Heartfulness Magazine - June 2023 (Volume 8, Issue 6)

www.heartfulnessmagazine.com
June 2023
How to Make the
Most of Life
DAAJI
Neuroscience
and Meditation
SARA LAZAR
We Are All
Connected
ROLLIN MCCRATY
Yoga and
Mental Health
EDDIE STERN
M
A
N
A
G
IN G P E
E
R
P
R
E
S
S
U
R
E
4YOGA
Unity

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Design, Art & Photography — Uma Maheswari G.,
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Virinaflora
Writers — Dan Alder, Ichak Adizes, Babuji, Daaji,
Snehal Deshpande, Sara Lazar, Rollin McCraty, Jasmee
Mudgal, Sriram Raghavendran, Eddie Stern
Support Team — Balaji Iyer, Karthik Natarajan, Ashraful
Nobi, Jayakumar Parthasarathy, Nabhish Tyagi, Shankar
Vasudevan
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Heartfulness

Yoga and Mental Wellness
Dear readers,
June is a celebration of everything yoga at Heartfulness, as we reach the culmination of “Yoga 4 Unity –
Around the World in 100 Days” in the lead up to International Day of Yoga, June 21, 2023.
You don’t have to be a diehard yogi to participate. Yoga is for everyone – old and young, fit and unfit,
rich and poor, from all cultures and walks of life – and our authors and artists make it easy by sharing the
simplest of tips on breathing, moving, meditating, and related topics like ayurveda and mental health.
They will show you how even baby steps will improve your quality of life.
We also hear from scientific researchers in fields like heart coherence and neuroscience, providing
fascinating data on the benefits of yogic practices, especially for mental well-being. Finally, Daaji brings
us some thoughts on how yogic practices will create a better destiny.
Happy reading,
The editors
June 2023

inside
self-care
Breathing and Moving
Daaji
12
Fever
Babuji
16
The Mind According to
Patanjali
Dan Alder
18
inspiration
How to Make the Most of
Life
Daaji
28
Yogic Lifestyle & Well-being
Eddie Stern
33
environment
The Neuroscience of
Meditation
Sara Lazar
70
creativity
Rumi
Jasmee Mudgal
78
what's up
82
workplace
How to Manage in Times of
Crisis
Ichak Adizes
42
Peer Pressure
Sriram Raghavendran
45
relationships
In Search of a New World
Snehal Deshpande
50
We Truly Are All Connected
Rollin McCraty
59
June 2023 7

DAAJI
Daaji is the Heartfulness
Guide. He is an innovator and
researcher, equally at home in the
fields of spirituality, science, and
the evolution of consciousness.
He has taken our understanding
of human potential to a new
level.
ROLLIN MCCRATY
Rollin is a scientist,
psychophysiologist, executive
vice president and director of
research at HeartMath Institute,
member of the Global Coherence
Steering Committee, and project
coordinator of GCI’s Global
Coherence Monitoring System.
He is a professor at Florida
Atlantic University.
DAN ALDER
Dan has been teaching yoga
classes, workshops, retreats and
teacher trainings since 2010.
Dan’s area of expertise is the Yoga
Sutras of Patanjali and he has
published original translations
and commentary. He lives
in Stanthorpe, Queensland,
Australia.
EDDIE STERN
Eddie started practicing and
studying yoga in 1987, and
in 1993 opened his first yoga
school in the East Village, NYC,
which ran until the pandemic
hit. Now he runs a global online
community as well as rebuilding
his in-person classes in NYC.
BABUJI
Shri Ram Chandra of
Shahjahanpur, affectionately
known as Babuji, was a
revolutionary spiritual scientist
and philosopher. He was the
founder of the present-day
system of Raja Yoga meditation
known as Heartfulness.
SARA LAZAR
Sara is an Associate Researcher
in the Psychiatry Department at
Massachusetts General Hospital
and Assistant Professor in
Psychology at Harvard Medical
School. The focus of her research
is on the neural mechanisms
underlying the beneficial effects
of yoga and meditation, both in
clinical settings and in healthy
individuals.
Heartfulness
8

SRIRAM
RAGHAVENDRAN
Sriram is a Heartfulness
practitioner and trainer working
in the tech sector. He enjoys
reflecting on his small, day-to-
day experiences to gain a deeper
insight into the principles of life.
SNEHAL DESHPANDE
Dr. Snehal is a developmental
therapist who owns and leads
SNEH, an institution dedicated
to improving the quality of life
of children and their families.
She is passionate about spiritual
well-being and actively drives the
Heartfulness CME initiative for
healthcare professionals across
India.
contributors
ICHAK ADIZES
Dr. Adizes is a leading
management expert. He has
received 21 honorary doctorates
and is the author of 27 books
that have been translated into 36
languages. He is recognized as
one of the top 30 thought leaders
of America.
JASMEE MUDGAL
Jasmee is a graphic designer with
Heartfulness Magazine, and
she is also a Klayzen potter. She
aspires to open a studio where
underprivileged women from the
villages can make art and support
themselves.
ANANYA PATEL
Ananya is a designer and
illustrator who enjoys finding
dynamic ways to tell stories.
She works on projects with
social impact, and runs a youth
collective bringing innovative
design approaches to climate
action and gender equality.
UMA MAHESWARI
Uma is a web and graphic
designer by profession, serving
clients worldwide. She is our
chief designer for Heartfulness
Magazine since its inception in
2015. She has also designed many
books for adults and children,
and is responsible for the design
of our magazine website at www.
heartfulnessmagazine.com.
June 2023 9

Yoga is not a pastime.True Yoga is for
those adventurous souls who are ready
to embark on a journey beyond the
mind to the spiritual center of being.
Along the way, the mind and heart are
purified, they are ennobled, and they
become supreme.
DAAJI
self-care

DAAJI shares some simple practices for mental and physical
well-being.
Breathing
and Moving
YES, YOU CAN DO IT!
T
here are times in our lives
when we experience more
stress, feel overwhelmed,
and even out of touch with those
around us. We may find it difficult
to focus, and struggle to get out of
our many thoughts. We may even
be dealing with addictions of one
sort or another.
Here are a few easy and fun
exercises that can help you
rest your neural pathways and
give your mind and body the
opportunity to return to a more
balanced state. This, in turn, leads
to better health, feels good, and
will improve your ability to cope
with day-to-day situations.
BREATHING
Simple breathing practices help
us in many ways. They oxygenate
the body, balance the nervous
system, and even provide a natural
free “high.” Here are 2 breathing
exercises. Go at your own pace,
and feel free to use either of them
at any time.
Heartfulness
12

Alternate Nostril Breathing
This exercise is especially helpful
for easing anxiety and stress,
to feel more grounded. It can
improve brain function and is also
very relaxing.
• Keep your right thumb on
your right nostril.
• Inhale through your left
nostril.
• Gently close your left nostril
with the ring finger and lift
the thumb to open the right
side.
• Slowly exhale through the
right nostril.
Abdominal Breathing
• Sit in a comfortable
position, on the floor or on
a chair.
• Close your eyes.
• Observe your breathing,
and inhale and exhale for 6
breaths.
• Keep your focus to your
exhalation and slow it down
each time.
• As you breathe, keep
your right hand on your
abdomen. As you exhale,
gently draw your abdomen
in. Repeat for 6 breaths.
• Inhale through the right
again.
• Close the right nostril, open
left and exhale left.
• This is one round.
• Repeat the same for 6
rounds.
TOUCH AND MOVEMENT
Touch and movement are great
ways to get out of your head and
into your body. These exercises
will help you feel better. Go at
your own pace and use them at any
time.
To warm up, first stand with your
feet apart and facing forward,
knees slightly bent, and slowly
twist your body from one side to
June 2023 13
SELF-CARE

the other, swinging your arms with
you from side to side.
Do this 10 times on each side. It
will loosen your body and help you
feel relaxed.
Namaste
• Eyes open.
• Bring your palms together
in front of the chest in
Namaste position.
• Breathe in. As you inhale,
take your hands up towards
the ceiling and above your
head.
• Pause here for a second.
• Exhale and bring your hands
down in front of the chest.
• Repeat 6 times.
• Allow the tip of the thumbs
to touch each other and
bring them downwards.
• Look at your index fingers
and thumbs as they make a
heart.
• The middle fingers are
pointing upwards.
• Make a firm intention that
you choose for yourself,
using the 3 Ps.
• Bring this little heart toward
your heart, the tip of the
thumbs resting on your
chest, then close your eyes
and rest there.
The Heart Connector
• Bring your hands in front of
you and join the tips of the
middle fingers together, i.e.
the longest fingers.
• Fold the index, ring fingers
and little fingers together
in your hands and allow
their knuckles to touch each
other.

Jump!
• Stand up, turn to face East
and jump 5 times.
• Turn to face North and
jump 5 times.
• Turn to face West and jump
5 times.
• Turn to face South and
jump 5 times.
• Repeat this whole sequence
at least 3 times.
GO OUTSIDE AND LOOK UP
Do something active like counting
birds or chimney pots, looking at
cloud formations, or enjoying the
stars at night. Looking up squeezes
the area at the base of your brain,
and this has a balancing effect on
your system.
Going outside connects you
with the world and expands your
horizon.
June 2023 15
SELF-CARE

During his lifetime, BABUJI
shared a wealth of
knowledge to his associates
about the simple natural
remedies that he learned
and also discovered during
his life in northern India. This
month we share one of his
remedies for fever. 1
Babuji’s Natural Remedies
Fever
I
n Ayurveda, there are two factors
that cause fever – toxicity due to
improper digestion and foreign
particles like bacteria, viruses,
and toxins. Giloy (Tinospora
cordifolia) is a herbaceous vine
that is used to combat fever, and
for its high nutritional content,
alkaloids, terpenoids, lignans, and
steroids. The stems are mostly
used, but the leaves and roots can
also be used.
Giloy relieves any type of fever,
including chronic and recurrent
fever, dengue fever, swine flu, hay
fever, and Covid. For best results,
drink the decoction or juice in the
morning on an empty stomach,
and avoid taking it at night.
A handful of clean chopped Giloy
stems.
Water to fill a small saucepan.
INGREDIENTS
Place the stems in the saucepan of
water, bring it to the boil, and let
it simmer for at least 10 minutes.
This will produce a decoction.
Strain the mixture, let it cool, and
take a teaspoon of the liquid twice
a day.
It can also be taken in powder
form, capsule form, or as a juice.
METHOD
1
Please note that these remedies are not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please seek
the advice of your physician or qualified health provider. The remedies may be used to complement medical treatment and
support recovery.
Heartfulness
16

The mind
according to
Patanjali
18 Heartfulness
DAN ALDER explores the
topic of mental well-
being during a Yoga4Unity
2023 masterclass. He
asks: how does the
sage Patanjali view
the mind? What does
Patanjali believe to be
our potential, what gets
in the way of us attaining
that potential, and what
solutions are offered
to us to remove those
barriers?

