“The very center of your heart is where life begins –
the most beautiful place on earth.”
-Rumi
Dear Meaning Maker:
Have you noticed a growing desire to return in thought or in-person to a time in your life perhaps with friends, family, pets, or nature when you felt extremely happy? True heart memory attaches to all the senses and will arise whether it was related to a happy or tragic experience.
True Heart Memory
According to research conducted by Dr. Paul Pearsall, from his book, The Heart Code, he describes the memories that have appeared for the heart transplant patient belonged to the organ donor whom they have never met. Our hearts have memory cells as do other organs in our body; therefore, our body is innate, and our heart memory and nostalgia lies inside our soul.
Creating Heart Memory; Lived Experience
Heart memory forms of the “lived experience” are not only based on what we remember but how we remember, and in turn, how we shape the narratives of our lives. Memory can be understood as the way the mind encodes elements of “lived experience” into forms of mental representations. So, once an experience happens in the now moment, there is no way to go back to the moment and experience it again exactly the same way. A Seals and Crofts song captures this process well……“We may never pass this way again.”
“We may never pass this way again.”
-Seals and Crofts
The Narrative Process
The way the mind attempts to integrate these mental representations is within the narrative process. The memory capacity function denotes how our lived experiences formulate perceptions and future memory capacity function.
When you recall past events, it is determined by the brain creating a mental representation or image of an event or experience. The mental representation is referred to as encoding memory. The next stage of this process is memory storage, which speaks to the change in the probability of activating a particular neural network pattern in the future.
Memory is a process that alters the probability of a neuronal firing system. Memories are the binding together of activated neuronal patterns (McFeature, 2009). The multiple sensory systems activate the memory of those experiences and reactivate during the retrieval system. Through mindfulness, the heart-mind connection forms a powerful heart memory.
Reflect on Happy Memories
When you have time to reflect on happy memories, you can connect to your heart memory. As you picture in your minds-eye a happy moment to bring it to the point of feeling that happiness and smile connect to your sight/picture, sound/auditory, touch/tactile, taste, and smell/olfactory. The multiple sensory systems will activate the memory and cause nostalgia to bring a smile to your face. Now close your eyes and breathe into the feeling with gratitude.
Cindy McFeature, Ph.D.
References:
McFeature, B. & Herron-McFeature, C. (2017). Integrated Health: HeartPath Practitioner Assessment and Intervention for the Trauma-Exposed Patient, Motivational Press, Inc. (Now available on Amazon)
McFeature, C. (2019). Meaning Maker: Secrets to the Heart-Mind Connection, Author’s Place Press.
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