Life can certainly be difficult. And chaotic. And stressful. We seem to get pulled in a hundred different directions all at the same time. Everyone else’s problems seem to become our problems. And our problem is that everyone else can’t seem to do things the way we do things. Our economy is in turmoil. Jobs are being lost. Work sucks. Weekends go by too quick. Everything costs more. Good customer service seems to be a thing of the past. We get stuck in traffic, we get stuck in the same job, we get stuck trying to figure out how to order a five dollar coffee. Life is difficult. And chaotic. And stressful.

Yes. Stress is everywhere, whether real or imagined. The term generally gets used as a catch-all for all perceived difficulties in life. Stress can lead to tension, the inability to concentrate and a number of physical reactions such as increased heart rate and headaches. If you’ve never experienced this, then just try and put together a barbeque. 9 hours and 176 steps later I’m usually quite irritable – a “grumpy-gus” my wife and daughter would say.

What is stress anyway? In my experience, most people view stress as being completely negative. I know I certainly hear the term “stressed-out” on a daily basis. But stress can be both positive and negative. Positive stress, or eustress, is experienced as an adaptive response that prompts us to rise to challenges and achieve goals. With positive stress our body releases a number of chemicals that provide a feeling of enjoyment or relaxation. Negative stress on the other hand refers to our inability to respond or adapt. An overload of adrenaline is released with negative stress which results in a worried or fearful feeling.

Coherence gives us the chance to reboot when times get tough. It also helps give you a competitive edge and provides the ability to sustain your activities towards achieving your goals.

Persistent negative stress that doesn’t get resolved, through coping or adaptation, may lead to anxiety or withdrawal behavior (depression). Definitely not something that helps us on our path to optimal health and peak personal performance. Unless, that is, we find a way to better manage our emotional reaction to our “stressful” events.

In a previous post (Do Your Emotions Control You?) I briefly touched on a concept called heart intelligence. This is where our heart works in direct consort or support with the intelligence that we have in our brain – so heart-brain integration. I wanted to expand on this notion of heart intelligence and dive into the finer details of how it can be utilized to cope with stress and truly improve our overall health and personal performance.

Your Heart Influences Your Entire Body

First, a little science. When we look at the heart from the perspective of heart intelligence, we realize that the heart itself is more than just a blood pump. The heart influences and is interconnected with your entire body. HeartMath, a company dedicated to facilitating heart-based living, has found that the heart does communicate very powerful healing commands to the brain and the rest of the body. This happens through:

1. A nervous system in your heart, which communicates with your brain.
2. Blood pressure waves. These waves mediate and modulate electrical activity in the brain.
3. Hormone production. One of which, atrial peptide, is actually used to reduce the release of the stress hormone cortisol.
4. Electrical energy production. Our heart produces a field of energy around our body. This field can actually be detected 3 to 4 feet outside our bodies. This is not like an “aura”, it is actually a very measurable field of energy. It permeates every single cell in our body and radiates beyond our body.

Now I’m definitely not going to pretend that I understand how your heart goes about doing all that. While fascinating, what I really want to focus in on is how can all this improve us? How can we use this to reduce stress? How can we use this to optimize our health and personal success in life?

The answer to these questions lies in item 4 above – in the electrical energy produced by your heart. This field of energy produced by the heart transmits information which is relative to what we are feeling. When we are angry or upset it is a very incoherent field. On the flip side, when we have emotions that are usually associated with the heart – love, compassion, care, non-judgment – the field becomes very different. So we are literally broadcasting our emotions from the heart. This is the intelligence of the heart.

This heart intelligence is also what breathes life into the Law of Attraction. It’s what gives the Law of Attraction its magnetic quality – attracting back to you that which you want. The Law of Attraction itself is activated by intention, from our mind, but responds to emotion, from our heart. So it’s not the desire, it’s the emotion that is the powerful force. Gregg Braden, a science and spirituality author and speaker, has summed this thought up nicely: “We all live in a field of energy that reflects back to us, not what we think in our minds, but what we feel in our hearts“.