Yoga is the goal not
the practice
You may think that there is no
goal to yoga, but Patanjali states
that yoga is the cessation of the
mind’s fluctuations. So yoga is
the goal, not a practice. When
we talk about yogic practice, in
a way we’re not talking about it
correctly. Patanjali’s final result
is yoga. And how do we reach
that final result? By bringing the
mind’s fluctuations to stillness
so that there is no thought in
your mind. Then we have yoga,
and yoga is union.
The ego, the aspect of the mind
that refers to “I,” tells us that
we are different and separate
from everything else. And along
with that separateness comes
suffering, whether it’s just a
little bit or a huge amount of
suffering. So, as long as there is
perceived separation, we believe
that union is the answer to our
problem in life.
But Patanjali wants us to reject
union. I know that must sound
crazy, so I’ll say it again: reject
union or yoga.
The reason? Because everything
is already whole and united, it
cannot be any other way. That
is the natural state of things.
Whether it’s a galaxy trillions of
miles away, you, me, or the grass
outside, it is already part of the
whole, already unified with that
which it should be unified with.
We are already whole, complete,
and unified with all things.
That in itself is a pretty big idea,
and it is why Patanjali says that
yoga, union, comes when the
mind’s fluctuations cease. When
our story of separation falls
away, we find union.
This idea can be explained
using a few other words, one
being kaivalya, which is absolute
freedom or liberation. “Freedom
from what?” you might ask.
Specifically, freedom from the
kleshas, which I’ll explain soon.
Another way of expressing
it is to say that when we are
in samadhi (another term for
bringing the mind’s fluctuations
to stillness), our own nature
vanishes. Normally we’re
inquisitive, asking “Is this true?
Is this false? Is this right? Is
this wrong?”The nature of our
mind, to be constantly on the go,
vanishes. And what’s left is the
ineffable, unspeakable peace of
samadhi, yoga, kaivalya. What
makes it difficult to attain this
state? There are many things,
and Patanjali is thorough about
naming them.
Problems
1. Thoughts
The first difficulty or problem
is thought itself. If yoga
is cessation of the mind’s
fluctuations, then thought is part
of the problem.
Patanjali tells us that thoughts
come in five types, and each of
those five types will be either
pleasant or painful. Sometimes
I think we just want the mind
to be full of pleasant, kind,
compassionate, and loving
thoughts, and it is a good thing
to cultivate. But those very
virtuous thoughts also prevent
the mind coming to stillness.
That is another big idea – we’re
trying to remove both goodness
and wickedness equally from
our mind. That is how the mind
comes to stillness.
19
June 2023
SELF-CARE

In Patanjali’s mind there is no
good thought or bad thought,
there is only yoga or not yoga;
there is only a mind that is
fluctuating or a mind that is not
fluctuating. So thoughts are a
problem that we all encounter
on our way toward finding
absolute peace.
2. Obstacles
Patanjali also presents the
obstacles, and I’m sure that
you’ll be able to identify
with them – illness, sloth,
doubt, carelessness, idleness,
intemperance, confusion, and
knowledge unattained. Now,
each of these speaks for itself,
but it is worth explaining the
final one, knowledge unattained.
Many of us believe that if only
we knew what Patanjali knew,
then we would have peace.
But that in itself is a problem
we need to overcome, because
knowledge will not solve our
problem. Knowledge is just
more fluctuations of the mind.
Whether the knowledge is
right or wrong, true or false, it
prevents the mind from coming
to stillness.
So you are doing yourself a
disservice by thinking that you
need to know more to bring
your mind to peace. Quite the
opposite is true. You need to
disband all your knowledge,
temporarily mind you, if you are
to bring your mind to peace.
3. Afflictions
Patanjali also presents the
kleshas, and they are the main
things we must overcome in our
practice. Mental fluctuations,
our thoughts, are a bit like
software; we’re able to train
If yoga is cessation of the
mind’s fluctuations,
then thought is part
of the problem.
20 Heartfulness
SELF-CARE

So thoughts are a problem that
we all encounter on our way
toward finding absolute peace.
ourselves to think along certain
lines, we can discard bad
thoughts and replace them with
good thoughts. The same is true
with the obstacles. What was
a difficult obstacle a week ago
or a year ago, can be overcome.
We’re able to improve upon
the thoughts in our mind and
overcome the obstacles.
But the kleshas are like our
hardware, and they are the
things upon which our minds
are built from birth. We cannot
be completely free of them, and
we cannot tinker with them. All
we can do is overcome them.
“Klesha” means affliction or
a poison of the mind. The
kleshas are the root causes of
disturbance and suffering. There
are five types of afflictions, and
the first one is avidya, which
means to “not know.” Now, you
might think, if not knowing is
the problem, then knowing is
the solution. But that’s not quite
it. The way we overcome avidya
is not through knowledge, but
through ceasing the fluctuations
of the mind. The quieter the
mind becomes, the more we
start to feel part of the whole
and less separate from it.
Avidya is described by Patanjali
as being the fertile ground from
which all the other afflictions
grow. If there’s no avidya, there
are no other afflictions; when
there is avidya, the others have a
nice place to grow.
The second affliction is egotism,
asmita. The ego is the “I-ness”
of our experience. So as long as
there is I-ness, there is otherness
and separation, and this is the
beginning of suffering.
The third affliction is raga,
which can be translated as
lust – lust for power, lust for
life, even lust for spiritual
enlightenment… lust for
anything. It disrupts the mind
no end. And lust comes about
because of pleasure. There’s
nothing wrong with pleasure,
but if we crave it enough, it
morphs into the lust scenario.
That’s very disturbing to the
mind.
The fourth affliction is dvesha
or hatred. Hatred is the result
of suffering. Again, there is
nothing wrong with suffering,
it’s part of life. But when we
develop an aversion to suffering,
and particularly if that aversion
becomes extreme, we begin to
21
June 2023

hate what causes us to suffer.
That also disturbs the mind no
end.
Finally, there is the fifth
affliction, abhinivesha, the
instinct to cling to life. And this
is playing in the background of
our minds in almost every single
decision we make. Behind every
plan there is a silent question:
will this action prolong my life,
will it keep me from death?
So these five afflictions are both
problems and a part of life.
What Patanjali is essentially
telling us is that we must
overcome them, not abolish
but overcome them. A nice
analogy for this is the hurdles at
the Olympics. The 100-meter
sprinters run as fast as they can
to the finish line, and that seems
like a pretty easy path. But the
hurdlers have to confront the
hurdles. What happens if they
run to a hurdle and stop, saying,
“I can’t get past that”? Then,
that’s where it ends for them.
What do hurdlers do? They
jump over each barrier and
encounter another one.
This is how we can view
thoughts, obstacles, and
afflictions. They are hurdles
that make it difficult, but not
impossible, to reach the goal of
yoga. In a sense, the 100-meter
sprint is what we would all
like our spiritual practice to
be – from start to finish in
ten seconds flat we become
enlightened. Well, it’s a little
longer and more difficult than
that! We can probably view our
spiritual practice as a decade-
long steeplechase, where we are
going to encounter obstacles
very regularly. And that
means we have to consistently
overcome them, otherwise we
just remain where we are.
It’s like anything we pursue
really; the learning process, the
overcoming of difficulties, is
always going to make or break
our accomplishments. So there
are problems, and there are
solutions and the means by
which we address the problems.
Solutions
1. Dispassion
Patanjali has given us ways
to address the problems, and
the single most effective way
is vairagya, which means
dispassion. That is to say, we
need not be moved one way or
the other by the outcomes of our
mind. What does that mean?
Let’s say you do something
really well. Don’t be too uppity
22 Heartfulness
SELF-CARE

3. Attitudes
There is a great bit of advice by
Patanjali: he recommends four
different attitudes to respond
to the things that arise in the
mind – friendliness, compassion,
delight, or disregard. Now,
the fourth attitude requires
explanation. Friendliness,
compassion, and delight need
no elaboration – it would be
lovely to respond to everything
with those three attitudes. But
sometimes things arise in us
that are horrible or wicked.
Friendliness, compassion, and
delight are not appropriate
for such thoughts and this is
where the attitude of disregard
comes into play. Disregard is no
different from dispassion.
So do not give that wicked
thought any regard, do not take
it on board. Allow it to come,
don’t suppress it, and don’t
and happy about having done
it well, because that will lead
to pride. Likewise, if you don’t
do it well, don’t be too down on
yourself, too critical. It will lead
to diminishing yourself. Keep
an even footing at all times.
Remember that we are always
just one moment away from
both our very best and our very
worst self.
Dispassion is a way of gliding
through all our emotional and
mental states without letting
them stick to us. We let them
go as easily as they come to us.
Whatever arises in our mind,
be it beautiful and wonderful or
horrific and terrible, we avoid
attachment to it. Hugging it
tight, saying, “I love you,” or
squeezing the life out of it and
trying to kill it, both just feed
the monster.
So regardless of the quality of
the thoughts that arise in your
mind, be dispassionate toward
them. You’ll find that things
leave as smoothly as they came.
2. Practice
The other teaching that goes
along with vairagya is abhyasa,
and this is practice. It goes
without saying that if you want
to get better at something you
must practice. Patanjali says
practice, practice, practice, and
continue to practice. We master
things that we couldn’t do a
year ago, and there will always
be things in front of us that we
are yet to overcome. So practice
is the key to consistently
overcoming the obstacles and
problems.
Mental fluctuations, our thoughts, are a
bit like software; we’re able to train
ourselves to think along certain lines,
we can discard bad thoughts and
replace them with good thoughts.
SELF-CARE

