The Heartmath Solution: The Institute of Heartmath’s Revolutionary Program for Engaging the Power of the Heart’s Intelligence

Not mere psycho-babble but verbal (and sensible) music. The Forward to this book should be sufficient to sell most musicians on the method. It speaks of the relationship between time and health and the stress we produce under the mis-impression that we never have enough “time” when in fact the real culprit is “dysrhythmia.” Like musicians who mangle time, forever failing to “swing,” most people misunderstand and mismanage time. Like musicians who “drag” down the tempo and those who “rush” the tempo, most individuals don’t stay in the “pocket,” are never “centered,” are never in touch with the “heart,” which is no mere pump or metronome but the metaphoric equivalent, or source, of love–which in turn accounts for the best, and most vital, qualities that distinguish us as human beings. Musicians refer to those few musicians who express this quality as having “soul.”Dragging and rushing are at once the cause and manifestation of “heart disease.” Being “in the pocket,” on the other time, is not merely having or keeping “good time.” Human beings are not metronomes or machines: they’re lovers. According, the only “right” time is when the individual is in synch with his or her own heart, which in turn is a microcosm of the external world. When the individual is “in balance” with the heart, he or she is “in synch” with the rest of the world. Conversely, when the individual is balance with external reality, the heart responds with an expression of the same balance, manifesting a healthy glow. It’s permissible to “bend” and vary the time–in fact, it can be necessary to the primary challenge of being “in synch” with others.Without a doubt, this is one of the better (one of the few) “self-help” books in that it talks about “common-sense” things in ways that are likely to produce insight and understanding. It’s not alternative medicine but integrative medicine, relating the heart beat to the rhythms of life as they’re felt and perceived, experienced and expressed. It will not solve the problems of the many “non-swingers,” those metronomic non-feelers and non-thinkers who are unable to “feel the beat.” But it will help the attentive reader deal with and understand stress, rather than experience greater stress because of either arhythmic or overly-symmetrical individuals (who mark time with sledgehammers). It offers, instead, awareness of a subtle but insistent pulse transmitting signals capable of leading each of us to “the heart of the matter.”All the same, much of the “science” is questionable (as science) and overstated (not to mention extraneous). At its most basic level, the book is another version of cognitive psychology, one that supplements the mind’s effect on behavior with the role of emotions in decisions that carry weight only when made with the heart’s consent. The reader who is new to the field and who responds to taxonomy like “freeze frame” and “heart lock-in” in place of less metaphoric diction will no doubt profit most from the book. Others will find scattered nuggets of insight, such as the view of personal energy as a finite resource to be conserved rather than wasted. Otherwise, the book has much anecdotal “evidence” and common sense observations about stress that many readers are apt to know all too well already. Half-way through the book I couldn’t help but wish the author had settled for an essay, thus sparing the reader gratuitous, repetitious prose.At times the language could use sharpening. For example, the reader is told that “knowledge” is not “understanding.” Either the authors need to substitute the word “Information” for the first term or “empathy” for the second for the statement to make sense. In another instance, a passage about making judgments certainly seems on target, resonating with Chopra’s insistence on “silent witnessing without judgment” as a way of knowing the heart’s rhythms. But without qualification the advice falls short. Knowledge and human identity are of themselves dependent upon our unique ability as humans to reason and to make intelligent decisions based on judgment. Without judgement, we identify with the natural world at the expense of what individuates us from it. So perhaps the question is one that comes down to “negative,” or enervating, judgment vs. “positive,” or constructive, judgment that replenishes rather than depletes reservoirs of personal energy.

One of my favorites. I have to say that I’m a little surprised that this gem of a book from almost 25 years ago has less than 1000 reviews. This is such a profound technique!!! I do a lot of various breathing techniques and breathing into the heart is one of my favorites. I also have been meditating for years and still struggle to quiet the mind, but when you tap into the heart, it’s so much easier. I feel like I get into deeper states of relaxation and slower brain waves with HeartMath tools than just meditation alone. I recently read Letting Go by David Hawkins and loved the idea. But it lacked real world suggestions for how to surrender deep emotions. HeartMath fills in that missing piece for me and now I have sound strategies for how to release old emotions or deal with everyday stressors. I strongly believe that our emotions are huge energy drains so I’m excited to have these tools to help me better use my body’s resources. Thank you Doc and Howard!!!

A must read in these times. Great book. Makes you stop and realize how often Heart and mind need balance and it’s better to work together in sync. Less stress reactions.