Risks for Not Managing Our Emotions

I think that most of us will agree that life itself can become rather busy and hectic. This speed of life puts us into ambition mode, which generally means that we start living from the head up. Heart intelligence itself is the next generation of behaving and understanding. This is the intelligence that gives us our emotional guidance. Now this may all start to sound rather mystical, but it’s not. We’re all actually born with this “intelligence”. We just tend to not have contact with this emotional intelligence on a consistent basis.

So what are some of the risks for not managing your emotions or under-utilizing the intelligence of the heart?

• Well for starters, life becomes a “grind” – a dry experience.
• We tend to become shut-down or closed off from our emotions – disconnected from each other.
• We’re unable to find joy and appreciation in the small things that occur in our lives.
• More stress is created, we are less productive and we live less fulfilling lives.

This obviously does not create an environment where we can achieve optimal health and our desired success in life. In fact, when our emotions are left unmanaged we do not have the same passion or energy to help us achieve our goals. We don’t feel resilient in what we are trying to achieve. It then becomes a mind-based technique that is much less sustainable.

So what options do we have? What can we do to manage our emotions and utilize our heart’s intelligence to help us achieve peak performance? These questions lead me back to HeartMath and the HeartMath system.

What is HeartMath? [excerpt from HeartMath.com]
HeartMath is a unique system of rigorous scientific research, validated techniques, leading-edge products and programs, and advanced technologies for people interested in personal development and improved emotional, mental and physical health. HeartMath is internationally recognized for our practical solutions to transform the stress of change and uncertainty, and bring coherence and renewed energy into people’s lives.

Ok, the HeartMath system does sound like it has some amazing benefits. But what is actually involved?

Managing Your Emotions with emWave®

At this point the concept of managing your emotions may still seem to be very abstract. You may be saying, “Yes, this sounds great but it doesn’t really work in the real world“. Well you may be surprised to learn, as I was, that the HeartMath system of techniques and technologies is actually being used by hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world. It is also being utilized by thousands of health professionals as well as hundreds of companies, health care systems (like the Mayo Clinic), educational institutions (like Duke University), and government agencies. Let’s take a look at how this all becomes very practical and pragmatic from an business and organizational standpoint.

Large organizations are consistently looking for new and innovative ways to improve productivity. They know that stress is an issue but it tends to get ignored. Over time this creates conditions in the work environment that compromises the effectiveness of what the organization wants to accomplish. No doubt most of us can relate with our workloads becoming stressful from time to time. This issue itself usually hits the organization where it matters most – the bottom line, through increased health care costs, reduced productivity and increased employee turnover.

HeartMath works with Fortune 100 companies, health care institutions and other large organizations to address issues like stress in the workplace. How is this done? By using a HeartMath developed technology called emWave®. Now emWave® does not change work hours, adjust pay scales or alter managers or bosses. What it does do is trigger behavioral changes. It gives employees something they can use to change their own perceptions to the events going on in their workplace. The result – a bottom-line savings for the organization.

So What is emWave®?

emWave® is award winning coherence building technology. Coherence is a state where your body becomes synchronized. Where your heart-brain communication is optimized and all systems in the body are working in complete harmony. As mentioned in a previous post (Do Your Emotions Control You?) this is a state similar to what athletes experience when they are in “The Zone“. In psychology this is also know as flow.

The emWave® technology scores the degree of coherence that we are experiencing by measuring our heart rhythms (more specifically, the beat to beat changes that occur in our heart rhythms). On a technical level, this is known as heart rate variability analysis. Coherence itself is divided into three levels – low, medium and high. Where low is “normal” and high coherence is the high performance state that we want to be in more of the time. This makes the emWave® technology an empowerment tool – something that gives us the ability to enter into a high coherence state. It helps train us to do so.

