heart

When we point to ourselves and say this is me, we point to our heart.

the opening of the heart
Love and other positive feelings are associated with the open heart. A Chinese Daoist initiation is the opening of the heart.

In the Egyptian tradition Anubis weighs the heart against a feather on the day of judgement. It needs to be light as a feather to pass into eternity - in a sense every day is judgement day.

hormonal gland
The heart is an endocrine (hormonal) gland. It produces the hormone atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) which influences blood vessels, kidneys, adrenal glands and regulatory regions in the brain.

It secretes oxytocin, the "love" or "bonding hormone." activated in childbirth, lactation, sexual and maternal responses, learning social cues and bonding and is also involved in cognition. Concentrations of oxytocin in the heart are as high as those found in the brain.

Intrinsic Cardiac Adrenergic cells in the heart make and release the neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine.

electrical centre
The heart is the main electrical centre and the biggest oscillator of the body generating an electrical field of 2 ½ watts of energy - 60 times the output of the brain.

The heart’s energy field extends a few feet beyond the healthy body and can be felt by humans and other animals at a distance. The heart of the Buddha is said to have radiated for kilometers.

heart brain
We think with our whole body. Each plexus is a mind. There is evidence that each computes and remembers. The nervous system around the gut weighs about as much as the brain.

The heart has its own neural processing unit with a network of around 40,000 various kinds of sensory neurons and support cells, neurotransmitters and proteins like those found in the brain. Intrinsic cardiac ganglia are distributed particularly around the orifices of major blood vessels.

In the centre of each cardiac ganglia is a mass of dendrites which interconnect the neurons. This plexus operates and processes information independently of the brain. It can feel, sense, learn and remember. It senses heart rate, pressure, and some hormonal and chemicals levels. Without this a transplanted heart could not function in a new host.

transplants
A transplanted heart is not driven only by its recipient. It brings its own firing circuitry and rhythm and brings its memories to its new owner. Recipients have reported changes of interests and activities towards those of the donor.

entrainment
Oscillating systems near each other come to synchronize. For example pendulums in a room together will come to swing in unison.

The heart as the most powerful oscillator in the body entrains the rest of the system including brainwaves to its rhythms. The heart coordinates and sychronises the mind with the body.

synchronisation with the brain
Heart rhythm signals synchronize with the brainwave patterns of the cerebral cortex via the cardiac centre of the brain and then the amygdala which evaluates emotion and then connects to the base of the frontal lobes which prioritise decision making and integrate reason and feeling.

These signals travel along the same sensory pathways that transmit pain and other sensations to the intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus.

When we are stressed our heart rhythms are less regular and coherent, our musculature is aroused and the activity of internal organs reduces. This is damaging in the long run.

When we feel grateful, sincere and loving, heart rhythms are more harmonious. There is a feeling of well-being.

If our heart rhythms are disordered when we are young we learn to expect disharmony and become familiar and at home with internal disorder. We learn to be distressed.

The heart meditation on the stress pages calms the heart which coordinates the body, thought, feeling and movement into harmonious balance rather than each interfering with the other.

Vision, creativity, awareness and mental clarity expand. Decision-making is easier. Cardiovascular efficiency, health and physical performance are enhanced.