A Heart-Coherence Exercise to Calm Strong Emotions

The notion that we can’t help being hijacked by our emotions is a common misperception. By repeating the following heart-coherence exercise daily, you may find you can recover from upsets more quickly, reduce your susceptibility to other people’s emotional states, and even help improve the regulation of those around you. (Learn more about how our energy can affect other people at “What Is Heart Coherence?“)

1) Think of a situation, person, or pet that brings you feelings of deep gratitude. Breathing deeply, focus on the thought and notice the sensations in your body. Is your forehead relaxed? How’s your breathing? Are your hands warm or cold?

You may wish to use your preferred biofeedback device to track your body’s response.

2) Then throw in a “bomb” — a situation or person that is guaranteed to get a rise out of you. Notice what you feel in your body now. Racing heart? Clenched muscles? Sweaty palms?

If you’re using a biofeedback device, check what it reports about your stress levels.

3) Alternate between gratitude and the bomb response a few times, returning completely to the gratitude state before you go about your day. After a period of practice, you might find yourself better at settling your reactions before they cause trouble.