"If you open your heart, love opens your mind."

-- Charles John Quarto

Hi everyone!

Last week, I was in beautiful Minneapolis for a retreat with Jeddah Mali. Talk about heart power! I literally fell in love with 65 people. I would have fallen in love with more (there were 80 of us in total) but I didn't get to meet the others!

Where to begin in sharing the blessings of this week? Given that we are 'women at heart,' I thought I'd start with some heart information from the amazing work of the HeartMath Institute in California.

Did you know that the heart has a larger nervous system than the brain? While the heart and brain are in constant communication, the heart sends more information to the brain than it receives back.

Also, the heart generates bio-electricity that creates a force field around our bodies. The bio-electrical charge generated by the heart is 40 - 60 times stronger than the bio-electricity generated by the brain.

Clearly, there's science to back up the old axiom 'follow your heart' because that's where our greatest power lies.

If we seek to be healthy and happy, heart care must be a priority. HeartMath has created technological tools that provide biofeedback to guide us in reducing stress so we can maintain what they call 'heart coherence.'

This doesn't just benefit my health. When I am in heart coherence, my force field supports others in moving into coherence. In other words, HeartMath has proven that I have a positive impact on the world when my head is aligned with my heart.

Given this understanding, HeartMath has founded the Global Coherence Initiative. This is an exciting and inspiring venture which aims to use heart-focused care and intention to shift global consciousness from instability and discord to balance, cooperation and enduring peace.

If this intrigues you, please visit HearthMath at http://www.heartmath.com and the Global Coherence Initiative at http://www.glcoherence.org.

All in all, I'm convinced of the value of spending less time in my head and more time focused on the heart!

~ Patrice

"Go to your heart computer to make sense of the daily events that are puzzling or stressful. Let your head give you creative readouts of your intuitive heart directives. Your heart and head will soon function as a highly intelligent team, with the heart in command."

-- Sara Paddison

"In our deepest moments of struggle, frustration, fear, and confusion, we are being called upon to reach in and touch our hearts. Then, we will know what to do, what to say, how to be. What is right is always in our deepest heart of hearts."

-- Roberta Sage Hamilton