It has long been said that in lessons of love the heart rules the head, and in lessons of business the head, should, rule the heart. Would you say that is true? What if you loved the business you do, would that not then create conflict. Scientists for many years have researched, accepted and taught that emotions are purely mental expressions that are generated by the brain. More recently studies are showing that the heart has as much to do with emotions as our body and brain. When these three work together in unison then we create that stress free, happy, healthy lifestyle that we so wish for.
HeartMath has completed a number of studies that can define the critical link between the heart and the brain. They show that the heart is continuously giving and receiving information from the brain. Every emotion we experience changes the signal the brain is sending to the heart and then heart then responds. More recently they have proved that the heart sends more information to the brain than the opposite direction.
The research is explained like this: The heart is constantly responding to emotions, negative or positive. So when we experience a negative emotion such as fear, anger or anxiety our hearts rhythms become more erratic, these patterns are sent to the emotional centre of the brain. The brain recognises them as negative or threatening and sends out signals to the rest of the body that there may be danger. These signals create the actual feelings we feel in our hearts and across our body. Wondering why you have a bad back or a headache after a particularly busy stressful day? Oh, and the erratic heart rhythms being sent to the brain tend to make you think less clearly too.
It’s no coincidence that people who live stressful lifestyles and experience negative emotions are at a higher risk of heart disease.
Don’t worry, because the opposite is also true, the HeartMath research shows that experiencing positive emotions such as love, care and appreciation creates a different rhythm in the heart. These harmonic rhythms are fed to the brain and then sent out to the body giving us a gentle warm feeling across the body, satisfaction.
So, if we are to live happier and healthy lifestyles our heart, Brain and Body will be happy and healthier too. The organs of the body are not that dissimilar to an organisation. Even the dictionary definitions are almost the same
Organism – a system consisting of interdependent parts each with a particular purpose
Organisation – an organised group of people with a particular purpose, such as business
If we are taking time to look at how our heart is ruling our brain much more than the other way round then we should also take time to look at how our business is running. If a heart driven brain and body is a happy and healthy one then surly a heart driven business will also be happy and healthy. In fact, it is a proven fact that those business that are happy and healthy, or engaged, are more successful than those that aren’t. Research shows that Organisation with with higher than 74% engagement have double digit growth, they have low attrition and often are quoted as the best place to work.
At the heart of your business is where the emotions are felt that send out the signals to the rest of the business and also out to your suppliers, customers and clients. Creating and maintaining positive emotions will create an energy that buzz’s across your business. At the heart of your business are a group of people that want to be part of the success story. Engaging with each and everyone one of them can only lead to that success story being one of a heart driven business.