What’s most missing in people’s lives is a feeling of peace. You’re on a treadmill, rushing from one stress and worry to another. Whenever I looked at Dr. King, despite being at the center of the fight for civil rights, his face always looked peaceful. There was a calmness to him and his voice that reflected a heart full of love. Above everything else, he believed in the power of love. Perhaps his greatest message was the primacy of love and empathy.
One of the hallmarks of resilience is the ability to self-regulate physiologically, emotionally, and mentally. In my use of biofeedback to facilitate this process, I’ve learned that focusing on the heart and coming from a place of gratitude and love produces a heart rate variability pattern referred to as coherence. This occurs when there is a balance between the two branches of the nervous system: sympathetic activation and parasympathetic recovery. The more I or my clients focus on the heart and feelings of love and gratitude, the more coherent the heart rate pattern becomes. There is a shift of the mind, body, and heart into positive states.
Dr. King knew then what we are now learning in science: that coming from the heart has positive physical, emotional, and mental benefits. This is the first and biggest lesson we can model: Love and gratitude are shortcuts to experiencing a state of balance. I encourage all of you to take this lesson from the master. Try meditating on love and your heart. Breathe in and imagine filling your heart, expanding your heart, with love. Do this for just five minutes, at six breaths per minute, and then notice how this makes you feel.
There is much negativity in the world. Personal attacks, anger, and resentments fill the Internet and the airwaves. While we may try to ignore this toxic brew, these repeated messages unconsciously get absorbed. They lower your threshold for becoming activated, upset, and angry. It’s then easy to find yourself feeling and expressing anger. Just as........