{"id":502,"date":"2018-02-18T14:00:05","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=502"},"modified":"2018-03-18T14:14:59","modified_gmt":"2018-03-18T14:14:59","slug":"coherence-heart-coherence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/healthcare\/coherence-heart-coherence","title":{"rendered":"Is There Coherence in Heart Coherence?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>On a basis of meditation, heart coherence claims to make the heart rate more \u2018coherent\u2019 and <em>through this coherency<\/em>, to positively influence health and well-being in many ways.<\/h3>\n<blockquote><p><strong>It\u2019s nice to say that the heart is important.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Many people love it and heart coherence does say so. According to me, its further claims are unsubstantiated, though each is built on well-known facts.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong>A \u2018motte-and-bailey technique\u2019<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>= combining the obviously true with the indefensible in such a way that the indefensible may seem true to many people, especially in combination with stated authority and repetition. Some examples related to heart coherence:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Heart rate variability usually follows respiration and is influenced by stress &amp; relaxation. <strong>YES BUT<\/strong>: This doesn\u2019t mean this change in variability has in any way any direct influence upon any other part of the body or mind.<\/li>\n<li>The heart sends lots of information to the brain. <strong>YES BUT<\/strong>: So do all parts of your body, even your feet. This doesn\u2019t give much sense to the assertion that the feet \u2018control the brain,\u2019 certainly not in a metaphysical sense.<\/li>\n<li>The heart generates an electromagnetic field, the largest of the body at rest, and a thousand times stronger than that of the brain. <strong>YES BUT<\/strong>: The heart simply is a large muscle and muscles generate electromagnetic fields. There is no scientific indication that the electromagnetic field from the heart is of any deeper significance than that for instance of any electronic device.<\/li>\n<li>Subtle changes in the heart\u2019s magnetic field can be measured outside the body. <strong>YES BUT<\/strong>: This doesn\u2019t mean that there are any relevant extra-corporeal influences in daily life. At the surface of the body, this field is 10<sup>7<\/sup> times weaker than the Earth\u2019s magnetic field at the surface of the Earth. The referred-to, infinitesimally small changes at some distance were measured at a super-lab in Berlin called the \u2018most magnetically quiet room on earth.\u2019<\/li>\n<li>The heart\u2019s intrinsic nervous system contains some 14.000 \u2013 40.000 neurons. <strong>YES BUT<\/strong> This doesn\u2019t make it sophisticated enough to be called a \u2018heart brain\u2019 in its own right. The human brain contains +\/- 100 billion neurons. The gut contains +\/- 100 million neurons.<\/li>\n<li>People who are close to each other can empathically respond to each other. <strong>YES BUT<\/strong>: This doesn\u2019t mean that if I am holding your hand, your brain waves sync up to my heartbeat due to some magnetic transfer effects.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>Heart coherence starts from the facts at the left side of these assertions, then claims unsubstantiated consequences related to the right side.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And more. Some quotes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cThe heart\u2019s energy field is coupled to a field of information that is not bound by the classic limits of time and space.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe Earth\u2019s magnetic and geomagnetic fields created in the ionosphere in turn create bidirectional feed-forward and feedback loops within the collective emotional energy of humanity.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What heart coherence amounts to, in a few words:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You relax\/meditate, having influence on sympathetic nervous system etc. which may influence various cognitive tasks, with possibly a positive effect.<\/li>\n<li>You mainly do this in the form of respiration exercises. This influences your\u2026 respiration.<\/li>\n<li>This also influences your heart rate variability (\u2018higher heart coherence\u2019), which you can measure. It\u2019s not clear how much the relaxation part contributes to this.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s highly unlikely that this higher heart coherence by itself contributes to anything: neither personal, nor social, nor global.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>THUS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Heart coherence <em>adds<\/em> to the generally known only a hodgepodge of pseudoscience.<\/li>\n<li>Heart coherence <em>adds<\/em> to meditation only a focus on material things \u2013 the material heart generating an electromagnetic field etc. \u2013 instead of the \u2018true heart\u2019 in a poetically meaningful sense. Thus, a hodgepodge of pseudo-poetry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote><p><strong>It adds only pseudo.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The positive effect may be that at least, through heart coherence, people do some meditation\u2026 <strong>YES BUT<\/strong>: it brings these exercises in a highly controversial way, with no guarantee of quality and at high cost. Moreover, it brings to meditation an unneeded connotation with hodgepodgery.<\/p>\n<p><em>Heart coherence<\/em> doesn\u2019t work. If something related to it works, then it\u2019s YOU.<\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"502\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"502\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"502\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-502\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a basis of meditation, heart coherence claims to make the heart rate more \u2018coherent\u2019 and through this coherency, to positively influence health and well-being in many ways. It\u2019s nice to say that the heart is important. Many people love it and heart coherence does say so. According to me, its further claims are unsubstantiated, <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/healthcare\/coherence-heart-coherence\">Read the full article&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<div data-object_id=\"502\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkwrap cbxwpbkmarkwrap_no_cat cbxwpbkmarkwrap-post \"><a  data-redirect-url=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\"  data-display-label=\"0\" data-show-count=\"0\" data-bookmark-label=\" \"  data-bookmarked-label=\" \"  data-loggedin=\"0\" data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"502\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig  cbxwpbkmarktrig-button-addto\" title=\"Bookmark This\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"cbxwpbkmarktrig-label\"  style=\"display:none;\" > <\/span><\/a> <div  data-type=\"post\" data-object_id=\"502\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap\" id=\"cbxwpbkmarkguestwrap-502\"><div class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguest-message\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"cbxwpbkmarkguesttrig_close\"><\/a><h3 class=\"cbxwpbookmark-title cbxwpbookmark-title-login\">Please login to bookmark<\/h3>\n\t\t<form name=\"loginform\" id=\"loginform\" action=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-login.php\" method=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-username\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_login\">Username or Email Address<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-password\">\n\t\t\t\t<label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" class=\"input\" value=\"\" size=\"20\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-remember\"><label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label><\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"login-submit\">\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button button-primary\" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/form><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/45.jpg?fit=951%2C549&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fdiq-86","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":504,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502\/revisions\/504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}