There are many short cuts to feeling happy.
One of the quickest is what is called circular breathing.
When you do circular breathing, you breathe long, slow deep inhales and exhales.
I used to have a computer program from the Institute of HeartMath that made all this obvious for people.
Although the program was ostensibly about the heart, I would show people how to ace their heart measurements with circular breathing.
Of course, if you go to the doctor and you do have high blood pressure, you will want to have an honest discussion with him or her about that fact. But if you are trying to avoid high blood pressure medication, you may want to use circular breathing.
If you do circular breathing, your EKG (your heart rhythm) very quickly goes into what is called coherence.
Your breathing governs your heart rate. When you do these long, slow, deep circular breaths, with the inhale and the exhale being roughly in equal length, your EKG goes into this beautiful sine wave. It’s a smooth, repetitive oscillation.
When you go into coherence, your brain begins to produce your own natural tranquilizers. You produce your own natural DHEA, which is your mother hormone.
Whenever I hear of people who are low in DHEA and taking DHEA supplements, I always think they would do better if they learned how to permanently lower their stress level through deep breathing.
So many intelligent people think their brain rules everything.
This is not the case.
Your heart rules the brain, not the other way around. The heart rules the brain through the vagus nerve. The heart sends signals to the brain, which the brain complies with. The brain sends signals to the heart, which the heart may or may not comply with.
Dr. Rollin McClarty, director of research at the Institute of HeartMath, even believes that when we go into coherence, we also access our highest level of intelligence in terms of premonition and intuition. He says that the heart seems to be the first to receive information – even before the brain.
We have all experienced this ourselves. Maybe there was a time when you were listening to a person who was highly intelligent – maybe with multiple degrees from prestigious universities – but you can’t remember a word they said.
Then you can probably think of a time when you were listening to someone who really loves you and cares about you. You felt their love. Their heart was open to you. And you completely comprehended every word they said.
Degrees don’t impress me as much as true caring.
Even Dr. David Hawkins, M.D., said that when he used to run a clinic, there were practitioners with multiple degrees who couldn’t get anybody better. Then there were a few people with just entry level backgrounds who could get everybody better.
The difference, of course, was their heart, how much they loved their patients and how much care they put into their work.
Years ago, I was lucky enough to go to the Institute of HeartMath. I have helped countless clients lower their blood pressure naturally, and one of the things I always check is to see if a person is able to breathe properly or not.
Moshe Feldenkrais, the founder of Feldenkrais, a system of healing movement, pointed out that for every mood we experience, there is a corresponding posture and breathing pattern.
If you would like to change your mood for the better, go into circular breathing and you will notice yourself starting to feel better. Based on my experience, both with myself and my clients, your mood will start to improve in a matter of two minutes.
