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It's Time to Let your Emotions Out of the Closet!

Well, finally feelings and emotions are having their day in the sun. We all have them, we all cry, laugh, get angry, feel shame, guilt and love, but we are taught from a very young age that emotions are to be controlled, something you do in private if you have them at all.

Today you no longer have to live in the "Emotional Closet." Science has finally proven the true power of emotions! Research is showing the importance that emotions play in our lives and the incredible effects that they have on our health and overall wellbeing.

"Emotions work much faster and are more powerful, than thoughts. Thinking clearly with your brain is useful but feeling positively from your heart provides an amazing boost to health and creativity."

HMMM...sounds suspiciously familiar....anybody heard of The Secret? If you're still in the dark read The Power of the Secret

So what's the big deal about emotions? Well, first they are running our lives (the negative ones that is)! Not many of us go through a day without blowing up at our kids, sending a not so nice gesture to another driver or just plain being rude to a cashier. Our lives and our priorities are so out of whack that we are literally living off the adrenalin associated with stress! And this can be deadly!

Stress seems to be the common thread running through all our lives. It is wreaking havoc on our society. The World Health Organization raised the alarm over 20 years ago and still we neglected to acknowledge the true physical danger of stress. We continued to focus a good portion of our scientific energy and money on the tangible self and we neglected the possibility that our emotions could be the key to our health and happiness. This is finally changing! New research is showing the medical powers of the heart.

Emotions have a powerful effect on our physical and mental self. And understanding the importance of shifting our emotions from anger and frustration to love is the key to healing ourselves and living fulfilled lives. The key is to establish synchronicity between the mind and your emotions, it's called "Heart Coherence."

It's all quite scientific if that's your cup of tea you may want to read The Science of the Heart.

"Briefly experiencing a cherished memory creates synchronization in your heart rhythm in mere seconds. This increases the release of healthy, energizing hormones, while at the same time decreasing levels of damaging stress hormones, at the same time your immune system is strengthened, blood pressure decreases and health and focus increase. Using a simple prescription that consists of a number of exercises that anyone one can do anywhere in a few minutes."

That sounds simple enough, but how do you really change your heart? "According to the HeartMath Institute's research, it is much simpler than it looks. McCraty, one of the leaders at HeartMath says, "If you consciously shift your attention to a positive emotion, like appreciation or care, or if you allow your thoughts to return to the feeling of a cherished memory, your heart rhythm changes immediately." This phenomenon continues to astonish the some 25,000 people who attend HearMath courses each year. Initially, HeartMath utilized expensive medical equipment to measure and display the heart rhythm. But since 2000 HeartMath has offered a "do-it-yourself" equivalent: Freeze-Framer, an award-winning computer program with an innovative sensor that anyone can install in their computer at home or at work."

"Simply put: when people experience love, they not only feel happy and joyful, but they also produce, for example DHEA, the hormone that prevents aging, and gives us feelings of youthful vitality. Not surprisingly, a synthetic form of the hormone is currently sold in pill form at drugstores and health food stores. At the same time, the production of damaging stress hormones like cortisol is reduced. High levels of cortisol have been associated with Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, depression and fatigue. By contrast, a "loving body" absorbs less cholesterol, thereby preventing arteries from clogging while boosting production of immunoglobulin A, an important biochemical that boosts immune function. In addition, blood pressure stabilizes. And so HeartMath concludes that love is both an emotional and a physical state: positive feelings like love-generate health. The reverse is also true. Someone who is angry produces less DHEA and more cortisol. And so on. HeartMath's slogan-a change of heart changes everything pretty much sums it up!"

Christiane Northrup, MD, author of the best seller Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, says "Nearly every disease or illness I've seen or treated in two decades of my medical practice could have been improved or even cured had my patients or I known how to access the physical power of our heart's intelligence. HeartMath is the owner's manual we've been waiting for to help us recognize and use our heart's energy to help heal our bodies and our lives."

Cryer, a leader at the HeartMath Institute notes, "It is important to know that you can have a demonstrably positive effect on the world. We can change the world, starting with ourselves. It is our mission to help the world change, by helping people change. The root of most of our world's problems is a lack of emotional management, a lack of understanding, care, respect and compassion. That dysfunction damages the planet every day. We offer tools that are needed to eradicate major challenges and problems and to prevent wrongs. Those tools help the heart to make love. It's as simple as that!"

If you're interested in reading more about how learning the Heart Coherence technique helped my on journey to healing read Biofeedback the Path to Healing.

The wonderful quotes included in this article are from "A Change of Heart" written by Jurriaan Kamp and were published in Ode Magazine'sJune 2005 issue. As well as by Bruce Cryer and Rollin McCraty Institute of HeartMath leaders.

Take the conscious road to authentic power!