I’ve been reading up on something called ‘Heartmath’ (www.heartmath.org). You’ve probably heard me saying on more than one occasion that for me ‘it is all about LOVE’. I am human and forget this at times, and have to bring myself gently back to my heart centre when I do this.

I get a little jaded by some of the organisations that originate from the USA (due to the hype); however as well as selling many pricey products Heartmath also has some wonderful concepts and helpful free tools.

Heartmath state that ‘they are passionate and dedicated people, steadfast in their commitment to provide solutions for activating the heart of humanity. Heartmath Institute empowers individuals, families, groups and organizations to enhance their life experiences using tools that enable them to better recognize and access their intuitive insight and heart intelligence’.

I wanted to focus today on one of the free resources they offer. It is the ‘Appreciation Tool’. Although they sell the tool, the concept is not new and something you can quickly and easily embed into your daily life for free. I quite often listen to a guided meditation called ‘Gratitude’ and it provides me with the same positive effect.

It is a well-known fact that heart-focused, sincere, positive feeling states boost the immune system, while negative emotions can suppress the immune response for up to six hours. There are massive contrasts between the heart-rhythm pattern of someone experiencing frustration, and someone experiencing appreciation. The smooth heart rhythm you would see with someone experiencing appreciation is a sign of good health and emotional balance.

Why not try these techniques out daily to see if they have a positive effect on your life too:

Heart breathing:

You can use our FREE ‘breathing technique’ handout to get you started with a beneficial breathing technique. When you get your breathing rhythm right then all you need to do is imagine breathing through your heart.

Heart feeling:

Whilst maintaining your breathing pattern think about something you feel gratitude for. This could be anything from your friends, family, job, good health, good wealth, nature, your animal family, holidays, someone who smiled at you today on the bus…. anything.

Make sure that you build this into your day. Heartmath suggest that you take ‘appreciation breaks’. You can build these into your daily routine as it only takes minutes. If you cannot think of things to feel gratitude for then try to imagine the things you want coming into your life and say thank you for them. Make a list of the things you feel grateful for (or will be grateful for) and put it up around your house, in your dairy, in your car so that you can see it often and feel grateful.

Let me know how you get on with your gratitude moments.

With Love xxxx