express it. As smoothly as it
comes, let it go. I think that’s a
terrific piece of advice for how
things arise within us. And it’s
not a bad bit of advice for how
to operate in the world as well.
Patanjali gives us other ideas
about how we can move the
mind toward a peaceful place in
sutras 34 to 39 of chapter one.
There are half a dozen ideas
that, if practiced, will calm your
mind to a point where you’re
able to begin proper meditation.
The eight limbs
And then we have the idea of
the eight limbs, which were
devised by Patanjali for one
purpose, to overcome the
afflictions. Which affliction in
particular? The first one, avidya,
which gives fertile ground for all
the others to grow. So, the eight
limbs are all about liberating
ourselves from the affliction of
avidya.
Patanjali introduces the eight
limbs to us by name, and tells
us that there are certain types
of thoughts which disturb the
mind; for example, harmful
thoughts, untrue thoughts,
envious thoughts, thoughts of
a sexual nature, and thoughts
of possession. He tells us to
oppose or neutralize such
thoughts. That leads us into the
first limb, yama, which is about
establishing a mind free from
harmful thoughts. You might
know from your own experience
that harmful thoughts can be
very regular; certainly, they
are quite regular in my mind.
So establishing yama is a very
difficult thing to do.
I think of the eight limbs
like dominoes. Imagine eight
dominoes, and if we push over
the first one, the rest will fall
quite easily and naturally. Now,
pushing over that first domino,
establishing the yamas, requires
enormous time, diligence,
persistence, and practice. But
once we knock over the first
domino, once we become
established in the first limb,
the second, third, fourth, fifth,
sixth, seventh, and the eighth
limbs are knocked over naturally,
almost by consequence.
That’s exactly how Patanjali
expresses it to us – cause and
effect. Knocking over the first
domino causes the second to
fall, which causes the third to
fall, and so on. When yama
is established, then niyama is
essentially ready to be knocked
over.
When the yogi has established
the second limb of niyama,
then asana is very easy. I’m not
talking about all the postures
you do in a yoga class, I’m
talking specifically about what
Patanjali defines as being a
comfortable and stable sitting
posture. You position your body
24 Heartfulness
SELF-CARE

Illustrations by JASMEE MUDGAL
in a way that is comfortable
and stable. That’s the third limb
accomplished, because when the
mind is peaceful, the body can
be still and comfortable for long
periods of time.
Then there is the fourth limb,
pranayama, the establishment of
a breath which is long and subtle
and free from irregularities. That
is a result. You don’t need to
force pranayama. It is the result
of a mind that is peaceful and a
body that is comfortable.
And when pranayama is
established, the fifth limb
pratyahara is now ready. That
is when the mind withdraws
from its sense objects, including
thoughts. Just as sound is a sense
object for the ear, thought is a
sense object for the mind. The
mind withdraws from taking
notice of the things that occur
within it. And that is the end of
preparation. Preparation ends
with pratyahara.
So regardless of
the quality of the
thoughts that
arise in your mind,
be dispassionate
toward them.
The sixth limb, dharana, is the
beginning of proper meditation.
Dharana is low level meditation,
but it is proper meditation.
The seventh limb, dhyana,
is again proper meditation,
above dharana but lower than
samadhi. And then finally there
is samadhi, which is essentially
defined as disappearing – there
is no longer a “you” to discern
what is and what is not, between
you and the object of your
meditation. In samadhi, you
are not there to experience, and
as soon as you arrive again at
experience there is separation.
So, should you be diligent and
disciplined enough to attain
samadhi, you will not be there to
experience it.
If I could leave you with one
final piece of advice, it would
simply be this: begin with yama,
the first limb. Try to free your
mind from harmful thoughts.
If you can establish yourself
in yama, the others will follow
almost effortlessly. There’s no
need to concentrate, but you
do need to try to combat those
disturbing thoughts that occur
in your mind.
25
June 2023
SELF-CARE

We live in a deep illusion
– the illusion of hope,
of future, of tomorrow.
Nietzsche says somewhere
that man cannot live with
the true: he needs dreams,
he needs illusions, he
needs lies to exist. And
Nietzsche is true. As
man is, he cannot exist
with the truth.This has
to be understood very
deeply, because without
understanding it there
can be no entry into the
inquiry which is called
yoga.
OSHO
inspiration

28 Heartfulness
HowtoMake
HowtoMake
theMostofLife
theMostofLife

DAAJI explores the topic of destiny, including our own role
in determining our future, as well as the roles other people,
circumstances, and the environment play. He shares with us some
practices and attitudes that help to make the most out of life.
What determines our
destiny?
This is a fundamental question
of existence. We all want to
change our behavior so that
our loved ones can resonate
with us. And we also expect
our loved ones to change their
behavior so that we love them
even more. Now, in order to
understand human behavior, we
first must understand how the
conditioning of our behavior
patterns came about. And
also, can we break away from
these patterns? Researchers
study these things in a very
limited way. For example,
they study alcohol addiction,
drug addiction, sex addiction,
and other habits that become
ingrained as the nervous system
becomes hardwired.
I would like to focus on the way
we develop vrittis, the activities
and tendencies of the mind, and
how we develop our prakriti, our
individual nature, based on these
mental activities. It eventually
becomes our hardcore genetic
nature, which determines our
future. We can say that we create
our destiny according to the
tendencies we develop.
How do we create
tendencies?
The first thing that contributes
to our conditioning is
environment. For example, say
you had a love affair, and you
loved that person very much
but you broke up. After some
time, you meet them again.
How do you behave? Do you
start fighting with them, or do
you say, “I’m sorry it ended like
that”? Are you nice, or does your
mind become volatile when it
is triggered by seeing the other
person?
The second thing is memory,
which plays a big role. There is
cognitive memory, existential
memory, and episodic memory,
but deep down our experiences
remain as emotional memory.
And it is emotional memory
that creates our behavior
patterns. We learn to protect
ourselves from allowing such
episodes to affect us again in
the future. For example, if a
person was bitten by a dog in
childhood, they will stay away
from dogs when they are adults,
even from little puppies.
How do we change
patterned behavior?
In the Heartfulness Cleaning
practice, we use our will to
make a sankalpa that “All the
impurities and complexities I
have gathered during the day
are leaving my system,” and it
has a magical impact. By doing
this for fifteen minutes in the
evening, after the day’s work
and before being with family
members, we clear the slate.
We will be fresh, without the
baggage leftover from the day.
Let me give you an analogy.
When you come back from a
two-hour workout at the gym,
do you greet your partner and
say, “Come my darling, let me
hug you”? Your darling will say,
“Please stay away from me until
you have a shower.” Cleaning is
required.
29
June 2023
INSPIRATION

Similarly, your inner hygiene is
spoiled by your conscious and
unconscious activities, and you
also need to clean that.
The next level is to prevent the
creation of impurities in the first
place. Cleaning is an after effect
– you get dirty so you clean
yourself. The next level is to
prevent your psyche from being
soiled by external things. You
immunize your mental activity
and your emotions. And how
can you do that?
By meditating. You become
so balanced from inside that
nothing can shake you.
Behavioral change is much
easier for a person who has a
goal in mind. For a basketball
player in the U.S., the goal is
to become an NBA player. For
a cricketer in India, the goal is
to join the national team. Their
behavior changes because they
establish what we want in life.
We all adjust our lifestyle to
match the goals we aspire for,
and the same is true for inner
goals: a God-oriented person
wishes to realize the Ultimate,
while a scientific person wishes
their consciousness to expand
so they can experience its full
potential.
People who become alcoholics
or drug addicts are hardwired
to certain habits, which means
flexibility is lost. Even when
they wish to change these habits,
the heart and brain will not
easily support that change. It
requires interest and enthusiasm
toward a better goal, and the
aspiration to achieve that goal.
If they are feeling sad, some
level of enthusiasm has to be
there if they are not going to
self-medicate by drinking and
smoking. Instead of criticizing,
family members can try to give
positive feedback, “Yes, you
can do it. You’re brave, you’re
strong.” I think it takes so many
people – friends and family
members – to help any of us
change our habits.
So, as far as good habits are
concerned, parents can help
by sowing the seeds in their
children from the moment
of conception. As the first
embryonic cells divide rapidly,
becoming billions of cells, they
are constantly exposed to the
way parents behave, the way
the magnetic field changes
when parents are angry, having
arguments, etc. These affect the
inner structure. And if the child’s
structure becomes used to anger,
it adapts accordingly.
We can never change what
is hard-coded in our genetic
structure, but we can bring about
epigenetic changes and slowly
help the genes to mutate.
For example, children who
practice Brighter Minds do a
beautiful exercise that enhances
coordination between the
30 Heartfulness
INSPIRATION

right brain and the left brain.
Otherwise, we gradually lose
this ability around the age
of fifteen, when our creative
abilities are compromised
because of the procreative
hormones that are released into
our system.
If a person lives in a rough
neighborhood, where they are
always afraid to walk through
the streets, how well would
they sleep at night? They would
adjust, even though they are
afraid, but their brain cells
would adapt to that external
violent atmosphere. Per contra,
a person living in a peaceful
environment will have brain
cells adapted to a peaceful
atmosphere, where there is less
effort required, and therefore
less entropy. For anything to
remain stable, we need energy
input. To maintain balance
and stable behavior, effort is
required.
And why do we make efforts?
Because we are interested in
growth. Goals, aspirations,
and lifestyle changes are all
connected with growth and
evolution.
How to go about this? Again,
the answer is the Heartfulness
Cleaning method that changes
our behavior from the root, from
the subconscious level. What it
requires is practice.
Other factors
Designing our own destiny is
one thing, but other factors also
have an impact on us reaching
our destination. For example,
Lord Jesus Christ did not
choose to be crucified. That was
not his goal. Other people did
that to him. And Lord Rama
and Mother Sita did not aspire
to go into the forest. Was it
written in their destinies that
they both suffered so much?
No, because no less a person
It requires interest
and enthusiasm
toward a better
goal, and the
aspiration to
achieve that goal.
than the Sapta Rishi, Vashishta
Muni, gave the benediction
for their marriage. He said,
“This is the best couple, the
best horoscope combination,”
and yet they suffered greatly. It
was one of King Dasharatha’s
queens, Kaikeyi, who caused
their miseries. Was it the destiny
of millions of Jewish people to
be killed so mercilessly at the
behest of Hitler? No. Destinies
can be changed and manipulated
by many factors – other human
beings, circumstances, and the
environment. So, while we do
have an important part to play
in our destiny, it’s quite complex.
Also, what happens when we
leave our destiny to God or our
karmas? While our karmas do
determine our destiny, this one-
sided attitude is the reason why
some people, including many
Hindus, are weak and impotent
in this world. They leave
everything to God and don’t do
anything for themselves. Instead,
31
June 2023
INSPIRATION

