The Heart as an organ of Perception Parenting from the heart = Conscious parenting.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.                                                                                                               Ezekial 36:26-27

Despite what we may have been taught the heart is not just a physical organ that governs our circulatory system. It is much much more. The heart is the essence of the person, the very consciousness, their mind and their soul. We read that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks;

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.                                                                                                    Luke 6:45

The following facts about the heart are scientific proofs that we are more than a physical body.

• The heart is not just a pump and even that is now controversial when compared to the pressure it actually exerts, it acts more as a stabilizer as after the initial ‘boost’ from the heart, blood actually propels itself in a spiraling action around the body.

• The heart is also actually an Endocrine Gland. IE: it produces hormones. The hormones that it produces ‘profoundly affect how and what we learn, how we remember, and how well we remember.’ ( Stephen Harrod Buhner, The Secret Teachings of Plants, 2004)

• Between 60 and 65 percent of the cells in the heart are neural cells. They are the same kind as those found in the brain, with the same function. The heart is wired directly into the brain with information constantly flowing between the two. The heart has direct and often primary involvement in emotional memories and processing, sensory experience, memory, spatial relationships, and the extraction of meaning from sensory input; and problem-solving and reasoning, and learning. Our experience of the world is actually perceived and processed by the heart before it goes to the brain.

• The heart is an electro-magnetic organ. It contains specialized ‘pacemaker’ cells that all beat together as one unit (after each individual cell has synchronized with others during development). ‘If one of these cells is removed from the body, kept alive, and placed on a slide, it will begin to lose its regular beating pattern and start to beat wildly and erratically – until it dies. But if another pacemaker cell is taken and placed near the first (they do not need to touch) their beating patterns will synchronize (entrain) and they will beat in unison. The reason these cells do not need to touch is because they generate an electromagnetic field as they beat. These fields (electro and magnetic) can be tangibly measured. These fields have been measured to be emitted at least ten feet from the body. Because of its ability to synchronize, the heart is capable of communicating with the dynamic world outside the body. 

Does this apply to how we respond to our babies/children? Absolutely! This is not a convenient co-incidence. The very essence of our purpose on earth is to establish and maintain loving relationships, with our Creator, with the creation, and with each other. No matter what spiritual belief you aspire to, this is the core that resonates deep within each and every one of us, longing to be expressed.

For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:

Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me…                                                                                                          And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Since you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.                                                                                                                                        Matthew 25:35-40

Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?                                                                                                           Matthew 7:9

Allow the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.                                                                                                                                   Mark 10:14

If we are living from our hearts and parenting/responding to/ nurturing our children in the way that to me, God evidently designed, is this not also an example of how our relationship should be with our Abba, Father?  A beautiful example of this imagery is also given in Isaiah 66:11-14.

We have, placed within us, a heart that has an essential NEED to relate to/ connect with others, when we pursue our greater potential this NEED & DESIRE is magnified. How do we expect to be examples of His love and His way of life or even to co-create a sustainable and peaceful future if we can’t even express this connection/love with our children?  Science proves yet again that the instinct that God has given us flows from this need in our hearts…

Given that heart cells are able to entrain/synchronize/communicate with other heart cells it was concluded that the mother’s heart is a most critical factor from conception through birth AND UP TO NINE MONTHS AFTER THE BIRTH.

‘at birth, infant and mothers’ heart must be brought into immediate proximity, wherin they confirm and stabilize each other or ‘lift each other’ into their familiar stabilized order. The 6-12 inch distance of the mothers face, giving immediate proximity to the nurturing breasts..assures an ongoing and stabilsation of the infant’s heart given by the mother’s heart, to which resonance had imprinted on it at a cellular level from conception. When this is continually reinforced over the first nine months (through breastfeeding, baby-carrying, and co-sleeping and other attachment practices) it has given the infants heart time to mature enough to ‘stand on its own’ without so frequent a stabilsation by the mother’s heart. Newborns and mothers wired up to heart and brain recordings show coherency and entrainment when infant and mother are together. Both systems become chaotic when prolonged separation takes place and cortisol is released by both mother and child. Excess cortisol is actually toxic to neural systems.  (Joseph Chilton Pearce. 2007)

From this perspective, I view the process of pregnancy, birth, and the breastfed years of life as a purposefully designed process. To lay down the blueprint and begin the development for teaching our children His way of life and His essential laws which will usher in the next age of consciousness by instilling within them the need for and importance of loving relationships.