Unlocking Your Heart’s Hidden Powers & Intelligence (Former HeartMath CEO, Bruce Cryer)
The heart is more than a bloodpump
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“We had that understanding already that there was intelligence. And so that kind of fed our opinion that the heart is an organ of intuition. Not saying the brain isn't or other parts of our bodies aren't also, but the heart is an aspect of intuition. You get yourself quiet enough, your heart whispers, right? People say that. My heart's trying to tell me, what's your heart say? What's your heart thinking? As a man thinketh in his heart.” (16:00 in this cast)
Bruce Cryer is the former CEO of HeartMath, a bestselling author, and the creator of Vybrato, a practice designed to help people navigate life's waves through heart-centered techniques. Bruce has spent over three decades pioneering research and education on heart intelligence and has witnessed firsthand how tapping into our heart's hidden powers can transform our physical, emotional, and cognitive wellbeing.
I've been fascinated by HeartMath's research for years, particularly their groundbreaking studies revealing capabilities of the heart that conventional science has overlooked. Bruce's work bridges ancient wisdom with rigorous scientific methods, validating what spiritual traditions have claimed for millennia — that the heart is far more than just a blood pump.
In our conversation, Bruce shares how unlocking the intelligence of your heart can improve decision making, enhance intuition, boost cognitive function, and create energetic fields that positively impact those around you.
This episode is great for:
Anyone curious about the science behind intuition and heart intelligence
People experiencing high stress, anxiety, or emotional turbulence
Anyone intrigued by the connection between ancient wisdom and modern science
Those wanting simple practical techniques for quickly shifting out of stress
Anyone interested in expanding their understanding of human potential beyond the brain
Ideas that really stuck out to me:
The heart generates the strongest electromagnetic field in the body. HeartMath research discovered that stressful emotions (anger, anxiety, fear) create chaotic heart rhythms, while positive emotions (appreciation, joy, love) generate coherent, sine-wave patterns. This isn't just happening inside you. These rhythms extend several feet outside your body creating a field that affects those around you. This scientific discovery explains why we can "feel" someone's anger or love without a word being spoken.
A single emotional trigger floods your system with approximately 1,400 biochemicals that can affect you for up to 8 hours. Even subtle reactions to emails, news alerts, or stressful thoughts cause biochemical cascades that keep your body in a perpetual state of fight-or-flight. In our hyper-connected world we're experiencing more of these triggers than ever before making conscious heart practices essential.
The heart possesses its own complex neural network. Scientists have discovered tens of thousands of neurons in the heart that process information independently of the brain. This "heart brain" is a legitimate intelligent system that communicates with and influences the brain in profound ways. When we talk about "thinking with our hearts," we're describing a biological reality not just a poetic metaphor.
Your heart can perceive future events before they happen. In remarkable HeartMath studies researchers found the heart responds to emotionally significant future events 4-6 seconds before they occur even before the brain registers them! This suggests the heart functions as an intuitive organ that can access information beyond our conventional understanding of space and time. Bruce participated in these studies himself and described how subjects' hearts would react differently before seeing calming versus disturbing images even though they had no conscious way of knowing which image would appear next.
You can rapidly shift from a state of chaos to coherence using breath. By focusing on your heart area, breathing in a rhythm of about 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out, and activating feelings of appreciation you can quickly switch from stress to coherence. This simple practice synchronizes your heart, breath, and brain, creating a state of optimal functioning that improves everything from immune response to cognitive performance.
The coherent heart state is accessible during everyday activities. One of the most practical aspects of heart intelligence techniques is that they don't require you to retreat from daily life. Bruce described how he would practice heart coherence during meetings, while driving, or in any moment of his day by using a watch that beeped hourly to remind him to connect with his heart. These micro-practices had a cumulative effect of strengthening his heart intelligence over time.
Bruce’s work resonates immensely with my personal experience that the heart is the gateway to greater well-being and wisdom that often runs deeper than our analytical minds. When faced with complex decisions, relationship challenges, or uncertain futures, tuning into our heart intelligence can provide insights that pure logic simply cannot access.
For those navigating the intense waves of modern life whether it's health challenges, work stress, relationship difficulties, or global uncertainty. Bruce's heart-centered approach offers something profound yet practical. Rather than being passively tossed by life's waves we can learn to generate our own coherent waves from within.
I especially appreciate how Bruce emphasizes that these practices don't require us to check out from daily life. You can practice heart coherence techniques during meetings, while driving, or in any moment of your day. No need to retreat to a meditation cushion or adopt special postures. This accessibility makes heart coherence a truly practical tool for our busy lives.
I hope you enjoy this conversation!
- Scott
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Episode Transcript
Show Notes
00:00 - The Heart Beyond Anatomy
13:10 - HeartMath's Breakthrough Discoveries
25:49 - Harnessing Heart Coherence for Life
31:12 - The Heart as a Muscle of Emotion
31:48 - The Impact of Negativity on Well-Being
35:17 - Introducing Vybrato: A New Approach to Emotional Waves
41:21 - Harnessing the Power of Waves for Healing
47:18 - The Heart's Influence in Remote Connections
51:14 - The Heart-Mind Connection and Creativity
The mind analyzes, but the heart knows.
Science dissects, but intuition feels.
The heart, with its vast neural networks and electromagnetic fields, does more than pump blood...it orchestrates harmony, deciphers emotions, and can even perceive the future before it unfolds.
So grateful to see this. I found it very informative.