let’s do our part toward weaving
our destiny in a masterful way.
Discipline
There is no magic wand for
discipline. Otherwise one
Jesus would have been enough,
one Krishna would have been
enough. Even during their
lifetimes, they could not
change people. Discipline is an
individual phenomenon because
we have the freedom to choose
our own way of life. And often
we choose the easy path, we
prefer to go downhill, whereas to
climb Everest takes time, and a
level of organization, discipline,
and effort. Even keeping our
homes organized requires
discipline and effort. For
example, your children’s rooms
become untidy if you don’t
regularly arrange their books,
toys, and clothes. Someone has
to keep them tidy and clean.
Discipline is also necessary in
the cosmos. Planets don’t deviate
from their orbits, so what
provides the energy input to
keep them organized? If we say
that it is gravitation, then the
question arises, “What creates
gravitation?”This leads to
deeper and deeper questions.
Personal discipline also requires
energy input; and energy input
means using willpower. Now,
willpower does not need to
be forceful; it does not have
to mean, “I must do this.”
Willpower is far more effective
if our hearts cry out with joy and
a desperate interest to achieve
our goal. Then, energy input will
happen.
But so many things happen in
life. Our lives are governed by
people and things other than
ourselves alone. So what is in
our control? To be disciplined,
have a goal, and try to achieve it.
And please cultivate enthusiasm,
because God doesn’t descend
into sad hearts or hearts fuming
with anger. God descends into
hearts that are welcoming and
joyful.
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=JXFxehPfrfc
Illustrations by JASMEE
MUDGAL
32 Heartfulness
INSPIRATION

What Is Yoga?
There are many definitions of
yoga. I am partial to Patanjali’s
definition, “chitta vritti nirodhah.”
Then yoga is like an equation:
yoga = nirodhah, the stilling or
mastery of the vrittis, which are
the fluctuations and movements
or activities in the chitta, which
is the field of mind, thought,
consciousness.
And key to Patanjali’s definition is
the idea that yoga is an umbrella
term for different things we can
do to achieve nirodhah. It’s not
just one thing. We can use asanas,
pranayama, mantra, service, bhakti,
and other different modalities.
From a scientific view, yoga is
a systematic multi-modality
intervention of practices that
influence our anatomical body and
physiological systems, balance and
calm our emotional and mental
states, increase discernment
(buddhi), and increase devotion,
gratitude and awe. These last three
have been scientifically shown
to have a multitude of benefits
on cardiovascular health, and the
way we relate to the world, and
also provide conceptualizations
of transcendental principles. For
example, there are meditations
on tanmantras, panmantras, and
pancha mahabhutas that expand or
dissolve our sense of separateness
from the rest of the world, and
allow us to integrate ourselves in
different ways.
Scientific research
About 12 years ago, a researcher
approached me and asked if I
could design a yoga protocol
to help with pre-hypertensive
conditions in African Americans.
I’d never done anything like that
and I didn’t have a college degree.
After high school, I went straight
to India and started learning yoga.
I learned everything from Mother
India.
We did a trial, and had very good
outcomes on diastolic, systolic, and
sleeping blood pressure measures.
I did another study with the same
researcher, this time with a yoga
protocol to help improve grade
point average in high school
students. We did a 40-week study
comparing yoga to gym class,
and at the end of the study the
students in the yoga group had a
2.7% higher grade point average
than the students in the gym class.
Yoga helped reduce stress, increase
Yogic Lifestyle &
Well-being
EDDIE STERN has been practicing and studying yoga since
he was fifteen, and was drawn by India and the yogic
life. Here he explains the science of yoga, and how the
practices affect both physical and mental well-being.
June 2023 33

time on task, and help with task
completion. Many students who
are under a lot of stress have a
hard time with task completion.
After a few years, I worked
on a study about back pain. In
between, while developing courses
for universities on yoga and
physiology, I questioned: how is
it that studies on hypertension,
grade point average, and other
things, had the same outcomes?
I use basically the same protocol
– asanas in basically the same
sequence, pranayama, meditation,
and relaxation – and the outcomes
were the same. We don’t find that
in medical science. If you have
high blood pressure, you are not
given diabetes medication. If you
have anxiety, you are not given
diabetes medication. You are given
the medication which suits your
malady. But here we had a host
of different problems, we were
applying the same methodologies,
and people were getting better.
So my question was: what do
hypertension, grade point average,
back pain, anxiety, digestive
disorders, certain cancers, type 2
diabetes have in common that is
driving those diseases? The answer
is stress and stress perception.
Stress
Even when we see the word
“stress” in huge red letters on a
screen it makes us stressed. But if
we change the colors, if we use soft
blues, all of a sudden we can deal
with it. Stress is a term borrowed
from physics and it’s a neutral
force. When we have a lot of it,
and the body can’t deal with the
demand, it becomes distressed,
whereas when it’s a positive
stress, we call it eustress, and we
grow from it. Stress is something
we actually need in our lives to
grow; but when there’s too much
of it and our body can’t adapt,
it becomes chronic and leads to
problems.
We need to start reframing our
perception of stress to understand,
“When do I need to pull away?
When can I engage? When do I
have to manage it because I don’t
have a choice?” In yoga, we have
lists that help us do this:
Stress induced states
irritability
anger
aggression
hostility
defensiveness
agressiveness
impatience
fatigue
hopelessness
resignation
blame shifting
indignation
demanding
self-centered
= chronic
inflammation
Yogic States
calm
quiet
happy
patient
understanding
kind
empathetic
slow
loving
appreciation
gratitude
awe
receptive
giving
= healing response
Parasympathetic
up-regulation
Kriya Yoga
Pratipaksha Bhavana
Sympathetic
Hyper-arousal
Out of control
chitta vrittis
Heartfulness
34
INSPIRATION

associated with the healing
response, and parasympathetic up-
regulation, which occurs through
Kriya Yoga and Pratipaksha
Bhavana. In-control chitta vrittis
can lead us into the healing
response, while out-of-control
chitta vrittis lead us into stress-
induced states.
Why is yoga so effective?
One of the hallmarks of yogic
practices is top-down and bottom-
There are stress-induced states
that we can all identify with
– when we get super stressed,
irritable, angry, aggressive, hostile,
or defensive.
The yogic states are things
like being calm, quiet, content,
accepting, surrendered, loving,
appreciative. Stress-induced
states are associated with chronic
inflammation, sympathetic
hyperarousal, and out-of-control
chitta vrittis. Yogic states are
up information processing. We
do things for the body that affect
the brain, and we do things for
the brain that affect the body
downstream, and then we get
integration.
We think about the sympathetic
and parasympathetic nervous
systems as complementary
paired systems, not antagonistic
systems. They’re antagonistic
when they’re out of control,
while we want to make them
complementary. In yoga we see
the idea of complementarity with
Hatha – ha, sun, and tha, moon.
Hatha Yoga is about creating
complementary systems and
increasing and maximizing them
within us. Bottom-up practices
are things that we do with the
body, e.g. asanas, pranayama, diet,
sleep, and exercise. They affect
the brainstem, sending messages
up toward the prefrontal cortex
through the limbic system. Top-
down practices are things like
meditation, behavioral practices,
self-examination, devotion,
loving kindness, maitri, karuna,
mudita, upeksha etc. These use
the prefrontal cortex, starting
at the top level of the brain,
which is going to shift the
messages coming downstream
through the brainstem into the
body, changing physiological
body states. For example, in
Heartfulness meditation, you’re
doing things with your heart
and your cognition. When you’re
done, you feel relaxed, you feel
calm, you’ve entered into a healing
INSPIRATION
June 2023 35

INSPIRATION
Top-down practices support
regulation of the autonomic and
neuroendocrine systems, emotions,
and behavioral responses to
challenge and stress perception.
As well, they affect vagal tone.
The vagus nerve is 80% of the
parasympathetic nervous system,
which is directly impacted by
these practices, and when vagal
tone is low we have inflammatory
problems. So these practices
are very important for down-
regulating the inflammatory
response.
Kriya Yoga
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra
2:1 says, Tapah svādhyāya
Isvarapranidhānāni kriyā yogah.
Tapas, swadhyaya, and Ishwara
pranidhana are the practices
contained within yoga that are
going to have a particular effect.
Kriya Yoga is an umbrella term
for the physical practices of
tapas, the verbal practices of
swadhyaya, which include the
study of texts, mantra repetition,
and self-examination, and Ishwara
pranidhana, which includes mental
and emotional practices, surrender,
devotion, gratitude, a sense of
unknowing and of awe at the
universe.
These three categories of practices
do two things. First, they thin the
kleshas, which are the reasons we
suffer and the things that prevent
us from knowing who we truly
are. They help reduce the kleshas
response, you’ve had a downstream
physiological response.
Bottom-up practices affect heart
rate, respiration, blood pressure,
digestion, elimination, sleep,
reproduction, etc. These are our
survival functions, and they are
targeted through physically-
oriented practices. Top-down
practices affect cortical processing
of compassion, empathy, strategic
planning, task completion,
pro-social engagement, sensory
development and language. These
are higher level order practices. We
can begin here, we don’t need to
start at the bottom and work our
way up. That’s what Heartfulness
does by beginning with the
meditative practices.
Bottom-up practices: research
shows that:
Asanas very quickly
affect blood pressure.
Pranayama largely affects
respiratory rate and heart rate.
Diet, mitahara, a very important
part of the niyamas, affects
the gut microbiome, which then
affects our moods.
Sleep is our cellular and
system repair, and so many
other things as well.
Exercise enhances
our longevity and
immunity.
Heartfulness
36

