The Positive Habit Weekly Blog – 12th March, 2018 – Heart Intelligence

Dear Positive Habit people,

I hope this email finds you well. How is your heart? Ivor Browne, the eminent Irish psychiatrist, first introduced me to groundbreaking information about the incredible intelligence of the heart, the seat of our emotions.

Did you know that our hearts have 10,000 neurons that are the similar to those in the brain? This is known as ‘heart intelligence’ and the ‘little brain’ in the heart. We use the word heart to express our emotions in so many different ways; from the bottom of your heart, to break someone’s heart, to cross your heart, to eat your heart out, to be half-hearted about something, to have a change of heart, to have a heart of gold and the list goes on. In ancient Egypt, as part of the mummifying process, they threw away the brain and conserved the heart because they believed it was the most important organ. However, in the development of biological science the fact that the heart was discovered as being responsible for pumping blood throughout the body allowed Descarte’s rather mechanical view to become the dominant one in the West and the heart was considered to have no intelligence of its own. Recent research has shown that the heart is much more than just an organ that pumps blood around the body.

David Malone’s incredible documentary, ‘Heart vs Mind’ (Ivor Browne recommended this documentary to me) is a fascinating introduction to the concept of the heart as having an inherent intelligence.

When we operate from heart we use a very different operating system, one that is based on love, kindness, and compassion.


This week imagine your thoughts sifting down towards your heart and letting your heart not your mind lead you in your relationships and the choices that you make. Even if you are not naturally an affectionate person, open yourself to giving and receiving hugs – they increase oxytocin levels and open your heart as well as calming the sympathetic nervous system. If you can hold the embrace for 15 seconds all the better, the longer  the more positive the impact.

Have a lovely, snow-free week and please watch the latest in my video series ‘The Positive Habit, Stress-Free, Anxiety-Free, Week Five – How to Release Anxiety With Compassion’.

The feedback for the previous videos in this series has been great and I am delighted that they seem to be helping people to live more calmly.

Please listen to my podcast for Mind Yourself Now! on the  Dermot & Dave Show on Today FM in which I discussed social anxiety which affects almost 20% of Irish people.

heart intelligence

The Positive Habit – Anxiety Free – Stress-Free – Week 6 – Tips and Hacks for Dealing with Anxiety and Stress

Getting a Space Between You & Your Anxiety

heart intelligence

Social Anxiety affects 16.8% of Irish people. Social media is a place where people judge and compare themselves to others.

The Positive Habit self-therapy program builds true inner confidence and helps people to feel calm in any social situation whether at work or with friends.

This program helps people to face the world, both virtual and physical, with true self-belief. It takes 66 days and costs €99.95 – a small investment in time and money given the true benefits it delivers.

Please take the Anxiety Test

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