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LEAD ARTICLE | EASTERN HORIZON 5

Benny: You developed this idea Heart practices, such as loving- I remember one retreat in Sri Lanka
of a Mindful Heart. What does kindness, compassion, generosity where, after about four weeks of
it mean for our hearts to be and tonglen (giving and receiving) meditating, I found myself walking
mindful? practices, can strengthen the in the jungle and coming across a
coherence between brain, body long line of ants. I felt so much love
Radhule: A soft, gentle, heart, a and heart as well as our sense of for those ants that I sat there for a
heart that cares for all of life, is for belonging to the web of life. few hours, just watching them in
me at the core of spiritual practice. their magnificence.
Whereas emotional deregulation
In Buddhist philosophy, heart and throws the nervous system out The deeper we go into meditation,
mind are seen as one, a unified of sync and causes heart rhythms the more we awaken feelings of
organ of psychological and spiritual to become disordered, decreased caring and compassion.
perception. Contrary to this reactivity and an increase of positive
understanding, Western thinking emotions helps us to perceive our The Buddha tells us that
considers the prefrontal cortex environment more accurately and Wisdom and Compassion are
alone to be the center of perception to think more clearly. The more the two wings of a bird, each one
and information processing. The we follow our heart’s intelligence, necessary to allow the bird to fly.
Western approach makes us the more balanced our emotions In both Theravada and Mahayana
rational, practical, even calculating. become. Buddhism, awareness/wisdom
My decades of clinical as well as practices are usually paired with
personal experience support the If one practices mindfulness, heart practices centered on loving
Buddhist view that we function does that automatically makes kindness, compassion, and joy.
most fully when we allow the heart one kind and compassionate? Or
and mind to work together to form do we still need to specifically As someone who is trained
our perceptions, to consider their cultivate compassion? in both Buddhism and
meaning, and shape our response. western science, do you adapt
The cultivation of mindfulness, mindfulness found in the
Research studies performed by the while valuable, is not enough. Buddhist scriptures to address
HeartMath Institute support the Mindfulness alone can calm us issues raised by your clients
idea that our heart is more than down, make us more attentive during therapy sessions?
an organ pumping blood through and less reactive, allowing us
our bodies. Their hypothesis is that to increase our awareness of Yes, I do adapt those practices. The
the heart connects with different ourselves and others. But it does not psychodynamic and humanistic
parts of our brain, gut, and, yes, automatically turn us into caring approach I am trained in focuses on
the entire body though neural, and compassionate human beings. understanding particular aspects of
bio-chemical, and electromagnetic a client’s history, and on allowing
pathways, including the vacillating What I’ve experienced is that when the client to feel deeply about what
pressure of our blood flow. When I’ve gone on long retreats of 10 is going on in her life.
the oscillations of our heart days or more, immersing myself in
rhythm are more consistent, deeper meditation, eventually I was Buddhist psychology focuses more
HeartMath describes this as heart able to experience “subtle mind,” on the process of our experiencing
coherence, a state in which we feel which feels like a kind of flow state. and the impermanence of emotions
more in balance and experience When we can access our subtle — how anger or sadness arises,
greater wellbeing. This makes mind, our awareness widens and for example, and how those feeling
it much easier to feel a sense of deepens, we feel interconnected, eventually pass away.
appreciation, love, and compassion. and our hearts open.