INSPIRATION
the other cricket teams in the
world.
By holding fast to raga and dvesha,
we get stuck on the things we
like, and set ourselves apart from
the rest of the world that doesn’t
fit with the things that we like,
so it becomes quite challenging.
Because our likes and dislikes form
the entirety of what we think our
personality is, then we start to
cling to them, we hold fast. And
that is called abhinivesha.
Abhinivesha is clinging to life,
clinging to narrative, and it’s a fear
of extinction: “Who will I be if
I’m not my likes and my dislikes?
Who will I be if I’m not my
narrative?” And if that’s pulled out
from under us we go into a void,
and that’s terrifying. So the idea
of abhinivesha is fear of extinction
of the false narrative that we’ve
created.
Now, here’s the key thing. Where
does the clinging to life occur? It
occurs in our survival function.
So for example, right now you’re
all breathing. If you held your
breath for a few seconds, at a
certain point your body is going
to tell you it’s time to breathe.
Why? Because if you don’t breathe,
you’re going to die. One of the
primal ways our body works is
through survival functions that are
clinging to life every moment of
the day – every breath is clinging
to life, every heartbeat is clinging
to life, every moderation of blood
pressure, of the chemical balance
and prepare us for samadhi, the
deeper levels of concentration and
absorption.
So what are the five kleshas?
For those who are not familiar,
we have avidya which is an
incomplete knowing of who we
are. Sometimes it is translated as
ignorance, but everyone here is not
ignorant. You all know so much
about so many things. Maybe
what some of us are ignorant of is
only reality, truly knowing deeply
on a full level who we are. So the
idea of avidya is not that you don’t
know who you truly are. You’re
doing yoga to find out. So avidya
is an absence of knowledge, of
truth. When we don’t fully know
who we are, we start making up
stories: I think I’m Eddie, I think
I’m a yoga teacher, I think I’m a
father, I think I’m a husband, I
think I know what I’m talking
about.
All of these are false narratives
that we create, especially that last
one – I think I know what I’m
talking about, when we don’t truly
know who we are. And along with
that false narrative are a few other
things. One is raga, the things we
like, another is dvesha, the things
we don’t like. What is my story
about myself based upon? The
things I like and don’t like – I like
the Indian cricket team, I don’t
like the Australian cricket team.
Not only do I like the Indian
cricket team with raga, I’m so
attached to them, I dislike all of
June 2023 37

of our blood, of blood sugar levels,
of oxygen saturation. These things
are maintaining life. That’s what
we like to say.
From a yogic point of view, we are
clinging to life, we’re stuck on this
stuff. Let’s go back to the bottom-
up practices. Where’s clinging
to life expressed? The brainstem
functions are monitoring all of
our survival functions. So what
do yogis do? They do bottom-up
practices to transcend brainstem
operations. They do asanas to
control blood pressure. They do
pranayama to control respiration.
They ask, what happens if I don’t
breathe for a few minutes every
day? What happens if I hold my
breath for extended periods of
time? Who am I when I’m not
breathing? Who am I when my
heart rate slows down from 60
to 50 to 40 to 30 to one beat per
minute? Who will I be when
I don’t depend on my survival
functions for my identity? All
of the primary practices within
Kriya Yoga help us transcend the
brainstem functions so that we can
have an expanded experience of
consciousness, self or reality.
Homeostasis
These brainstem functions
collectively control the functions
that we call homeostasis.
Homeostasis is the body’s innate
ability to restore balance. And we
spend a lot of energy restoring
balance throughout the day
through micro-adjustments to
maintain blood pressure, oxygen
levels, etc. So it’s balance within
change. If we don’t support
homeostasis, through right
living, if we don’t sleep enough,
eat at the right times, eat the
right food, do some exercise,
meditate, and be kind and loving
and compassionate, we’re not
supporting homeostasis, and then
homeostasis won’t support our
internal balance, and then things
go wrong.
Where do we see keys to this?
Well, verse 6:17 of the Bhagavad
Gita says:
Yuktahara aviharasya
yukta cestasya karmasu
yuktasvapna avabodhasya
yogo bhavati duhkah
In other words, for those who
are moderate in food and the
enjoyment of life (which means
we enjoy life but we don’t indulge
too much), in our work (most of
us, at least in New York City are
overworked all the time. I like to
say I work a lot, my wife likes to
say I work all the time), sleep and
wakefulness, then Yoga will be the
remover of suffering.
So yoga can be the remover of
suffering when we support the
practices of yoga through lifestyle.
If we’re not eating well, if we’re
not sleeping, if we’re not doing
yoga at the right time, if we’re
not doing it under the right
conditions, yoga is not necessarily
going to work and give us all the
things it promises.
So transcending the survival
functions changes asmita, our
sense of I-ness, by changing our
narrative. And then we begin
to embody a new narrative on a
cellular level. At the same, time
our fear of extinction is weakened
because our narrative has
If we don’t support homeostasis, through
right living, if we don’t sleep enough, eat
at the right times, eat the right food, do
some exercise, meditate, and be kind
and loving and compassionate, we’re
not supporting homeostasis, and then
homeostasis won’t support our internal
balance, and then things go wrong.
INSPIRATION
Heartfulness
38

expanded now beyond ourselves.
Abhinivesha weakens, our
attachment to the things we like
reduces, we stop harshly judging
the things we dislike, so we’re not
so opposed to them even when we
know they are not for us. All of
these automatically begin to thin.
At that stage, we can begin to
contemplate the very important
questions of life: Who am I?
What am I doing here? What is
my purpose? What is my dharma?
And what do I do next? How
do I act upon a new narrative of
myself? With the “Who am I?”
we create a new narrative that
we can embody in an expanded
sense. “What am I doing here?”
is my purpose. And “What do I
do next?” is how I live now, how I
behave, from this expanded sense
of self that I’m inhabiting.
And as we go deep into
meditation, we can ask: Does this
“I” exist or is it all just being?
Personally, I’m studying the
effect of Kriya Yoga and the
neural correlates of the kleshas,
the neural correlates of suffering.
Can we somehow correlate where
kleshas are expressing themselves
physiologically through the brain?
Maybe we can also begin to
research some of the tremendous
physiological and mental benefits
put forward by Patanjali, along
with an expanded sense of self
beyond personal narrative into
integrated narrative, global
narrative.
This article is edited from a talk given at the international conference on an
"Integrative Approach to Health and Well-being" hosted at Kanha Shanti Vanam,
December 16 to 18, 2022.
INSPIRATION
June 2023 39

Maybe it did take a crisis
to get to know yourself;
maybe you needed to get
whacked hard by life before
you understood what you
wanted out of it.
JODI PICOULT

Workplace
Illustration by TREETY

DR. ICHAK ADIZES has been helping organizations to manage change for over forty years.
His recent publication, How to Manage in Times of Crisis, is based on material from his
talks during 2008 addressing the world financial crisis. But it is even more relevant today
when human crises are multi-dimensional.
How To Manage
in Times
of
JUST THINKING AND FEELING
Heartfulness
42

WORKPLACE
I
n 2008 there was a big financial
crisis. I was invited to speak to
IBS at the Russian Academy of
Economics. My presentation was
transcribed, and the result is the
booklet, How to Manage in Times
of Crisis.
Since then, years have passed
but the phenomenon that there
is a financial and/or social or
political crisis has not stopped.
And each new crisis appears to
be more complicated to handle
than the previous one. While 2008
was mostly an economic crisis,
the emerging ones are multi-
dimensional. Social unrest, the
political left in serious conflict
with the political right, religious
confrontations, an unprecedented
surge in crime, an unprecedented
level of innovation led by
unprecedented technological
advancements which impact
income and wealth distribution,
and more.
The crises are getting more acute
because the rate of change is
accelerating and impacting not just
one subsystem, like the economic
one, but multiple subsystems, the
social, religious, economic, and
political, all simultaneously. The
challenge of what to do is more
much demanding than ever in the
past.
Many companies are going to
fold. Many businesses are going to
close. Yesterday I was walking the
main street of the town I live in,
Santa Barbara California. Every
third store on that main street
was empty and for lease. What is
growing are the outlets that serve
food. A variety of formats, fast
foods, take-out food, and sit-down
restaurants. There is a cultural
change. Habits are changing. The
technological change (internet)
impacted social change (people
looking for an experience, not
just a product), which impacts the
economic sphere. Companies that
are behind with the advances in
technology are folding and new
types of enterprises are emerging
or flourishing that provide for
needs technology cannot.
Adapting to changes demanded
by the environment we operate
in requires changes in who we
are, how we operate, and what
we believe in, and changes in our
business model, including the
suite of products and services
we offer. And that can cause
internal disintegration because
our marketing program changes
faster than our capability to adapt
our sales effort or the information
needed or the attitude and
aspirations and competencies of
the people in the company to
deliver what the new changes
require.
What to do?
An organic system has a
mechanism, homeostasis. It is a
state of balance among all the
body systems needed for the body
to survive and function correctly.
The role of sleeping is to enable
homeostasis. During the day
different organs in our body are
activated and adapt at different
speeds to what is happening.
That is why when we work very
hard and under stress we have
a tendency to say, “I am falling
apart.”
With the high rate of change “out
there,” adapting to it “in here” can
cause disintegration within the
system. So, the system needs to
pause to readjust. To reintegrate.
Experiments done with animals
that were put into a situation of
sleep deprivation for a long time
show that sleep deprivation causes
death. They all died.
May 2023 43

They need to take a
break from focusing
only on the market
and doing endless
strategic planning,
and need to look
inside the
organization at how
to realign all
systems to reach
organizational
homeostasis.
Illustrations by KLYAKSUN
And it is applicable today even
more than it was applicable in
2008.
Just thinking and feeling,
Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes
ichak@adizes.com
https://www.ichakadizes.com/post/
how-to-manage-in-times-of-crisis
The body needs sleep.
During deep sleep the body
reintegrates itself and we wake
up in the morning after a good
uninterrupted sleep fresh to start
the new day and fall apart again
till the next call to go to sleep.
All animals sleep. Fauna and flora
sleep. Anything alive sleeps or falls
apart and dies.
And this applies to organizations
too. They are organic systems too.
They need to take a break from
focusing only on the market and
doing endless strategic planning,
and need to look inside the
organization at how to realign all
systems to reach organizational
homeostasis.
Heartfulness
44