The Benefits of High Coherence

This is where it starts getting good. In the section above I mentioned the advantages to how this technology can help organizations. Well as individuals we can achieve the same benefits on a personal growth and personal performance level – our bottom line. High coherence results in sustained positive emotion, which leads to:

• Improved brain function
• Improved memory
• Improved focus (clarity in thinking)
• Less stress (thus better health)
• Ability to be more creative
• Increased confidence and self control
• Increased and sustained energy levels

Coherence gives us the chance to reboot when times get tough. It also helps give you a competitive edge and provides the ability to sustain your activities towards achieving your goals. It is definitely an innovate and interesting way to improve personal performance.

Where to Start?

We tend to overlook or dismiss what we are feeling. But this river of emotion runs under everything we do, which affects all of our perceptions and actions. In society, the word emotion has a negative stigma. It is generally perceived as a sign of weakness. We tell ourselves: who wants to look at emotion? But the polar opposite is true. Emotion is a great gift that doesn’t get utilized by most people in a positive way. Utilizing our heart’s intelligence helps us leverage life. It is empowerment.

Here are some tips, tools and techniques that you can use to start leveraging your heart’s intelligence:

I listened to a very compelling interview tonight that has really changed how I look at emotions. The conversation dealt with the “intelligence of the heart” – a topic I have not given a lot of thought to over my years. Ok, none in fact. Until tonight I had been quite content with knowing that my little ticker was just keeping me alive. Sure I have given some thought to the heart being our “emotional center”. I talk to my 5-year old daughter each day about where my love radiates from – my heart. At the age of 5 she takes my message in the literal sense. She believes that her heart is her emotions. For me however, I have somehow adopted the truth that this was all metaphorical or symbolical. So our heart is just a symbol of our love and emotion.

OK, you may be asking, what does all this have to do with our health? Well apparently it has everything to do with not only our health but also our overall fulfillment and happiness in life. What if the heart played a key role in the generation of our emotional experience? Not from a symbolic perspective but from a measured, scientific perspective.

The ultimate goal is to achieve high heart coherence – where the systems in your body are working in complete harmony…Coherence is a state that is very similar to what athletes experience when they are in “The Zone”

The interview itself was with Howard Martin, who is currently the Executive Vice President of Strategic Development for HeartMath. HeartMath uses cutting edge methods, based on compelling scientific research linking heart function with health, to advance human performance, emotional well-being and intelligence. This was certainly a topic that I found fascinating. Not just because it was very intriguing but also for the potential to impact each and every part of our lives.

Martin discussed the possibilities of activating the heart’s intelligence to produce better health, increase personal focus and reduce stress. These benefits are achieved through a system called heart coherence. The ultimate goal is to achieve high heart coherence – where the systems in your body are working in complete harmony. This is a preventative health measure that also helps to change behaviors and create a competitive edge. Coherence is a state that is very similar to what athletes experience when they are in “The Zone” (Ah, something I personally had a taste of during a basketball game back on a magical winter day in 1996. What a night. note: I can hear my wife laughing now.).

So how do we become healthier from all of this? It seems that our emotions are the key. Until rather recently I subscribed to the belief that emotions are something that just happen to us. This wasn’t really a deliberate belief that I held but more of a consequence of living a somewhat passive life. I was basically letting life happen to me (and my emotions fell into that level of thinking). I eventually changed my thoughts and started to live more intentionally. With this shift in thought came the belief that emotions don’t just happen to us, they are choices made by us. So, in essence, feel what you want to feel when you want to feel it!

Now I only bring this notion up because Martin discussed a similar concept in his interview. He talked about shifting our emotions. So turn negative thoughts into positive ones. He mentioned that this is not a talent that we are born with but it is a skill to be learned. I definitely never looked at shifting my emotions as a skill. But it definitely made sense when I heard it discussed tonight. It seems that it is essential to shift our emotions in order to achieve higher heart coherence. It is also essential if you really want the power of intention and Law of Attraction to work for you (and not against you).

