The Intelligent Heart 42% of Americans Stress affects the body physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is not the event or situation that creates the stress. It is how we respond to it. Emotions have a powerful impact on the human body. When we are stressed, the body becomes out-of-sync. Draining emotions such as frustration, irritation, anxiety, or anger can have a negative impact on our nervous system affecting our thoughts, feelings, behavior, and health in a negative way. Research has shown that when we intentionally shift to a positive emotion, the heart rhythms immediately change. Using the power of your heart through appreciation, kindness, and gratitude to balance thoughts and emotions, you can find energy, mental clarity and feel better fast. You can achieve a feeling of ease and inner harmony that is reflected in more balanced heart rhythms – this facilitates brain function enhancing creativity, concentration, and access to your higher intelligence. 42% of Americans report lying awake at night due to stress American Psychological Association Stress in America Report 2013 The best strategy is to handle stress in the moment. Deal with negative, draining emotions the very moment you feel them come up. Chronic negative emotions can have a detrimental effect on health and function. Follow the Quick Coherence Technique on the next page to bring more peace and clarity into your life.

To Shift Your Emotional Response, Try These Simple Steps: The Quick Coherence® Technique The Quick Coherence Technique is an easy way to interrupt the stress response and quickly bring your system into coherence. Practice this tool several times daily. Use it as a quick stress manager prior to or during chal­lenging events or situations. Try Quick Coherence first thing in the morning, before going to sleep at night, and as a break in the middle of the day. You can use the technique any time you want to rebalance or get an energy boost. It is especially useful when you start to feel a draining emotion such as frustration, irritation, anxiety, or anger. To Shift Your Emotional Response, Try These Simple Steps: Step 1 - Heart Focus Focus your attention on the area around your heart -- the area in the center of your chest. Step 2 - Heart Breathing Breathe deeply but normally and feel as if your breath is coming in and going out through your heart area. Step 3 - Heart Feeling Activate a positive feeling such as love, appreciation, or gratitude for a person, place or experience or recall a fun time when you felt good inside, and try to re-experience it. With practice, you’ll find you can choose your reactions – even in the middle of a challenging or high - pressure situation. www.heartmath.org © 2015 HeartMath LLC