SRIRAM RAGHAVENDRAN shares some wise words and
his personal experience of managing peer pressure
when he was at college.
Peer Pressure
T
here is this beautiful story of two men
sawing a large log of wood. As they sat on
the shores of a river, one man on each side
of this log, pushing and pulling at the saw for a
long time, for the log was a large one.
A passer-by stopped to watch what was going on,
observed for several minutes, and suggested, “You
know, if I may say so, I think your saw is blunt.
Why don’t you take a few minutes to sharpen it?”
The men looked up at the onlooker with
incredulity and said, “Can’t you see how much
work we have? How can we afford to take time
off?”
Life today is increasingly demanding. The
pressures of our environment relentlessly bear
down upon us, but do they have the same effect
on everyone? Why is it that one person buckles
under pressure, whereas another copes well? It is
a moot point.
Strain is what a given environment imposes, but
stress is what is felt by the individual. For the
same level of strain, one person handles it with
aplomb, whereas another is completely stressed
out. The environment is the same, the levels
of strain are the same, but one person is better
equipped to deal with it. How to develop this
inner ability? The answer is simple – sharpen your
saw!
There are several tools we can use, namely, the
body, the intellect, the mind, and the heart,
amongst others. Exercise takes care of training
the body, and education takes care of training the
intellect, but what about the mind and the heart?
When the mind is trained and develops the ability
to focus, it’s functioning becomes regulated; and
when the heart opens and is able to intuitively
feel its way through situations, we become more
equipped to deal with our lives. This is precisely
the role of meditation – to regulate the mind and
open the heart. Not that the strain becomes any
less, but we have now enhanced our abilities so
that we do not feel as stressed anymore.
This is the beautiful path that spirituality beckons
us towards. Change yourself, and your experience
of the world changes forever.
I had the good fortune of starting meditation
at the age of sixteen. I had just finished school,
and was about to step into college, out of the
protected environment of my home, and into the
big wide world where I had to fend for myself.
45
June 2023

I decided to live my life by my rules
to be in control of my own destiny.
And this piece of wisdom has
guided me at every stage of my life.
Settling down to life in a student hostel, with
two room-mates in an extra small room, was not
easy. But what made it more challenging was the
ridicule I drew from one and all when I would
meditate in that rather hostile environment. I was
the butt of their jokes. I would get angry, but what
of it? It felt good to meditate, but I hardly had
enough understanding to be able to discuss the
subject or defend the act. And even if I had, my
room-mates did not have the maturity to have a
rational discussion on the subject.
On the other hand, the hostel was an unrestricted
environment, and all kinds of opportunities to
develop negative habits presented themselves.
Peer group pressure was building. To conform
to various demands would mean that I would be
accepted, “one of them,” whereas not to conform
could mean that I would be an outcast. It was
a significant strain, and I bore the brunt of this
onslaught. So I was troubled on both sides – I
invited ridicule by practicing meditation, and
feared falling out with friends by not conforming
to their demands.
I have always had the habit of taking a very long
walk when I am troubled. Solutions to the most
difficult problems seem to present themselves
when physical activity is combined with bodily
strain, putting the mind at ease. What should I
WORKPLACE
do? Risk being rejected by my friends? Give up
my beliefs and convictions for the sake of being
accepted by others?
A peculiar image struck me during this long
walk – I saw a dry leaf falling from a tree. It had
no direction of its own, save the pulls and pushes
of the wind. The message was very clear – if I
were to lead my life by the rules of other people,
I would be like that dry leaf, pushed hither and
thither by the whims and fancies of every puff of
breeze. That day, I decided to live my life by my
rules to be in control of my own destiny. And this
piece of wisdom has guided me at every stage of
my life.
Funnily enough, once my mind was made up, it
was a wonder how soon the environment settled
down. When my friends understood that I did
not care if they accepted me, I was not left out. It
was clear to my room-mates that I was not going
to respond to their ridicule, so it stopped! This
allowed me to discover yet another truth, “The
easiest way to give up a habit is never to pick it
up.”
Illustrations by VIRINAFLORA
47
June 2023

Nature is good at connectivity.
The impact of diverse human
activities is observed and absorbed
throughout nature. Everything is
linked. Nature has no problem with
coherence.
JONAS GAHR STORE
Illustration by JASMEE MUDGAL

50 Heartfulness
SNEHAL DESHPANDE enlightens
us on how pre-conception,
conception and pregnancy, and
the first year of life affect our
later psychology and physical
well-being.
In Search of a
New World

T
he field of Prenatal and
Perinatal Psychology
seeks to illuminate how
prenatal and birth experiences
influence postnatal development,
lifelong response patterns, and
interpersonal relationships. It
is an interdisciplinary study
of the earliest periods of
human development, including
conception, pregnancy,
experiences during and after
birth, and experiences with
family and caregivers during the
first year of life.1
Birth is a continuation of life
from the womb to this world.
So when does learning begin?
If we have been given an equal
opportunity to reproduce
and procreate, why are there
deviations? Why has natural
birth become unnatural today?
Why do many men and women
suffer from problems related to
their reproductive systems and
fertility?
What is reproductive
health?
Reproductive health refers to the
health of the female and male
reproductive systems. Female
disorders include early or late
puberty, menstrual problems,
infertility, reduced fertility,
problems during pregnancy,
polycystic ovarian syndrome
(PCOS), uterine fibroids, and
endometriosis. Male disorders
include erectile dysfunction
and low sperm count. Various
studies conducted by NIEHS
have pointed out that factors
like lifestyle, environment, food,
and exposure to chemicals have
been the leading factors in
reproductive system ailments.2
The reproductive journey
is not linear. All aspects
of a woman’s reproductive
lifespan are interrelated, from
childhood through to the later
reproductive years. When a
woman gives birth, this circular
interaction is then transmitted
to the next generation, which
is then transmitted to the next
generation. Fertility, fertility
prevention, fertility assistance,
and fertility preservation are
all intertwined. Understanding
this begs some very interesting
questions regarding research
into reproduction.3
PCOS is an infertility-causing
endocrine and reproductive
disorder prevalent in 5% to
13% of women of reproductive
age. It represents 80% of
anovulatory infertility cases, and
is associated with clinical and
metabolic disorders.4
Women with PCOS undergo
a lot of stress, which in turn
affects mental wellness and leads
to anxiety and panic attacks.
The vicious cycle of being in the
state of fight or flight affects the
Hypothalamus Pituitary Axis.
51
June 2023
RELATIONSHIPS

Research shows that parents’
well-being and thinking lifestyle
have a deep impact on their
babies even before they are
born. Dr. Thomas Verny has
emphasized this in his book, The
Secret Life of the Unborn Child:
How You Can Prepare Your Baby
for a Happy, Healthy Life.
The fetal and infant nervous
system has vast sensory and
learning capabilities, and a kind
of memory that neuroscientists
call implicit memory.5
The way
parents respond to situations
shapes the life of an unborn
child. It is now known that
stress can pass through
generations, influencing
the disease states in family
members. The responsiveness
of fetuses to the environmental
conditions perceived by
their mothers before birth
allows them to optimize their
genetic and physiological
development as they adapt to
the environmental forecast.
The same life-enhancing
epigenetic plasticity can also
go awry and lead to an array
of chronic diseases in life if an
individual experiences adverse
nutritional and environmental
circumstances during fetal and
neonatal periods of development
(Bateson, et al, 2004).5
Parents and caregivers thus
become genetic engineers
shaping the future of their little
ones.
What shapes us from conception
until death is experience.
Experience makes us. We
experience the world through
the sensory systems which serve
as catalysts to the growing brain.
The first five years are all about
brain structuring.
The way parents
respond to situations
shapes the life of an
unborn child.
52 Heartfulness

It is a construction house where
the activity is from moment to
moment. The sensory systems
are gathering information
from the womb onwards. Each
system follows a timeline to
maturity. The sculpting of
human behavior and learning
is affected by critical periods
of development, which are
characteristic of each sensory
system. These critical periods
provide a wide window of
opportunity for each human
being to develop adaptive
responses.
Lack of favorable stimulation
in these critical periods of
development leads to delayed
or altered development
patterns. This explains why
the children from orphanages
often show more learning
and developmental delays,
and alterations in affect
and regulation. The human
brain depends on the shared
interactions and engagements
it has with other individuals for
its survival. We create a social
synapse around us that not
only designs who we are, but
is responsible for the kind of
universe we live in.
If we have to create a new world,
we need to make our present
different. The babies who are
yet to be born will need to be
resilient and become enablers of
joy peace, and happiness.
The fabric of society as a
whole has to change, and the
responsibility for change rests
on each one of us. Our thoughts
and intentions go a long way to
defining our actions. Perinatal
and prenatal education has a
deep and long-reaching impact
toward forming a new world
that breeds joy, peace, and
happiness.
We create a social synapse
around us that not only designs
who we are, but is responsible for
the kind of universe we live in.
Interpersonal neurobiology,
social neuroscience (Adolphs,
2003a), affective neuroscience
(Panksepp, 1998), and
sociophysiology (Gardner,
1997; Adler, 2002) are among
the emerging fields attempting
to bridge the gap between
the biological and social
sciences. They share the goal of
understanding people within the
context of the relationships into
which they are born, develop,
and live their lives.6
53
June 2023
RELATIONSHIPS

Children survive and evolve
only with the care and
fostering relationships they
develop with their caregivers
and environment. When the
environment is conducive, the
neurons connect and form
synapses, so enhanced learning
occurs. The mirror neurons in
the brain help babies to imitate
what they are exposed to. Early
childhood experiences thus
shape our future and design
our destiny. Caregivers, parents,
teachers, and therapists therefore
have a role to play in nurturing
and providing the young ones
with an environment based on
engagement with nature and
human beings.
The primary occupation
of children is play, and the
responsibility of the parents in
the early years is to give them a
holistic experience with natural
play.
The 12 guiding principles
of prenatal and perinatal
psychology
These principles form a
blueprint and an edifice for
future generations to give
birth, survive, connect, and
evolve.7
They are:
1. Primary period – the
primary period of development
occurs from preconception
through to the first year of
postnatal life. This is a time
when the core foundations are
laid in every aspect of the being;
physical, emotional, mental,
spiritual, and relational.
2. Forming the core
blueprint – what a fetus
experiences in the primary
period forms the blueprint
of core perceptions, belief
structures, and ways of relating
with themselves and the
world. These are implicit and
observable in newborns, and
perhaps decisive toward either
having a life enhancing or
diminishing direction.
Preparing for becoming parents
is therefore an important part of
the journey.
What a fetus experiences in the
primary period forms the blueprint
of core perceptions, belief
structures, and ways of relating
with themselves and the world.
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3. Continuum of
development – human
development is continuous
from prenatal to postnatal
life. Postnatal patterns build
upon earlier prenatal and birth
experiences. It is important that
this period provides the mother
a stress free and secure space
and optimal attachment. In
traditional cultures, the mother-
to-be is often nurtured in the
house of her parents once her
pregnancy is confirmed.
4. Capacities and
capabilities – babies are
bundles of immense capacity
and capability. They not only
perceive but also communicate
and learn based on integration
of their sensory systems
interwoven with their related
experiences. Caregivers and
parents can become aware of
the 8 sensory systems and their
impact on development.
5. Relationships – we
exist and survive because of
the connections we make.
Babies experience what their
mothers experience and feel.
Relationships and accidental or
incidental encounters provide
building blocks for the quality of
life of babies.
6. Innate need – human
beings have an innate need for
security, belonging, nurturing,
feeling wanted, and feeling
loved. Supporting these sets the
right environment for optimal
development.
7. Communication – babies
are continually connecting and
seeking connections. Honoring
the person within them and
relating to their needs supports
their wholeness.
8. Mother-
baby interconnectedness
– respecting and optimizing
the bond between mother and
baby, and the mother-baby
interconnectedness during
pregnancy, birth, and infancy is
of highest priority.
Babies experience what their
mothers experience and feel.
55
June 2023
RELATIONSHIPS

