Your Heart Wisdom
Intuition may come from the heart.
Heart as the Source of Love
Throughout history, ancient societies, philosophers, poets, and prophets have regarded the heart as the source of love, wisdom, intuition, the soul, and positive emotions. The Egyptians believed that the heart was connected to spiritual dimensions. After death, the heart was weighed to see how much good and evil it contained, and it was put in special urns for burial, and the brain was discarded. Thus, there is a disparity between what ancient traditions believed and modern predominant science’s teaching that the heart solely provides a physical function.
Heart Iconography
Images of the heart can be seen in religious iconography and are elevated, imploring us to contemplate what it represents: the highest values. Most spiritual or religious practices teach the importance of the heart and being loving and kind to the self and others. Adages such as “listen to your heart,” “follow your heart,” or “lead from the heart” must derive from a physical feeling of well-being in the body when we take direction from that organ or its location in the chest. The positive effect of doing so is likely why these sayings have sur- vived so long. As we connect with our heart center, we shift into a loving, compassionate awareness. From this neutral, nonjudgmental place we may switch into our intuitive awareness. When we are more coherent—not emotional, thinking, confused, etc.—we are able to listen to our heart more clearly.
Heart and Intuition
Being connected to your heart and consistently practicing being in this loving state can assist greatly with intuition, wellness, and healing. When I was beginning my meditation practice, a teacher led me to focus on the heart in meditation. I imagined entering into my heart to cultivate a higher loving state of being, and to strongly sense this loving vibration of light. I then visualized the light of my heart connecting with the center of my brain (the third eye). In this state, I could more effortlessly listen to intuitive and wise messages.
Heart Knowing
Rollin McCraty, PhD, the vice president and director of research at the HeartMath Institute, says, “The heart is a sensory organ and acts as a sophisticated information-encoding and processing center that enables it to learn, remember, and make independent functional decisions.” He adds that the heart and the brain generate an electromagnetic field. McCraty explains, “The heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body. The electrical field as measured in an electrocardiogram (ECG) is about sixty times greater in amplitude than the brain waves recorded in an electroencephalogram (EEG).”
Excerpted from Intuitive Development by Emmy Vadnais.
Emmy Vadnais
Emmy Vadnais, OTR/L has over 20 years experience providing Holistic, Integrative Health, Wellness and Prevention Care in a variety of settings. She is a Holistic Occupational Therapist, Intuitive Healer, Health Coach, teacher, consultant, and writer. She provides holistic and integrative healthcare and intuitive development education to healthcare practitioners and organizations. She is the founder of the Holistic OT Community and is in private practice in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is available for individual sessions, tutoring, classes, and consulting. She can be contacted at [email protected]. Visit her websites at EmmyVadnais.com and HolisticOT.org.
