When we refer to coherence, we are talking about a mental, emotional and physical state – where the mind, heart and nervous system align and function in a higher degree of balance and harmony.

On a personal level, being in coherence translates to: smooth heart rhythms, clear mind, balanced emotions and spiritual connection. HMI’s Director of Research, Dr. Rollin McCraty states, "coherence is the energetic alignment and cooperation of all of our systems."

Generally, these systems – cardiac, brain, nervous, hormonal and immune among others – are a reflection of your personal coherence, also known as heart coherence. The more coherent you are the better your systems function.

It benefits our mental, emotional and physical well-being to learn to increase and sustain a state of coherence. This doesn’t always happen naturally in our complex modern world without us making some genuine effort. HMI and GCI have developed simple techniques that we can use throughout our day to help increase our coherence. If you’d like a coherence-building refresher, look for a link farther down.

Emergence of Social and Global coherence

Keeping our personal coherence ratio up has many benefits but it also has a positive effect on the people around us – family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, etc.

As individuals in groups increase their personal coherence, a new state emerges that we call social coherence. This increased care of coherent groups and organizations can expand into global coherence.

Today, scientists at the Global Coherence Initiative and others around the world believe energetic fields which all human beings possess can be potentially connected to benefit all of humanity and the earth itself.

Moreover, McCraty and HeartMath founder Doc Childre write, "Of the many new scientific perspectives that emerged from the 20th century, one of the most profound is that the universe is wholly and enduringly interconnected and coherent. Complex living systems, including human beings, are composed of numerous dynamic, interconnected networks of biological structures and processes."

The Global Coherence Initiative has several coherence-building tools for you at www.heartmath.org/gci. Sign in, then scroll down the page to Resources Supporting Global Coherence.