9. Bonding – is a critical
development process for the
mother, baby, and father. It
forms core patterns with lifelong
implications. Best mother-baby
interactions occur when the
mother feels empowered and
supported, and the natural birth
process is allowed to unfold
with minimal intervention,
and no interruption between
mother and baby connection and
contact. Where possible, fathers
also connect, and contact is vital.
10. Resolving and healing
– past and current conflicts, and
issues that affect the quality of
life of the family members is of
the highest priority. Doing so
before the pregnancy is vital.
11. Underlying patterns –
unresolved issues and less than
optimal conditions during any
of the phases often result in
health issues, stress behaviors,
difficulty in self-regulation and
attachment learning, and other
disorders over the lifespan of the
newborn.
12. Professional support
– may be sought whenever
there are any diminishing
patterns which are embedded
below the level of the conscious
mind, in implicit memory, the
subconscious mind.
Best mother-baby interactions
occur when the mother feels
empowered and supported, and
the natural birth process is
allowed to unfold with minimal
intervention, and no interruption
between mother and baby
connection and contact.
56 Heartfulness
RELATIONSHIPS

Theory and research from
the fields of psychology,
medicine, psychophysiology,
epigenetics, and traumatology,
among others, highlight the
opportunity for parents-to-
be and their practitioners to
intentionally cultivate nurturing
environments, both internal and
external, during preconception,
prenatal, and early parenting
periods. They suggest that
doing so will support lifelong
multidimensional aspects of
healthy development in children
and adults, and may also benefit
future generations.8
The principles of prenatal and
perinatal psychology provide
elements for every family to
practice and adopt in order
to raise happy healthy babies.
Nurturing the mother to be in
a positive environment where
stress can be eliminated is the
fundamental need of the hour.
This can prevent the traces of
trauma which children later
have to deal with. Holistic
well-being, family connection,
deep regard, and respect for self,
go a long way to establishing
self-esteem and confidence in
mothers and help them walk
the way into motherhood. After
the birth, every effort should be
put into the mother and child
bonding well. The mother and
the father should be educated
in the use of touch, smell, and
taste as important systems of
connection. Optimal use of
ripple effect encompass greater
learning capacity, emotional
intelligence, creativity, the
emergence of new leaders,
and healthier families and
communities. Our potential
is unlimited. It is time for us
to come together to infuse
our culture and communities
with the vision, commitment
necessary to support each new
person from the beginning of
their life. It is time for them
to know they are vital for the
community and worthy of this
commitment.
sensory systems blended with a
foundation of love and harmony
go a long way in defining a
bright future for the little one.
To summarize, when babies
are welcomed, loved, nurtured,
and seen for the amazing,
conscious, and aware beings
they are from the beginning
of life, their capacity to
love, empathize, be in
relationships, and live in joy
grow as they grow. As a
generation of such babies
matures, we would see the
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References:
1
Weinstein, A. D. & M. Shea,
2016. Prenatal development
and parents' lived experiences:
How early events shape
our psychophysiology and
relationships. W.W. Norton &
Company.
regulation and population
growth. Fertility and Sterility, 95(7):
2200–2203. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.03.044.
4
Melo, A.S. et al., 2015. Treatment of
infertility in women with polycystic
ovary syndrome: Approach to
clinical practice. Clinics (Sao Paulo,
Brazil). Retrieved May 2, 2023,
from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/26602525/.
5
Lipton, B. H., 2016. The Biology of
Belief: Unleashing the Power of
Consciousness, Matter & Miracles.
Hay House, Inc.
6
Cozolino, L. J., 2014. The
Neuroscience of Human
Relationships: Attachment and
the Developing Social Brain. W.W.
Norton & Company.
7
McCarty, W.A. and M. Glenn,
2008. Investing in human potential
from the beginning of life: Keys to
maximizing human capital. Journal
of Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology
& Health, 23 (2): 117-135.
8
Nurturing human capital along the
life course: Investing in early child
development. (n.d.). Human Rights
Documents Online. WHO. https://
doi.org/10.1163/2210-7975_hrd-
9841-3019.
2
Reproductive health in females
and males. (n.d.). Retrieved
May 1, 2023, from https://www.
niehs.nih.gov/health/materials/
reproductive_health_in_females_
and_maes_508.pdf.
³ Barnhart, K. T., 2011. Epidemiology
of male and female reproductive
disorders and impact on fertility
58 Heartfulness
RELATIONSHIPS

We Truly Are
All Connected
DR. ROLLIN McCRATY, Director of Research at the HeartMath Institute,
gave an online presentation to the Heartfulness international
conference, “An Integrative Approach to Health and Well-being,” at
Kanha Shanti Vanam in December 2022. In part 2, he shares more about
coherence at the individual, group, and global levels.

Heart to Brain to Body
It took many years for us to sort
out why our heart rhythms have
such a profound influence on brain
function, but at the end of the day
it’s pretty simple.
As I mentioned in “The Science of
Heart Coherence,” we have neural
traffic coming up through the
afferent or ascending pathways to
the brain, and once it comes to the
brainstem there are strong direct
neural connections to every major
brain center. The one I’m going to
focus on is the thalamus, which is
at the very core of our brain.
The thalamus has many roles and
functions, but one key function
is to globally synchronize the
electrical activity of the neural
systems in the entire brain. In
fact, it’s the brain’s ability to
synchronize its own electrical
activity that allows us to be awake
and conscious. These neural
loops between the thalamus and
cortex, called the thalamocortical
loops, are critical to be awake
and conscious. If those loops are
damaged, like in a head injury,
and they get severed, those people
are in a coma. They can’t wake up
because the brain can’t organize
and synchronize its electrical
activity.
When we’re in an emotional state
that desynchronizes our system,
like when we feel frustration
or anger, that neural pattern
of activity goes directly to the
thalamus. It interferes with and
inhibits the thalamus’ ability to
globally synchronize the activity
in the entire brain. It’s easy to
measure in things like reaction
times, coordination tasks, visual
fields, etc.
The most important parts of the
brain that are affected are the
frontal and prefrontal cortex areas.
These frontal systems of the brain
give us foresight, the ability to
understand how our actions and
behaviors in the now affect the
future. That’s very different from
memory of the past, hindsight.
These neural structures have to
be well synchronized to perform
optimally, and that’s why when
we’re angry or anxious or feeling
overwhelmed – the states that
desynchronize us – those systems
are taken offline. It’s why when
we get angry we can often say
or do things we later regret, that
we probably didn’t even mean.
It’s why emotions like anger and
frustration lead to us making
inefficient choices, make us stupid.
Whereas when we’re able to shift
to a coherent rhythm, it actually
facilitates global synchronization
above and beyond our normal
walking around states. So we have
more options available, we can
take that inner pause, and listen to
the messages our deeper heart is
sending us, and so on.
RELATIONSHIPS
When we’re able to shift to a coherent rhythm, it actually
facilitates global synchronization above and beyond our
normal walking around states. So we have more options
available, we can take that inner pause, and listen to the
messages our deeper heart is sending us, and so on.
Heartfulness
60

systems in the United States went
through our training to learn
how to become more coherent
throughout the day. After just six
weeks we saw big reductions in
exhaustion, tiredness, depression,
anxiety, anger, and annoyance.
Those results are sustainable.
It’s called a baseline shift, where
getting our system in sync
becomes a new automatic, because
we’ve retrained the brain and
nervous system so that coherence
is a familiar state, which then
allows us to self-regulate better.
Shifting gears, we have heard from
thousands of people after learning
the self-regulation techniques
that their intuition is radically
increased. Also, that they’ve come
to expect synchronicities. So
we embarked on a few years of
RELATIONSHIPS
rigorous laboratory-based research
to see if we could measure what
I now call “non-local intuition,”
and the results are summarized in
this this one statement. The heart
is the first to receive the intuitive
information, before we can
measure any other changes in the
body or the brain. The heart sends
a measurably different neural
signal to the brain, and we trace
that ascending information both
in location and in time, how it
travels through the different areas
to the brain. We can clearly see in
these studies that the heart first
sends a different neural message to
the brain, and then there is a body
response. So the gut gets the credit
oftentimes, but the real flow of
information is heart, brain, body,
then it becomes a conscious or felt
feeling.
There are also many other neural
pathways, e.g. to the amygdala,
so the pattern of the rhythms
has a lot to do with creating our
emotional experience, and so on.
This synchronization is something
we can measure. We developed
processes for literally measuring
how synchronized the heart
and brain are. All of the neural
rhythms of the brain, e.g. alpha
rhythm, theta rhythm, and so on,
are to various degrees naturally
synchronized to the heart, to the
cardiac cycle.
How to Perform Optimally
To really perform optimally, it
really boils down to getting the
heart and brain synchronized.
That’s something we can teach,
and over 400 studies have
been done on health outcomes.
In terms of brain function,
coherence training and increased
synchronization is related to our
ability to self-regulate, to really
make better choices, long-term
memory, short-term memory,
focus, and faster reaction times.
We work a lot with Olympic
athletes and professional athletes,
because of the faster reaction
times. Higher test scores in
children in schools, and improved
ability to learn are also directly
associated with increased
coherence.
Twelve thousand healthcare
workers in our larger hospital
What we feel inside doesn’t stop at
the skin. We are constantly
broadcasting, and it has measurable
impacts on those around us. When
we’re in a coherent state, it helps to
lift others into a more coherent and
balanced, centered state. We can’t
force people, but we create a field
environment that helps lift people into
a more balanced state.
Heartfulness
62

