Changing Your Thoughts and Emotions

A New Pathway is Possible

Thoughts and Emotions
In a 1997 study, researchers at Duke University found that negative thoughts altered emotions and caused physical symptoms leading to ischemia of blood vessels. The study summarized that positive emotions reduced the risk of ischemic attacks.

Since then, additional studies in the field of PsychoNeuroImmunology (PNI) have examined the role of thoughts and the mind on the body, right down to the cellular level. Despite the wealth of information available, it is hard to simply start thinking positive thoughts all the time.

However, changing the way that you think is possible.

New Pathways
For this to happen, new pathways, i.e. thought patterns, have to be made in the brain and the most efficient method of creating lasting change is through breathing and meditation.

Constantly dragging the past or concerns about the future around with you keeps the body in a negative energy state. Applying the right thoughts, emotions, and behavior comes after creating space within the mind for new patterns to emerge. Aversions and preferences fade away until you remove the patterns of the past to create space for a new present to occur.

It takes energy to produce energy and this is true for all actions, including meditation.

Creating Change
During meditation, with the mind still and centered on the breath or your choice of focus, the brain works at keeping the breath slow, calm, and steady. As the breath slows, the mind becomes steady and less prone to random thoughts.

Meditation creates neurological changes that help you during your every day life. The changes are then reinforced each time you meditate, and each time you follow the new behavior.

Over time, thinking positively becomes your normal way of thinking. You are able to catch yourself as each negative thought occurs, and change it quickly to a positive one. Eventually you only think good thoughts.

Intuition
This does not mean that you cannot see danger or when a situation or person is harmful. Rather, your intuition is heightened.
It helps you to:
see when situations are bad for you, whether it is in the form of gossip or being in the company of someone
recognize when your behavior is reckless
hear when your thoughts are unkind either about yourself or directed at someone.

Making a Miracle
You “make a miracle” by creating good vibrational energy and sending it through your body. This restores much needed balance to both the body and the mind.

In the silence of a stilled mind, you move into a meditative state with grace and ease, creating the vital space within for new knowledge to emerge.

Peace transfers to the body and mind
You gain health and vitality
You create the life you really want.

Make meditation a part of your life and experience peace, happiness, and improved health every day.

HeartMath

Red roses are a symbol of love.

Today is Info Friday where I highlight anything that is relevant to meditation. I’m not involved in any of these products or areas. They are simply something that I thought was interesting and thought you might enjoy too.

Since 1991, the Institute of HeartMath has conducted research showing that your emotions work faster than, and are even more powerful than, your thoughts.
Located south of San Francisco in Boulder Creek, California, the Institute has focused its work on the heart and have proven that the heart is more important to your body’s overall health, affecting not only the heart’s health but cognitive and brain function too.

Being able to feel positively, not by how you are thinking, but by how you are feeling emotionally from your heart, directly impacts your overall health.
This is amazing research because current studies tend to look at the heart or the brain, or any other organ in isolation. This research is studying the heart and demonstrates the correlation between memory, thoughts, the effect on the heart, and the release of chemicals which in turn affect the body with either detrimental or positive results.

Research director Rollin McCraty notes, “Meditation is mainly geared towards consciously separating yourself from the reality around you. That has totally different physical consequences than our approach, which is geared towards actively adding positive energy to a particular situation.”

With the help of the electroencephalogram’s (EEG), HeartMath uses an innovative biofeedback system that shows a study participant the immediate benefits to their body when they recall a happy memory. Synchronization of the heart beat occurs instantly helping to alleviate the negative effects of stress-related diseases. In turn, this makes it easier to encourage and motivate people to behave positively and to counter negative thoughts and situations.

At HeartMath, they have found that it’s the rhythm of the heartbeat that counts, not the number of beats per minute. McCraty explains, “With every heartbeat, information is supplied that affects our emotions, our physical health and the quality of our lives.”
A different heart rhythm leads to an alteration in chemical, electrical, and neurological reactions.

The Institute has published many papers and their website has lots of information about the founders, currents research, and the exciting results that they are uncovering

For further information sheck out their website. 
www.heartmath.com

Summary
The research is astounding and ongoing. Living a life of love, remaining positive, and seeing the best in yourself and the world around you does affect you in ways that you may not have considered.

HeartMath’s slogan is "A change of heart changes everything."

Will you have a change of heart?