Your Heart May Know the Future
In 2004 a team of scientists led by Rollin McCraty and funded by the HeartMath Institute set out to explore the role that the heart plays in intuition. Although few media channels covered the findings of the study (which was published in The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine), the results were simply shocking.
McCraty et al define intuition as “a process by which information normally outside the range of conscious awareness is perceived by the psychophysiological systems.” Sounds complicated, but we've all had intuitive hunches. It is a sense of what is to come that does not seem to be based any information in our awareness. Based on previous studies they thought that perhaps our body knows things before our mind does. To be blunt, your heart appears to know the future.
From the authors, “Most people at some time have experienced “intuitive” perceptions about distant objects or future events that later turned out to be correct. In many cases, these perceptions are really cognitive inferences, extrapolations based on forgotten memories of prior experience that seep into consciousness. However, there are instances when so-called “gut feelings” or “intuitive insights” are found to be valid and related to circumstances so unique that these intuitions do not seem explicable on the basis of prior experience. It is postulated that such intuitive perception involves connection to a field of information beyond normal conscious awareness.” In other words, sometimes we think we know the future when we are really just processing our memories. But there appear to be times that we are able to tap into information that is beyond our 5 senses. Can a rigorous scientific study be used to prove this?
Here's how the experiment went down. Participants were isolated in a sound proof room. They were put in a chair with a computer monitor in front of them and a mouse at their fingertips. They were also hooked up to an array of sensors that measured skin conductance level (SCL), the brains electrical activity (EEG) and the hearts electrical activity (ECG). The intention was to see which parts of the body reacted to stimulus and when. The stimulus was images on the computer screen. The participant clicked a mouse and 6 seconds later a randomly selected image would appear on the screen. The images were of two types, calm and emotional. The calm photos were of landscapes, seascapes, fruit, trees, animals and common household objects. The emotional pictures portrayed a range of erotic, violent and otherwise emotionally stimulating subjects. Then the screen went blank for 10 seconds and the sequence was repeated.
Looking at the data showed the expected fluctuations in the skin, brain and heart to the emotional images. In previous similar studies both the skin and the brain react to stimulus. There is one exception. In studies done by Dean Radin on experienced meditators their skin conductance response is drastically reduced or non-existant. Trained meditators were used in this study as well. Clearly meditation is powerful in helping one to maintain a degree of stasis in charged situations, but that is not what is amazing about the results of this study. The amazing part is what they saw in the heartbeat data.
The heart responded to the emotional stimulus “starting around 4.5 seconds prior to the stimulus.” ¥es, the heart consistently knew that an emotional image was going to be shown 4.5 seconds before it came onto the screen. You would have to read to the study to understand the thoroughness of the controls in place, but it is quite clear that no one and no thing had information about what image the random number generator would produce before it came on the screen. Yet somehow the heart knew.
Participants were meditators and they were trained in the HeartRate coherence techniques developed by the HeartMath Institute. I own and have worked with this equipment. It is a bio-feedback system to train anyone to control the consistency of your heart rate. When we are under stress our heart rate becomes more regular, like a metronome. When we are well rested, calm, and alert, especially when "In the Zone" or in a FLOW state the heart becomes irregular. This may sound bad, but think about it. We want a heart that is nimble, that is adjusting to demands in real time. Our heart rate should increase slightly with every inhale, activating the sympathetic nervous system and decrease slightly with every exhale, activating the parasympathetic.
Higher Heart Rate Variability (HRV) has correlations with everything from immune support to focus to mood and now to intuition as well. This does not mean that the results of this study will only be seen in those trained in these states. Trained participants were chosen based on previous studies which showed that the results are more pronounced than in the untrained.
In closing, the authors added, “although our finding that the heart is involved in intuitive perception may be surprising from one perspective, it is worth noting that in virtually all human cultures, ancient and modern, the heart has long been regarded as a conduit to a source of information and wisdom beyond normal awareness. Thus, our data may be seen as providing scientific evidence for an intuitive capacity that humankind has known and used for many millennia."
(This post is one in a series on the interface of Science and Consciousness that informs the work I do with my clients.)
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