Now at this point in the interview I was asking myself where’s the science in all of this? Sure, we can no doubt all come to the conclusion that better health is certainly linked to happiness. But how do we shift our emotions? How do we achieve high heart coherence? Well it seems HeartMath has developed a technology called emWave® that will help us achieve just that – a higher level of coherence. So heart coherence is actually a scientifically measurable state. It is not just the magic 8 ball telling us what we are feeling. HeartMath offers a product called the emWave® Personal Stress Reliever® (PSR). HeartMath’s website states the following:

Our techniques, concepts and award winning emWave® technology are being used in many well-known hospitals, nationally recognized health care institutions and Fortune 100 companies to help them with important business outcomes such as employee retention, reduction of health care costs, and increasing productivity…The emWave® PSR heart rhythm coherence technology gives instant feedback that shows you whether you are actually in a heart-centered state.

It all sounds very intriguing nonetheless. It’s a very new concept to me but I will definitely look more heavily into it. The benefits sound amazing. If you’ve had any exposure to this technology (or knows someone who has) I would love to hear about it in the comment section below.

Update Nov-01-2008:  Be sure to read the follow-up to this article, especially if you’re looking for some very practical ways to reduce stress in your life while increasing your focus, energy and confidence:  Strip Away Stress in 60 Seconds or Less.

I think that it’s pretty safe to say that most people want to look and feel better. So why is it that only 22% of Americans and 24% of Canadians regularly engage in “high levels” of physical activity (defined as at least three vigorous 20-minute workouts per week)?

I know that when I’ve went through periods of inactivity it generally boiled down to motivation. I certainly “wanted” to make it to the gym or head out for that run but I conveniently found excuses not to. For me, this generally happened around holidays when my schedule was jam packed with snacking activities. I did eventually bounce back but mainly because I started feeling a little “soft” around the edges (motivation nonetheless). On the other hand, when I am in the “fitness groove” I find myself highly motivated to keep it going. So motivation can become the difference between wanting to exercise and actually doing it!

In sports a winning streak attracts fans. Do the same with your workout. Try setting a new personal record for consecutive workouts without a miss.

Here are some great ways to help you stay motivated:

