Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Welcome to the ad heart podcast, the podcast that inspires heart first living. This is where you'll get practical tools to reduce stress, inspire creative action and energize your personal growth momentum along with ways to apply these tools. And now here's your host, Deborah, Rosman
Speaker 1 00:00:20 Welcome to the ad heart podcast, inspiring forward movement and heart powered intention. Our topic is adding heart to resilience. And my guess this time is an incredible researcher and advocate for resilience. James OD and James, I have followed for a number of years. He is the former president of the Institute of NOIC sciences, former Washington office director of amnesty international, where he met with us presidents and foreign heads of state and represented amnesty international to the world conference on human rights. He was executive director of the Seva foundation and worked with middle east council of churches in Beirut during a time of war and massacre and lived in Turkey during civil upheaval and KU day top that reminds us of present times and what's going on in Russia, Ukraine. And, but as a result of all that experience, he learned a lot about resilience and that's something we all need more of right now and how resilience relates to peace building. And he's conducted social healing dialogues about this around the world. And he's the author of a book conscious activist, cultivating peace and soul awakening practice, and just other acclaimed works. So he's had quite a history of wonderful works and I'm just honored to have him as our guest. Welcome James. It's really good to have you here.
Speaker 2 00:01:58 It's wonderful to be with you. And I think I hope, you know, how profoundly I respect and admire. And it's a truly integral organization from the depths of our heart and soul out into the practical service that is needed in the world. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you.
Speaker 1 00:02:43 Well, thank you. And, you know, heart math, like you said, as research stress and resilience and develop practical tools for that, you know, for over 30 years now. And that's how we developed from the research programs like building personal resilience for mentors and coaches, our newest, resilient heart trauma certification program for health professionals. And when we developed our resilience advantage program for first responders and the us Navy, the department of defense actually adopted the heart map definition of resilience, which I wanna talk about your experience and this definition, which is the capacity to prepare for recover from and adapt in the face of change, challenge, stress, or adversity. And one of our main findings at heart math Institute is that resilience. Isn't just the ability to bounce back after a stressful episode, but it's actually an energy like a resilient energy that you can build and accumulate in your system, in your mental, emotional physical system. And the key that we found is that it's the energetic heart, the feeling heart and the physical heart together that are key to building this resilience. And certainly in times like now, great stress and uncertainty, resilience is an important energy and skill to have. So James, what have all your research studying resilience? What is the keys for you? Tell us a few.
Speaker 2 00:04:34 I would agree with all that you have said about resilience. And I would say it is the energy that fuels our capacity to live our values, particularly in stressful times when the, when those values are challenged. So it's that energy of courage and conviction and the capacity to live our highest values and defend them when they're under attack, as well as to exercise them in service to happiness and wellbeing and to individual and collective wellbeing. And I think Deborah without resilience, our values, our precious heart nurtured values, the heart is all about value and reaching into value that without resilience, our values wither on the vine, we shrink, we lose confidence in ourselves. We lay ourselves open to exploitation. And I think with resilience, we keep evolving ed to the means to confront the, we speak, to speak truth, to power, to address prejudice and discrimination, to use nonviolent communication, to listen and to listen deeply. And nonjudgmentally to dialogue rather than SC and berate in this way, we model the values that promote collective healing, truth of true civility. And I think social coherence,
Speaker 1 00:07:20 You know, it's interesting what you're saying. Uh, resilience is such a key to all of that because it's gives us the energy to have all that or what I'm hearing you say to actually perceive from a bigger picture from our values live our values. But the opposite of that would be when we're drained, when our energy's drained and we've all experienced this, we just, so we reacted to something, we got inner drained and then everything looks sour. You know, we could, we're more triggered in the, in the next relationship challenge. And we start this downward spiral that ends up in a depletion where as resilience would be the ability to recoup that quicker. And of course that's what we're trying to provide is tools and techniques, cuz we're all gonna get triggered and drained. How do we recoup? How do we regain that resilience? Um, what is, do you see as the essence of resilience? How do you see in what you've been doing for years in peace building? How do you help people renew that in, in the work you've done?
