The science behind the question, “How does your heart feel?”

The human heart is able to do far more than pump blood. 

Science shows that the human heart is also made up of a second brain composed of 40,000 neurons. And these neurons physically make up what doctors call the "heart-brain”, which is a second brain that is able to sense, learn, memorize, and feel apart from the brain in our head.

It collects information.
It processes thoughts.
It holds memories and emotions and makes decisions and...

It even talks to you through thoughts.

So if you ever feel like your physical heart is sad, in pain, angry, or anxious, OR that it's in misalignment or hindering your brain functionality, it's scientifically possible that it is.

So the questions of "do you feel connected to your heart?" or "how does your heart feel emotionally?" isn’t just a therapeutic question, it's scientific too.

Why boredom hurts

From the outside looking in, when you're bored, nothing is happening, but because silence and stillness gives space for our insecurities and pains to magnify, we often interpret our boredom in a negative way by interpreting our stillness as...

“I’m insignificant.” 

"I'm alone."

“I’m wasting time.” 

"I'm unwanted."

“I should be doing...” 

“I would rather be somewhere else...” 

“I wish I was doing...” 

"I'm a boring person."

"I'm missing out."

"I'm not doing I enough."

These internal messages are created not by our situation, but by us. And when these perceptions form our reality, we call it "boredom."  Therefore, boredom is a form of self-inflicted pain, and such is the reason people resist being bored.

And whenever boredom becomes a problem, it's typically because we've given these voices permission to shape the way we perceive ourselves (as worthless, insignificant, boring, slow, vain, etc.).

So we're never uncomfortable because of our boring situation, we're uncomfortable because of what we believe boredom says about who we are.

Self-Awareness, Consciousness, and Internal Awareness

The difference between an instinctive reaction and a conscious thought is seen between:

1) Verbally lashing out at someone in a reactive fit of anger or rage and
2) Consciously saying to yourself, "I have so much anger towards them within me, I really want to yell at this person right now."

One is reactive and the other is a conscious thought.

Consciousness is where freedom begins because rather than allowing our impulses to govern our decisions, consciousness allows us to take a step back within ourselves to engage and become intimate with the impulses, desires, and underlying emotions that we find within us. 

The enneagram calls this practice internal awareness.  Self-help and business books call it self-awareness.  What’s important is not what we call it, but that we practice regularly becoming present within ourselves and consciously inquiring how our emotions are affecting us.

The practice of self-awareness alone won’t cure a strong compulsive habit, but it is the starting point of transformation because you can't seek to change what you do not first see and understand.

Half a second of self-awareness

Sometimes it’s all you need.

Not an hour. 

Not five minutes.

Just half a second before you react impulsively amidst your temptation, to stop, gain consciousness, and ask yourself what it is you are doing and why?

The gift of self-awareness

Without self-awareness, there is no sense of joy because joy will never be noticed. 

Without self-awareness, peace cannot be found, because peace will never be realized.

Without self-awareness, pain cannot be mourned, because pain and our needs will go neglected. 

Without self-awareness, there is no connection with God. Because without it, we never stop to listen, to search, or feel.

Without self-awareness life and our emotions feel like a whirlwind, or a train moving at full speed through a city- or the opposite:

complete emptiness. 

Self-awareness and consciousness is a gift; and it was meant to help us connect more deeply with our relationships, the world around us, this present moment, and who and what we really are.