I’ve never been a big fan of February in the Northeast because it’s always so gray and cold. I often say that it feels like the longest shortest month of the year.

But I am a fan of the fact that over the past few years the theme of love that used to surround just Valentine’s Day, with its limited parameters, has expanded to encompass the entire month, with unlimited bounds on love for all people and things, including ourselves.

And as someone who believes that love is the only way to live, a month focused on the topic is definitely something I’m on board with.

Especially when it brings about great lines like this one that I heard last night while catching up on House of Dragon.

“You cannot live your life in fear, or you will forsake the best parts of it.”

But instead of just speaking from the poetic, yet esoteric place of “living from love instead of fear”, here is some of the actual science behind why living from love is beneficial not only for your heart, but for your brain, body, and can even increase your longevity.

Scientifically, living from a place of love looks like heart coherence.

If you’ve ever heard of the trend of heart rate variability (HRV), you’re familiar with the idea of heart coherence.

Heart coherence is the ability our heart has to bring the rhythms of the body (heart rate, respiratory rate, brain waves, etc.) into a harmonious order with one another that creates a high performance physical, emotional, mental and spiritual state and efficient use of energy.

How does it have the power to do this?

The heart is the most powerful electromagnetic energy in the human body and its electrical field is about 60 times greater than that of the brain.

The heart has been proven to have it's own "brain" that can function without signals from our brain. And the heart has the ability to impact the brain through afferent nerves that send signals from the heart to the brain.

So how do we get ourselves into this place of heart coherence?

One way is through the breath. But a more effective way that, according to studies, allows most people to stay in the state of heart coherence for longer, is through embodied appreciation.

Because our heart's electromagnetic field can be detected up to 3 feet away from our bodies, our heart's coherence also has the ability to impact our social interactions as well as our own internal physical and emotional well-being.

Click below to practice a short 3-minute coherence technique with me.