1. Schedule Your Training: We’re all busier than we’ve ever been and it’s hard to find the time to fit in exercise. And when we don’t end up making it to a workout or heading out for that bike ride it’s easy to fall back on the “not enough time” excuse. So make exercise a part of your daily routine by scheduling workouts as you would any other important activity. This will help commit you to your workout instead of doing one when it is convenient. You can either do this weekly (I like to plan my week every Sunday night) or monthly (at the start of each month). The great thing with this system is that you’ll eventually create new habits that are much more sustainable in the long-run than willpower alone.
2. Be Like Cal Ripkin: In sports a winning streak attracts fans. Do the same with your workout. Try setting a new personal record for consecutive workouts without a miss. When a streak comes to an end then pull out all the stops to try and break your mark in the next attempt. If you happen to make it to 2,632 like Cal did then be sure to call Guinness (and celebrate with one to).
3. The Training Partner Switcheroo: Working out with someone that will hold you accountable for making it to the gym is a great motivation strategy. One thing to keep in mind, the more familiar you are with your training partner the easier it generally is to slack off and back out of workout plans. So try switching it up every few months by finding a new, less “forgiving” training partner.
4. Put it on Paper: In a previous post I talked about some great personal incentives to set health and fitness goals (‘6 Big Reasons to Set Health and Fitness Goals Right Now‘). One of the ‘big reasons’ discussed was Motivation. Goal Setting is a great way to create motivation. So write down realistic fitness goals that are applicable to you and review them every single day. This could range from doing 5 consecutive chin-ups to competing in a triathlon. Don’t try and compare your goals to anyone else’s. Just do what feels right to you. Also be sure to record your efforts since this will help you move towards your goals and remind you that you’re making progress.
5. Join a Fitness Forum: Online forums and message boards will be full of comments from people who have accomplished their goals and are working on new ones. Look for online forums that promote encouragement, discipline and accountability. You may also try narrowing in on your fitness niche. If you’re passionate about running then join an online running forum. Or maybe you’re more interested in a more comprehensive weight loss message board. The ultimate purpose will be building a support team to help you achieve your goals.
6. Mix it Up: Vary your exercise activities to keep things interesting. Try alternating between running, biking, swimming or a high-impact aerobics class. If you’re more focused on weight training then try consulting with a personal trainer to see what new and challenging exercises you can work into your training. Mix in martial arts or Yoga to make things really interesting. Exercising definitely does not have to be “routine”.
7. Regular Body Composition Tests: Body Composition is used to describe the percentages of fat, bone and muscle in human bodies. This (particularly body fat percentage) can be measured in several ways. Try scheduling a body composition test every three months or so. This will not only provide you with a clear target date for losing body fat and/or gaining muscle but it will also provide you with tangible results. And tangible results are a great motivating factor. This service may be offered (for a small fee) by your gym, chiropractor or local university.
8. Track It: What gets measured gets improved. Try starting a fitness log to monitor your progress. This will also serve as a great reminder to help you follow through with your intended goals. If you want a more intuitive approach then try web based software like Fitness Journal (http://www.fitnessjournal.org). Fitness Journal will not only track your progress and tabulate your totals for you but it will also provide you with community support to help turn your goals into a success story. And if that weren’t cool enough, Fitness Journal is also iPod and Blackberry compatible.
9. Sign a Binding Agreement with Yourself: When you’re interested in something you’ll do what is convenient. When you commit to something you’ll do whatever it takes. A contract with yourself will help define your level of commitment. It will also create an emotional anchor around what you were feeling when you drafted, dated and signed the binding agreement with yourself. Be sure to place this contract where you will review it most – like the bathroom mirror, in your office or on your refrigerator. Try using phrases like “I hereby commit to doing whatever it takes to achieve…” and “I will only settle for getting in the absolute best shape of my life”.
10. Visualize: Create a collection of images that represent how you want to look and feel – your best health. These could be pictures from a magazine or ones you create yourself. Have fun with it. You can either place the various images in prime viewing locations (e.g. on the sun visor in your car, your refrigerator etc.) or create a Vision/Goal Board that you review along with your fitness goals each day. This process becomes even more powerful when you attach emotion to it. So try adding a short paragraph that answers the following questions: (a). how will I feel? (b). what will others say about me? (c). what will I say about myself?
11. Reward Yourself Often: Perhaps one of the most important tips to keep in mind. This is important for both your short-term and long-term objectives. Treat yourself to something special when you’ve achieved your targets and milestones. This could be a new pair of jeans for running your first 5km or a shiny new iPod for not missing a workout in a month. Or how about a weekend retreat with someone special when you’re half-way to your target body fat percentage. You’re looking and feeling better so get out there and really enjoy life.

Cost-Based Programs
It’s also worth mentioning that there are some notable online health and wellness programs available for a cost. The benefits to the cost-based programs are that they are personalized diet and exercise programs that will also offer articles and online communities to help transform your body. On average most online programs cost about $20/month and generally come with a 10-day free trial. Here are some that may be of interest:

Men:
Men’s Health Personal Trainer – An online personal trainer from the experts at Men’s Health Magazine
Abs Diet Online – An online program to help you achieve the 6-pack of your dreams

Men & Women:
Biggest Loser Club – Members get access to the diet and fitness plan used on the Biggest Loser TV show
The Best Life – A diet and fitness program from Oprah’s personal trainer Bob Greene

Physical Activity Statistic Sources:

Ok. So setting goals is obviously not a topic that is demanding or innovative. And you’re most likely thinking: “We know all about setting goals. It’s boring!” But very few success practices are as significant as clearly defining your desired goals and then reviewing them each and every day. This applies to all aspects of our lives, including health and fitness. I truly believe that our overall health establishes a foundation that enables us to achieve higher levels of success in our personal and professional lives. In essence, your body impacts everything that you do. If you feel shoddy, you’ll no doubt act shoddy. If you act shoddy, you’ll get shoddy results.

