I’ve just finished reading a beautiful book called ‘Into the magic shop’- an inspirational true story about a neurosurgeons quest to unravel the mystery of the connection between the mind and the heart. It’s an incredibly tale, that not only had me reading through teary eyes on numerous occasions, but also got me thinking a lot about the journey I’ve been on since learning meditation.

I came to the practice years ago, primarily as a means to relieve stress and quieten my busy mind. What I didn’t understand at the time was how this process would also lead to opening my heart and allowing its messages to come through loud and clear.

One particular quote from the book really resonated with me in terms of my experience of trying to understand the secrets of the heart…

The heart has an intelligence all of its own, and if we learn from it we will know that we keep what we have only by giving it away. If we want to be happy we make others happy. If we want love we have to give love. If we want joy we have to make others joyful. If we want forgiveness we have to forgive. If we want peace we have to create it in the world around us. If we want our wounds to be healed we have to heal others”.

Dr James R Doty – Into the Magic Shop

The brain and the heart communicate through the vagus nerve. Interestingly, while both our cognitive and our emotional centres are intelligent, research shows that the heart sends many more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart.

When we meditate we’re learning to integrate both brains in the body, the mind-brain and the heart–brain. We go on an inward journey. We connect with the heart and learn to listen to its messages, then take this open heart into the world and perform action.

While the brain can be powerful, the simple truth is it knows a lot more when it is connected and unified with the heart.