Feb 15, 2021
Business and love ? Crazy, right? This special St Valentine’s ❤️💚💜in the midst of a pandemic, of chaos, of uncertainty invites us to look at things in a different way and bring in another force and energy which we might be making little use of : do whatever we do with LOVE. Even WORK ! Why and HOW?
Set in the professional world, modern replica of our ancestor cavemen going out to grab some meat for the clan, the word love seems downright ludicrous ! Yet Love seems to be the only answer to the fear that is spreading from the pandemic. Why is that so ? Fear makes our brain go in flight or fight mode - all creativity stops, we freeze or go in circles repeating the same patterns. This new problem invites new solutions. Problems arise whereby to grow. Instead of shrinking back in fear, our best interest lies in resorting to the only power stronger than fear and its cohort of negative emotions : Love at the other end of the spectrum. Companies can find their source of creativity in Love, not in Fear.
We now know the heart has a powerful electromagnetic field and complex nervous system and circuitry that generate up to an estimated 60 times the electrical amplitude of the brain. The electromagnetic signal our heart rhythms produce can actually be measured in the brain waves of people around us.We make decisions every day, some big life decisions and small uncountable ones, thinking our brain is deciding, Yet research from Heartmath shows the heart has this intuitive intelligence, with much faster access to unconscious information than the brain and has helped Fortune 100 companies practice heart alignment with the brain, the employees gaining greater ability to manage emotions, igniting the higher centers of the brain, sparking greater insight and better decision-making skills. (See below for a simple exercise.)
Love creates immunity, reinforces our defence mechanisms. Anti viral response is suppressed when we feel lonely. An analysis of 148 studies by the MIT found that people who were more socially connected were 50 percent less likely to die over a given period. One experiment even found that people with many social ties are less prone to the common cold. The MIT is saying on its website “The pandemic has created different types of stress for all us, including the stress of having to socially distance ourselves for an extended period of time. So, work on staying in contact with the people you care about. Call, video chat, share photos and updates on social media to find other ways to connect". (See below MP3 files they are offering). Our emotions are indeed key to our immune system, intertwined with mind and body. In an experiment McCraty found that Iga, secretory immunoglobin raised by 41% after feeling care and compassion for 5 mins and in some individuals by up to 240% ! Find ways to reinforce positive emotions. You don’t want half of your workforce to be on leave.
In companies, I so often hear this “Thanks God it’s Friday”. It makes me sad that these wonderful people who spend so much time TOGETHER would just be functioning as robots, accomplishing tasks, bowing for the sake of their salary and leaving their better selves outside for the weekend. What if each one of us - and primarily that would be the role of the managers to help their workforce - love what they do either because it really fits their deeper likes or simply because they are damn good at it. Love doesn’t have to be blind. 🎵🎶 Make my heart stronger, sings Tina. Stronger - able to resist negative influences, able to take the right decisions with discernment, able to see what each one’s strengths but weaknesses also are so that each one can be in the right place or access the right mechanisms and tools to bring out the best of themselves without interfering with the valuable contribution of others, able to go beyond cumbersome rules of the past and invent new ones, able to open up and communicate. Build on appreciation and esteem. People don’t do amazing things out of obligation or fear but out of love. I have seen people bear with insane conditions just sticking out for their love for the leader and for the project.
But above all, Love thyself - love who you are with your body, your heart, your mind and your soul. What is your purpose in life ? What is the driving force that has led you in your life ? Where and when are you the most present ?
Love your given immune system, handed over through a few millions years of life experience. Don’t indulge in the victim mode, sitting around waiting for a vaccine to make you safe. Reinforce your immunity, balance your diet, reduce the food which will cause inflammation, exercise and get the right number of hours of sleep. Reduce your factors of stress. Take decisions. Enjoy your beautiful power of creation.
Hopefully, in this Loving and Creative spirit, instead of plainly going virtual, we will go SUBTLE and open the doors to expanded spheres of human consciousness. Our kids will learn new ways of picking up emotional information rather than by facial hints. Our hearts will tap into the vast field of connections and develop newly awoken antennae. Cheers, take care and be safe !
MIT https://medical.mit.edu/community/sleep/resources
Heart Coherence Technique for better decision making :-
Heart focus: Shift your attention to the area of your heart and breathe slowly and deeply.
Heart breathing: Keep your focus in the heart by gently breathing – 5 seconds in and five seconds out – through the area of your heart – and do this two or three times.
Heart feeling: Activate and sustain a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone or something in your life. Focus on the good heart feeling as you continue breathing through the area of your heart.