757-345-3452
Fax: 772-382-3258
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