Speaker 2 00:08:45 Well, I think essentially one begins to see and attune to what is toxic and what is not. And I think that's the key to that activism. When the heart closes, we become less resilient when the heart closes. We're really, I think you might agree. Ingesting toxins sometimes seemingly innocuous, toxin like disappointment or resentment or hostility and these kind toxin are often numbing. And so in peace work and reconciliation work, you have to start at the beginning. It's though the adjustments we make to the fog of frustration about social conditions, the state, and that we tend to minimize those and not recognize that that feels is getting foggy and blurry around the heart. Whereas when the heart opens begins to open, we embrace connection. We empathize, we get over our difficulties more quickly and move on. Opening helps us on the path to forgiveness. I say, if it closes, if the heart closes it'll, do I have seen that both to individuals and to others is when it opens the heart repairs and heals. So it's really, we tend to think, oh my goodness, I've gotta go for the big wounds, the big breakups, the big challenges. And yes, we sometimes have to experience and show resilience through those big I, and I think agrees with is that the small things count,
Speaker 1 00:12:21 They sure do the small things, you know, that old saying of, uh, death by a thousand paper cuts or, you know, it's like, those are all the small things, but each one can be a drain that drains our energy. And then like you said, if the heart closes, the heart is your source, it pumps blood, but it's pumping energy through our whole system. It feeds the brain and body. If it closes it down emotionally, it tends to also create a feedback on the physical heart. So heart disease is the number one killer. Even of younger people and a closed heart has no empathy or compassion or connection, like you're saying. And it's all these little things that we may think is no big deal. Like the little irritations or the impatience is the little frustrations, but they build up where we can't sleep at the end of the day or we're more, uh, grumpy with our families and all that bleeds our, the resilience.
Speaker 1 00:13:34 We need to move through these challenging times. You watch the news in that lower energy state and you can really end up depressed and even more anxious. And that's what we're seeing in society today. That's why resilience. Isn't just a nice thing to have. And it's just not the ability to bounce back. It's actually that energy that you've been describing that lifts our perceptions into new possibilities and enables us to be more of who we really are and act from that place. So what do you, you know, we, we all know this is challenging times and you've talked about, as we have here at heart math, the collective heart, or the shared heart, what are you seeing in coming together in people's hearts at these times, as we look at the world where there's a war going on, that feels like it's back in the middle ages where there's brutality and absolutely no care for people from the perpetrators, what is your feeling of what's going on here and, and how the collective is responding?
Speaker 2 00:14:59 Uh, my experience of the heart. And you can speak more about the science of this, but essentially when it's healthy, it's reaching out. I say, it's radiating mm-hmm <affirmative>, the heart is radiant. It is moving towards others. And in that movement hearts, we are getting these which together, and here's the knob. And I'd love your response to this in reaching out the heart. When it receives the shock, get sad, it experiences sorrow. It says, no, it shouldn't be like this. We shouldn't be destroying the environment. We shouldn't be going to war in this day. We shouldn't hear about the rape of people in war. And
Speaker 2 00:16:49 That is good in a sense, is it not that sorrowing heart reminds us that the heart is saying there is true value in protecting the environment. There is true value that is being lost. So when it Wes and cries and is broken somehow a deeper well spring of power rises up it's as if the heart is saying to us, now that you have broken open, I am going to give you the energy of compassion and caring for the world. Go do something about it. Don't just wallow. So I would be interested in what you think about that idea, which we meet in peace work in social healing work. You have to allow the tears, you have to allow the heart to break. And when it does, it can reach out to depths. You never imagined.
Speaker 1 00:18:40 Yeah. You know, I'm asked often from people in the programs that I do about the purpose and the role of grief, or when you have a traumatic experience or a traumatic breakup of relationship, these rights of passage that most of us go through. And there's always a choice on terms of whether you close off, cuz it hurts too much, or you don't know how to reopen the heart or whether the shock wave as you call it, after a period of time of grief or sorrow leads you to situations or to prompting to reopen your heart. Because that is the only way through, from our, both our research and my experience to lift your energy and have a hopeful, fulfilling life. And I think what's happening right now. Like you're saying people are because of our interconnectivity and the media, we're all going through this collective human experience of watching this war unless it's censored in the countries or societies that have censored it.
Speaker 1 00:20:15 So they don't want people to see what's going on or the pain, but millions, perhaps billions are watching that. And there's always a choice for each individual. How do we feel, how do we respond to that? If we have even a little bit of heart awakening or opening, we, we feel that shared pain. You know, the human capacity for empathy is we're born with that. Babies have that. And that heart opening, I think is the potential for global humanity. And there's a rise of collective compassion going on, amidst the war going on that we've never seen on this planet before. And so that gives me great hope is seeing that, yeah, you know, what are we gonna do with that as a human race? And is that rise of collective compassion going to help us be more compassionate in other areas of our lives. And I think it's really, really fascinating, interesting cosmic, if you will, that this war is happening right on the heels of the global pandemic, that also awakened a collective interconnect. We're all in this together and compassion for the nurses and first responders and neighbors. And now we have this. So it feels like there's a real evolutionary thrust towards awakening, the heart of compassion. So that's,
Speaker 2 00:22:00 I would say I agree with that and would just like to flag a challenge that I've experienced in my work around this, you, you have the example in Ukraine of the Russian soldier who was captured and the people in the town square gathered around him and he looked very fearful. The Russian fearful, they actually saw this the and of the Ukrainian. And so another said, here's my cell phone. Why don't you call home? So the conditions in Ukraine and the state of the war allowed for that incredible expression and it clearly broke open the Russian soldiers heart because he began to weep. But now after massacre, after genocidal killings, after people being so brutalized, the wound is profoundly deep. This is going take a long time to, and in our work, Deborah, I think we have the challenge to work with wound identification and even attachment where people begin to define themselves through the wound because the wound is so deep. And yet my experience has been that we can go that far. I have been with former Nazis and Holocaust survivors, now's wound and dialogue and reach towards healing. But wound attachment is AER and horrible thing because you experience the wound and then you hold it and define yourself.
