Watching the news these days can leave one feeling like our world desperately needs more care.
Care is a transformative energy realized through our emotions, our attitudes our relationships and how we live our life.
We know care is important and that it’s nourishing. This vital resource can add comfort when someone is feeling scared or vulnerable; it can also revitalize us and it acts as a soothing tonic for our nervous system. Care is a powerful motivator; it can inspire us and it can inspire others too. Genuine care is regenerative for both the sender and receiver.
What some may not realize is that the act of caring for someone else interacts with the heart —literally: research at the HeartMath Institute (HMI) found that our physical heart plays a dynamic role in generating positive emotions and creating feelings of elation during acts of caring. J. Andrew Armour, a leading neurocardiologist and member of HMI’s Scientific Advisory Board, found that the heart contains cells that synthesize and release feel-good hormones such as dopamine and norepinephrine.
Caring for others can also be a stress reliever. As we engage in giving of our care we can experience increased feelings of joy as a result of giving to others. Amazingly when we’re caring our oxytocin level goes up, which relieves stress and create the feeling of happiness. It has recently been discovered that the heart produces oxytocin, commonly referred to as the love or bonding hormone – and concentrations of oxytocin can be found in the heart. It gets even better – caring is good for our health in more ways than one. HeartMath research has found that caring, like other positive emotions, increases smoothness in the heart’s rhythmic pattern and improves the health of our heart, immune and hormonal systems.
Caring is a choice; the more we choose to care for others and for ourselves, the more nourished we all become. Our world is going through all kinds of pains right now, so let’s use the power we all have within to increase our focus on where we can add more care.
Let’s care for our families, care for our neighbors, care for our community, care for our global family, care for animals and care for our planet.
We invite you to read more about care and its transformative power, and how to differentiate your care from overcare, in the new book Heart Intelligence: Connecting with the Intuitive Guidance of the Heart.
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