The Power of Heart Coherence: Why Yoga and Meditation Can Literally Change Your World

Are you familiar with the concept of heart coherence? With this, yoga and meditation can transform your life. But that positive transformation goes far beyond just your own life. Yoga and meditation can literally change the world if we do it together. And that’s not at all as whimsical as it sounds.

How? To know this, we first need to know why we feel so much better when we practice yoga or meditation. Spoiler alert: part of it has to do with something magical called ‘heart coherence’. How that works and how you can influence your environment in a positive way? Read about it here.

These are the positive effects of yoga and meditation

If you have ever practised yoga or meditation, you have probably already experienced its positive effects. It reduces stress, releases happiness hormones in your brain, makes you more aware and makes your body and mind stronger and more flexible. But above all, you often feel better the moment you step off your yoga mat or meditation cushion.

You take that (often) more positive mood with you into the rest of your day. Johan Noorloos, founder of De Nieuwe Yogaschool, puts it this way: ‘Yoga only begins when you step off the mat’.

You have more space for everyday life when you feel more space yourself. Space to let someone ahead in traffic with a smile, for example, instead of getting irritated. So with a small gesture, you spread a little more positive energy (link to blog on harmony in your life and relationships, tbc) around you. But it goes far beyond that.

Why do you feel better when you practice yoga or meditation?

When you practice yoga or meditation, something happens in your body. You sink from your head more into your body and your breathing slows down. This has an effect on your heart rate and other rhythms in your body, such as your brainwaves.

We also call this connection between your breathing, heart rhythm and brainwaves heart coherence’. ‘Coherent’ means ‘connected’. The more beautifully your breathing coincides with your heartbeat, the higher your heart coherence. And that has a stunning effect. In fact, your heart coherence helps determine how you feel physically, emotionally and mentally.

The more your heart and other inner rhythms and processes synchronise, the more we feel in harmony and in a state of ‘flow’. This happens because energy can flow optimally, which makes us feel better physically, mentally and emotionally.

Let’s look at it from the opposite side of the spectrum. Do you experience psychological complaints, such as stress? Chances are your heart coherence is somewhat lower at that moment. In other words: your inner rhythms do not coincide as well and you feel less at ease.

Yoga and meditation can help in that case to improve your heart coherence and return to a natural state of balance. Simply by becoming aware of your breathing, your heartbeat and signals of imbalance (such as tension in your body), something will already start to shift.

And that has a huge ripple effect, as you can read below. Not only on our own well-being, but also on our surroundings.

This is how you have an immediate positive impact on your surroundings

The effect of heart coherence literally goes beyond our own bodies. Something magical happens when our inner rhythms synchronise optimally. A powerful field of energy is created around our heart that goes far beyond our physical body.

Our entire body is surrounded by this electromagnetic field. It can be measured as early as three metres away with a magnetocardiogram. The higher the heart coherence, the more powerful the energy field. That means we are constantly moving into each other’s energy field. So you can imagine the effect our state of mind has on our surroundings.

You can literally feel this energy field of others. According to the Institute of HeartMath (an institute that researches the connection between head and heart), it is even one of the most important carriers of information between people. For example, you can feel it when someone is radiating mountains of positive energy (high heart coherence) or when someone is less connected to their heart due to tension or stress (lower heart coherence).

So living and acting from a coherent heart state has an immediate positive effect on your environment.

Why you can change the world with yoga and meditation

You now know how yoga and meditation affect your heart coherence and how this directly impacts your environment.

Now imagine meditating or practising yoga in a group. Your heart coherence increases while you are in each other’s energy fields. You can imagine that by doing so, you create a powerful field of energy together.

You may have experienced it yourself in a yoga class or group meditation. It feels like a certain synergy is created. Maybe it feels easier to find stillness during meditation or a Yin class, or you feel lifted by the energy of others in a spirited Vinyasa class. And that feels good. This is not only very nice for yourself, but also for the world around you.

The effect of heart coherence has even been scientifically proven. In fact, research has shown that there is a ripple effect on the surroundings when people come together to meditate. In cities where meditation is frequent, fewer crimes are committed and there are fewer accidents. This is also known as the Maharishi Effect. The Maharishi Effect shows that if just 1% of the population meditates, it measurably improves the quality of life for the entire population. And that from your meditation cushion….

In conclusion, when we practice together in yoga and meditation, we can literally change our own lives and the world around us. So get on your meditation cushion often and take your neighbour to a nice class. Because the more you find your yoga leggings and meditation cushion, the more beautiful the world around you.