Speaker 2 00:25:22 What do you think?
Speaker 1 00:25:24 Yeah, I think that has certainly been the case forever. You know, we keep inflicting trauma on each other as a species and then we want retribution and then it, the cycle goes on and on. And I feel that we have at least from not only our research, but other research that things can heal quicker. Like the little examples you gave they're, they're, they're, they're small, but they're huge because that soldier, that Russian soldier in the square that touched his heart was touched, but that touched the hearts of millions across the planet.
Speaker 2 00:26:06 Mm-hmm
Speaker 1 00:26:06 <affirmative>. And that, that is more powerful and has the opportunity to accelerate healing of wounds. We have to start with ourselves, but we're in a collective shared global experience right now of witnessing both the brutality and the kindness going on. And we can add to the energetic field of heart, kindness, coherence, the potential of the energetic transformation of this that can heal where it doesn't need to go on for and generations. I truly believe that is our opportunity and that is what we're researching. And hopefully people intuitively know it before science can ever finally improve it, but hopefully science will prove it more and more, and that will have more people practice and believe it. So let's in these last few minutes, let's do a heart meditation together on increasing the energy of resilience in our own personal lives and in the world.
Speaker 1 00:27:24 So let's all focus our attention in the area of the heart. Just imagine your breath is flowing in and out of your heart or chest area, breathing a little slower and deeper than usual. Find an easy rhythm. That's comfortable now, as you continue heart focused breathing, let's activate a regenerative heart quality heart feeling that builds resilience such as our gratitude or appreciation for someone or something in our lives that lifts our energy. We breathe another regenerative feeling such as kindness or care. This often helps to lift our attitudes and perceptions, regenerative emotions give us that confidence and lift to build resilience, energy that can help prevent and release stress. So we are operating more from who we really are.
Speaker 1 00:29:12 So as we continue this heart focused breathing and activating a regenerative heart feeling, it creates heart brain, body alignment, where we can get more connected with that. Heart's intuitive guidance. So let's ask our hearts, where do I want more resilience in my life? Where do I need to prepare for recover from or make peace with situations? So I don't drain energy and can be more open hearted and present for some of us it's watching the news and just doing this heart focused, breathing and appreciation and activating care for the people or at work being a little kinder or in a relationship, a little more forgiving with difficult people, a little more compassionate, listen for your heart's intuitive guidance and then commit to acting on it. As we say, stepping into it.
Speaker 1 00:30:59 Now let's visualize co-creating together. A reservoir of regenerative hard energy that each of us can keep contributing to and access as needed over this next month to help build resilience and reduce stress. And heart energy is very measurable and very real. We can add to this pool, this reservoir, and we can tap into it when we need an uplift. Now let's close by holding in our heart with compassion. All the people who are experiencing this war or stress in their lives, overwhelming anxiety or fear during these unstable times, let's open our hearts and hold all with compassion. Let's see our collective heart energy, helping to ease, soothe, and make something easier. Thank you all for sharing that heart meditation with me. Thank you, James, for contributing to this ad heart to resilience podcast. Any last words that you'd like to share?
Speaker 2 00:33:33 The, my mistakes say that the heart is a mirror, but we must Polish the mirror of the heart. Must Polish it with deep loving, caring for the world with deep attention to its suffering, knowing that if we Polish our hearts, we will be doing our part to Polish the collective heart. And that's what I received from Deborah's meditation was that sense that each of us can add to the light in the mirror, the mirror of healing in our time. Thank you
Speaker 1 00:34:34 Beautifully said thank you so much. And thank you everyone. Let's just keep building our personal and collective resilience and putting that heart out to the planet. And I know in my heart that we can really facilitate and accelerate healing, and that's what we're being called on to do. That's the big planetary opportunity of the times. So our next podcast will be Tuesday, July 19th. It'll launch at 11:00 AM Pacific time and look forward to connecting with you all again, take care.
Speaker 0 00:35:11 Thank you for listening to the ad heart podcast. Be sure to subscribe so you can catch the latest episodes. If you're wanting even more heart inspired content, find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, clubhouse, and LinkedIn. Look for heart math. And also the heart math Institute. Both organizations are committed to helping activate the heart of humanity.
