Can you keep a secret? Our hearts have been lying to us for centuries! For too long, we’ve been led to believe that our hearts are nothing more than biological pumps, mindlessly pushing blood through our bodies. But brace yourselves because the truth is about to blow your minds!  

For centuries, the Western world viewed the heart as simply a biological pump pushing blood through the body. However, cutting-edge research over the past few decades has shattered this long-held belief, revealing the heart to be far more than a simple pump. 

The heart is an intelligent system with a functional “brain” that continuously sends signals to the cranial brain, profoundly influencing our conscious awareness, emotions, and higher cognitive faculties. 

There are at least 40,000 neurons in the heart—as many as are found in various subcortical centres of the brain. This neural network allows the heart to function as an advance processor making decisions independently of the brain. 

Scientists at the HeartMath Institute explain, “The heart can also be considered a hormonal gland, manufacturing and secreting hormones and neurotransmitters.” These include dopamine, oxytocin, and hormone precursors in the brain-heart dialogue. 

Far from being a mere pump, the heart is an “intelligent system” par excellence. 

The Role of Electromagnetic Fields

In addition to the neurotransmitters and hormonal signals exchanged, the heart is also the most powerful generator of electromagnetic energy in the human body, producing electrical fields about 60 times greater in amplitude than the activity generated by the brain. This powerful electromagnetic field envelops every single cell in the body.  

Researchers have shown that the electromagnetic signal created by the heart’s intense pumping changes the activity of neurons in the higher brain centres responsible for perception and cognition. They did this by measuring alpha rhythms and gamma wave activity.  

The heart “is broadcasting waves of electromagnetic information that the brain is picking up,” according to neuroscientist Candice Pert in her book Molecules of Emotion.  

In essence, the heart continuously sends instructor signals to align and synchronise the brain’s activity.  

The Energetic Heart and “Energy Codes”

One of the pioneers expanding our understanding of the heart’s role is Bruce Lipton, Ph.D., a cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief.  

Lipton emphasises that vibrating energy fields, including the heart’s electromagnetic field enveloping the entire body, are the fundamental organising principles of all biological processes.   

Drawing from quantum physics and his stem cell research experience, Lipton argues that the subconscious signals the heart continuously sends to the brain profoundly impact our conscious awareness and behaviour.  

Essentially, the heart’s energy “codes” for emotional experiences and physiological activity that then get downloaded into the brain’s neural networks and psychosomatic pathways.  

Lipton writes that positive emotions like gratitude, appreciation and love increase heart coherence and stability of the electromagnetic signals flowing to the brain.    

The Science of Heart Intelligence

Organisations like HeartMath have conducted extensive research on “heart intelligence”—the functional consciousness of the heart and its continual communications with the cranial brain.  

One study at HeartMath demonstrated that sincere feelings of appreciation, care, or love create increased coherence and organisation in the electromagnetic fields generated by the heart. This heart coherence allowed the study participants to experience 25% improvements in cognitive performance on tasks measuring memory, reaction times, and academic performance.  

As cardiologist Dr. Stephen T Sinatra summarises: “The heart is truly where wisdom resides.” 

So, while we commonly think of the brain as the master controlling the body, these findings reveal that the heart directly influences higher reasoning involved in perception, cognition, and emotional processing.   

The heart is essentially “speaking” to the brain in its language of electromagnetic and biochemical signals, exerting a profound influence on our mental and emotional experiences from the subconscious level.  

This dynamic, two-way communication between the heart and brain sheds light on why factors like emotional stress and toxic emotions can negatively impact brain activities like mental clarity, decision-making, and memory.  

When the heart’s rhythms and signals become erratic and disordered during stress, research shows that areas of the brain, like the prefrontal cortex required for higher cognitive function, get impaired.  

The benefits extend to the molecular level, with heart-brain coherence optimising hormones, immune system function, and physical healing processes throughout the body.  

Finding Heart-Brain Harmony

Ancient spiritual traditions have long revered the heart as more than just a physical organ pumping blood. To the mystics and sages, the heart was considered a sacred source of spiritual intelligence, courage, wisdom, and our most profound personal truths. 

Modern science is now validating these spiritual teachings about the heart’s profoundly multidimensional nature. As Gregg Braden and other visionaries have shared, the heart is an astonishingly complex energy centre that generates the body’s most powerful electromagnetic field. This heart field directly impacts the higher brain centres of emotional processing and consciousness. 

Indigenous cultures understood this complex heart intelligence and saw the heart as an organ of spiritual perception—a portal to higher awareness and our deepest intuitions. These ancient traditions taught that by bringing the heart and brain into coherent synchronisation, we could access expanded states of creativity, intuitive insight, and conscious evolution. 

The emerging science of heart intelligence reveals that different emotional states create distinct patterns in the electromagnetic signal emanating from the heart. This signal can be measured in the brainwaves of people around us. Cultivating positive emotional coherence through heart-focused practices amplifies the heart’s harmonic resonance patterns and elevates our consciousness. 

We unlock our full human potential by aligning the heart’s intuitive wisdom with the brain’s rational analysis in heart-brain harmony. We begin vibrating in resonance with the infinite flow of the universe itself. Ancient knowledge regarding the spiritual heart is one of science’s next great frontiers of exploration and conscious progress. 

An Integrated Understanding of Mind, Body and Spirit  

As cutting-edge science continues to unravel and validate the holistic perspective of human consciousness and physiology, the role of the heart is emerging as a powerful organising intelligence that unites the physical, mental, and emotional levels of our being through its continual communications with the brain.   

When we deepen our understanding of the heart’s communications and its profound influence on the psychosomatic networks of the brain and body, we gain new insights into ancient spiritual traditions that emphasise the importance of emotional wisdom and heart-centred awareness.  

When we learn to listen to and harmonise with the wise guiding signals of the heart, we gain access to clearer perception, deepened intuition, and increased mental and emotional balance.  

While the brain remains vitally important, these findings reveal it is far from the sole master orchestrating the biology and experiences of human consciousness.   

The heart holds an equal seat of wisdom and governing intelligence, continually whispering instructions to the brain and body in the subtle languages of biochemistry and energy fields.