The Heart’s Wisdom
When I first published these
studies back in the late 90s, I said
that the heart appears to have
access to a field of information
outside the boundaries of time and
space. I’ve come out of the closet
even more since then: what are we
talking about when we think of
a field of information that’s not
bound by time and space? The
term I like is the energetic heart.
It’s been called the spiritual heart
for thousands of years. This is
something we can now measure,
and these studies are supporting
what the world’s great religions
have all said all along, that the
heart is the access point to greater
wisdom, intuition, courage, and
deeper understanding.
We can now measure in very
rigorous lab-based studies that
as we become more coherent it
opens that channel to our larger
self (that’s what we call it here at
HeartMath); we can call it the
soul, spirit, higher self. It doesn’t
really matter what language we
use, we’re talking about that
energetic part of ourselves that we
can’t put under a microscope. It’s
very real. We can’t put a thought or
an emotion or an intuition under a
microscope, but we all experience
them, we know they’re real. We
can measure how they manifest in
our brain and nervous system and
heart.
RELATIONSHIPS
So we call this heart intelligence at HeartMath, and
here is a quote from our founder:
“Picture heart intelligence as the flow of
awareness, understanding, and intuitive
guidance we experience when the mind
and emotions are brought into coherent
alignment with the energetic heart. This
intelligence steps down the power of
love from universal source into our life’s
interactions in practical, approachable
ways which inform us to a straighter path
to our fulfillment.”
—Doc Childre
June 2023 63

The Heart’s Magnetic Field
Another thing that people find
compelling in our research relates
to magnetic fields. When we
use ECG and EEG machines,
what is being measured by the
electrodes is the flow of current,
but whenever we have a flow of
electrical current we also generate
a magnetic field. Electrodes don’t
measure that, so we use another
device called a magnetometer.
One of the qualities of magnetic
fields is they easily go through
skin and they easily radiate
externally into the environment.
This is why cell phones work – it’s
the magnetic component of the
field that goes through walls so
that our phones work indoors.
It’s something we can measure;
we can take a magnetometer and
measure the heart’s field many feet
from the body. The actual shape of
the field is toroidal, a doughnut-
shaped field, like you see below.
Gerhard Baule and Richard
McFee actually demonstrated this
field and got the shape right in
1863. So this has been known for a
long time.
I was a communication engineer
in my previous career, so I could
use the same techniques I used
to decode information being
carried by a radio transmitter. We
can think of this quite literally
as a personal field environment
RELATIONSHIPS
that we radiate. When we look at
the information being carried by
the heart’s field, we can see that
it actually directly relates back
to our heart rhythm patterns.
Vibrational information patterns
being carried by the field look
very different depending upon
our emotional state. We can now
measure the field external to the
body using these magnetometer
probes, with about 75% accuracy
of what somebody’s feeling, their
emotional state. When we’re in a
coherent state, which is associated
with appreciation and love, we
radiate a more coherent signal into
the environment versus incoherent
states associated with anger and
frustration. We can now measure
this information.
Heartfulness
64

RELATIONSHIPS
The next step was to ask the
question: are our nervous systems
like big antennas that are sensitive
to this information? Are we
detecting it and responding to it?
The answer is clearly yes.
A number of studies have been
published on this. In one of
the earlier studies, forty people
were divided into groups of four
sitting around a table, and their
physiology was monitored. One
of the participants was naive to
the real purpose of the experiment
and the other three were trained
to shift into coherence. The study
was well done and there are many
steps to the protocol. When the
other three were signaled to shift
into a coherent state, even though
the naive person didn’t know what
was going on, there was a highly
significant measurable lift in the
coherence of the naïve person.
This study demonstrated that
what we feel inside doesn’t stop
at the skin. We are constantly
broadcasting, and it has
measurable impacts on those
around us. When we’re in a
coherent state, it helps to lift
others into a more coherent and
balanced, centered state. We can’t
force people, but we create a field
environment that helps lift people
into a more balanced state.
It's amazing when we learn these
techniques and practice them in
group settings. We often see and
feel the difference that occurs
when we’re broadcasting more love
and appreciation into the field
environment.
Global Coherence
We also take this to the global
level, which is another branch of
our research called the Global
Coherence Initiative. This is a
science-based project with a lot
of collaborators around the world.
While it has a very rigorous
scientific side, it’s also about
uniting people to radiate heart-
focused love and compassion with
the intention of facilitating the
shift in global consciousness from
the current instability and discord
we see on the planet to more
compassion, care, cooperation, and
peace. That’s really what this is all
about.
As part of it, we have put
magnetometers to measure
the Earth’s magnetic field, the
resonant frequencies, the vibrating
field lines of the Earth, in various
sites in Saudi Arabia, New
Zealand, Lithuania, Northern
Canada, etc.
A study we published recently had
groups of people in California,
Lithuania, New Zealand, Saudi
Arabia, and England wearing
June 2023 65

RELATIONSHIPS
recorders that reported heart
rate variability 24 hours a day for
15 days, and one of the aspects
we were able to measure was
how synchronized people’s heart
rhythms were with the resonant
frequencies in the Earth’s field.
As it turns out, there’s an exact
overlap of one of the primary field
line resonances of the Earth. It’s
exactly the same as the rhythms
of our hearts when we’re in that
coherent rhythm.
The green vertical bars rising
above all the others is the day
when all the people in the groups
around the world participated in
a 15-minute heart meditation,
we call it a “heart lock-in,” where
Global Study of
Synchronization
Between Individual's
HRVs and Earth's
Magnetic Field After
Heart Lock-In
Heartfulness
66

To watch the full talk, go to
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=mm6MDe_ZwFc.
Illustrations by ANANYA PATEL
It’s easy to understand why it’s a
good thing to be in sync with each
other on Earth, but now more
and more studies are emerging
that show how and why that’s so
important for our own health,
our connectivity to others, how
we get along with others, and so
on. This is really new science;
we’re beginning to understand
the importance of and the depth
of synchronization that we have.
I can’t tell you how many times
I have said, “Well, on some level
we’re all connected,” and science is
now starting to show how we are
fundamentally synchronized with
the Earth.
they shifted into that coherent
rhythm and then radiated love
and appreciation in this case to
each other. What these data are
showing us is that while they were
in that coherent state we measured
their coherence, and we saw a
significantly increased heart-to-
heart synchronization among all
the group members.
That’s pretty cool to begin with,
but the big surprise came when
we looked at the next 24-hour
period, and these green bars are
showing us that every single group
registered a significant increase
in being in sync with the fields of
the Earth when they were in that
heartful state for fifteen minutes.
So let’s all help co-create a world
of deeper care and kindness. With
the Heartfulness practices and
Heart Coherence practices we
can establish a new baseline for
the creation of a new culture of
deeper care, kindness, connection,
and more cooperation. It’s up to
each of us to take responsibility
for what we’re feeding the field,
our personal field and how that
connects to the global field. It’s
our choice and I hope you will
all join us adding more love and
compassion to the planetary field.
June 2023 67

Meditation teaches us how
to relate to life directly, so
we can truly experience the
present moment, free from
conceptual overlay.
PEMA CHÖDRÖN
Illustration by ANANYA PATEL

Dr. SARA LAZAR is an Associate Researcher in the Psychiatry Department at
Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor in Psychology at Harvard
Medical School. The focus of her research is on the neural mechanisms underlying
the beneficial effects of yoga and meditation, both in clinical settings and in healthy
individuals. Here she speaks about how meditation impacts the brain.
The Neuroscience
of Meditation
70 Heartfulness

I
want to start with a definition of Mindfulness,
derived by Jon Kabat-Zinn: purposely paying
attention to experiences in the present moment
in a non-judgmental way. There is a cartoon that
describes it beautifully – one woman is walking in
nature, completely oblivious to what’s around her.
She’s thinking about the bills, meals, kids, chores,
and is not at all aware of her present experience.
Another woman is completely tuned in to her
surroundings, noticing the trees, the sunlight,
perhaps the feel of the warmth of the sun on
her face. That’s what Mindfulness is – awareness
of the present moment. Neither one of them is
meditating. Mindfulness can be done anytime,
anywhere.
Anyone can kick a ball. If I ask you to kick a ball
down a field and put it through the goalposts, you
can do that. But if I put you on that same field
with some professional soccer players, and tell
you, “Okay, kick the ball down the field into the
posts,” that’s much more difficult.
The same thing is true with Mindfulness –
anyone can do it, but it’s hard to remember to
do it when you’re in the middle of stuff. Just as
professional athletes practice their sport so they
can play more effectively, we meditate so that
we can be more mindful throughout the day. We
build that skill.
People have difficulty with the last part of the
definition – the non-judgmental. I prefer the
word equanimity, because we’re not saying, “Oh,
yeah, whatever.” It’s not indifference. We care but
we’re not reactive.
There have been thousands of studies
demonstrating the benefits of meditation, both for
self-reported stress and for biomarkers of stress,
like cortisol and inflammation. I’d like to focus on
how effective meditation is in reducing symptoms
of depression, anxiety, pain, and insomnia.
They are standalone conditions, and they are
also associated with many other conditions. If
someone has a history of heart disease, diabetes,
or a stroke, they’ll often have depression, anxiety,
pain, or insomnia too.
ENVIRONMENT
Mindfulness is purposely
paying attention to
experiences in the present
moment in a non-
judgmental way...
Mindfulness can be done
anytime, anywhere.
71
June 2023

Just as professional
athletes practice their
sport so they can play
more effectively, we
meditate so that we can
be more mindful
throughout the day.
We build that skill.
Importantly, as the Buddha taught, the first goal
is spiritual transformation, but there’s more and
more evidence that meditation’s good for both
reducing symptoms and increasing well-being.
People report being happier and more satisfied
with life. There are many clinical programs now
based on meditation; and the people who do them
say, “This practice has changed my life.” That’s
what happened to me. I had a sports injury, and
started doing yoga as a form of physical therapy.
After a few weeks, it completely changed me; I
was more relaxed, no longer bothered by the little
things that affected me before. My brain had
changed. That’s why I started doing this research,
to try to understand how yoga and meditation
work.
Reduction in Stress
We took people who were going through an
eight week secular meditation course called
72 Heartfulness

Heartfulness Magazine - June 2023 (Volume 8, Issue 6)

Heartfulness Magazine - June 2023 (Volume 8, Issue 6)

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