But guess what? The truth is that most people don’t spend any more than an hour a year writing out their goals. And that’s all goals – not just health and fitness goals. People spend more time planning their summer vacations than they do designing how they want to look and feel, or with defining what they want to achieve. Why is this? If goal setting is such a powerful tool then why don’t most people use it? On the surface goal setting is definitely not sexy or exciting. But there’s more to it than that. One of the main motives not to set goals is that most people lack a reason to set them in the first place.

By setting clear goals and reviewing them each and every day you will start to influence your life. You will live proactively instead of reactively.

So the way I see it, there are six big reasons for you to set health and fitness goals right now: Focus, Growth, Conscious Living, Direction, Measurement and Inspiration.

FOCUS. Goals breed focus. And where your focus goes your energy flows. Yes, this is a simple concept but powerful nonetheless. One of the primary traits of ultra-successful people is their focus. They know what key goals they need to achieve in order to get them to the extraordinary. And they focus on them like crazy. Michael Phelps had a goal – 8 gold medals in a single Olympics. When I watched him swim I could “feel” his focus. It was palpable even though I was watching him on TV from half-way around the world. Amazing focus, astonishing results. Setting your own fitness goals will help you focus on what you truly want in life, whether that be looking and feeling amazing or smashing a personal best.

GROWTH. In my mind, the true value in reaching a goal is not the result achieved but the journey itself. This is my idea of true personal growth. Goal setting promotes growth. Running has been a part of my life for quite some time now. I’ve mainly focused on running the 10km (1000m) distance. Last year I decided to train for my first marathon. I had a time goal, I had an aggressive training schedule in place, I had determination and I had focus. My ultimate result – I had to pull-out one week before the race due to health issues. I was devastated. That is until I looked at the polar opposite of the situation, which was not what I had lost but what I had gained from the experience of setting that goal. The journey had done nothing less than to recalibrate my mental “thermostat” – the part of my brain that triggers an automatic response of fear, doubt and anxiety (rationalization) whenever I deviate from my current comfort level. The journey had truly changed what I believed was possible – true personal growth. A remarkable gift realized through the simple act of setting a goal.

CONSCIOUS LIVING. The way I see it, you can live life one of two ways. The first is to live life by accident. This is where you sleepwalk through your days. The second is to create your life. By setting clear goals and reviewing them each and every day you will start to influence your life. You will live proactively instead of reactively. You will create better health and wellness. You will create your best life. I choose to review my personal and professional goals for 5 minutes in the morning, at lunch and before bed each and every day.

DIRECTION. “People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going.” – Earl Nightingale. Setting goals provide a framework or template for making better choices. If you know where you are going then you will quickly and easily become aware when you have veered off course. It becomes quite obvious that the 770 calories and 48 grams of fat in that Whopper with Cheese won’t help you achieve your fitness goal. When it comes down to our own health and fitness, results are what we are after. Results ultimately make us look better and feel better. Clear, concise goals will help you make better choices. And with better choices you will see better results.

MEASUREMENT. Here is a big thought to consider. What gets measured gets improved. This is true in both business and with your overall health and fitness. Setting goals gives you something to measure. If your fitness goal is to get down to 12% body fat then you now have a standard against which to measure your progress. And as you measure, you have a basis on which to improve.

INSPIRATION. The very act of expressing your goals on a fresh white piece of paper causes you to step into a new realm of possibilities for what your life can become. In short, goals help breathe life into your day. This brings with it an emotional component that is critical in achieving your desired goals. Psychologists refer to this as “motivation toward”. Where a clear objective, passionately held, provides us with the direction and the energy needed to sustain us through the “rough spots” (and there are always rough spots).

Where do you go from here? The first critical step in the process is to determine what you want before you can use goals to help you achieve it. So the “what” always comes before the “how”. I will attempt to dig deeper into the “how” in subsequent posts. The above reasons should help provide the purpose for setting your own personal health and fitness goals…and now is a good a time as any.