Prepared by: Deborah Brakeley, M.Ed., R.C.C. www.deborahbrakeley.com/

1. Heart Coherence Technique:
1) bring your attention down into the heart and maintain your focus on this area; you
may place your hand on your heart to help you focus
2) breathe slowly and deeply through the heart area in the centre of your chest; keep
your focus on the heart by gently inhaling and exhaling 5 seconds in and 5 seconds out
with a pause in between breaths
3) imagine a sense of ease as you inhale and exhale and add any of the following:
 a genuine feeling of appreciation or care for someone or something you
appreciate
 thankfulness or gratefulness for someone or something in your life
 a feeling of compassion for someone or some situation
 a sense of gladness and joy about a situation you have experienced
Focus on the good heart feelings and positive emotions as you continue breathing
through the area of your heart; practice this on a daily basis so that it becomes ‘a habit’
and part of the hard wiring of the neural pathways in the brain.
Freeze Frame Technique:
1) freeze a stressful situation, as if it were a frame in movie
2) intentionally shift to a positive emotion in order to reverse the effects of
hostility/stress/anger/etc, e.g. “open your heart and feel your love for your children”;
“describe the thing in life that you love the most”
When practiced (5x per day), this emotional self-regulation technique of radiating love,
appreciation, compassion, etc. shifts the energy from the head to the heart and
generates consistent changes in the ECG output as well as health benefits to the brain
and body.
References
HeartMath.org; “The HeartMath Solution”; “Institute of HeartMath” on YouTube
“Let Your Heart Talk to Your Brain” – from Care2.com
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/let-your-heart-talk-to-your-brain-2.html
“The Science of the Heart “ – from The HeartMath Institute
http://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/head-heart-
interactions.html?submenuheader=3

2. Question for reflection:
In which way/s would you consider implementing an understanding, awareness of, or
use of the Heart Coherence Technique including the information about the properties
of the heart?
 practice a daily heart-coherence meditation (several minutes or longer)
 use it in-the-moment during the day or times of stress or before a meeting
 attune to the heart center in order to create a deeper rapport with a client
 discuss and invite a team member to hold heart-centeredness during a four-way
meeting or non-verbally during emotionally charged moments
 discuss this type of awareness with clients during 1:1 meetings to use during
upcoming four-way meetings
 suggest that your client breathe from their heart during the meeting (just say it)
or suggest it individually to your client during a break-out session
 ask "what would your heart say" about any particular aspect or point in the
process
 bring out a photo of the child/ren to help clients focus on their heart center at
the beginning of a four-way meeting
 other ideas to consider …
Prepared by:
Deborah Brakeley, M.Ed., R.C.C.
501 - 1587 West 8th
Vancouver, BC, V6J 1T5
Tel: 604.224.8937
www.deborahbrakeley.com/