What is a heart beat ?

Let us start from what we know about self-growing

Accordingly to Carl Rogers (1959) to fulfill a person´s "growth" it is essential that one may be surrounded by a healthy environment that might provide acceptance, positivity and empathy from those that sustain that ambiance. Rogers supported his theory on Maslow´s Hierarchy of Needs to reinforce the fact that these "growth needs" will be attained by self-fulfillment of the being through his most personal wishes achievements. In other words, to reach one´s full potential has everything to do with fulfilling one´s will for creation and self-overcoming.

Rogers brought humanism into psychology and believed that only one can truly know what his needs for self-growth and self-development are. No one else could know it better than us because no one could ever perceive reality exactly the way each one does.

This uniqueness linked to his conception of "self-actualization" was his contribution to another fact: you will only reach your full potential when you´ll become allowed (i.e your environment) to behave (self-image) as the person you would like to be (ideal self). Meaning, when the conception of self-image tangles and becomes coherent with the ideal self you wish for yourself, you will then find congruence in life.

Does congruence of the being affect the way our heart beats?

" A ventricular assist device (VAD) - also known as a mechanical circulatory support device - is an implantable mechanical pump that helps pump blood from the lower chambers of your heart (the ventricles) to the rest of your body. A VAD is used in people who have weakened hearts or heart failure (2020) ", says Google if you ask him what a heart pump is.

Moreover, it is commonly known by the scientific field that, being without a heartbeat for more than about 20 minutes will certainly cause the brain irreparable damages. And we´re all aware that if our brain becomes severely damaged, reversing its effects will not only cause deep suffering on rehabilitation but require undetermined physical and therapeutic work. May take years. Although never impossible - today´s neuroscience fortunately assures.

Will congruence in life, with oneself, help to couple the beat flow of the heart?

If congruence of the self assumes lifting up to clarity the hidden truth about oneself, than the simple fact of being courageous enough to try it must give the person some harmony and stability, wouldn´t you agree?

How can authenticity of behavior influence the health quality of a human organ such as the heart? Would this make any sense to you?

Considering this "beat" is a metaphorical expression and that we do not intend to focus on the physics of body functions here, please allow us to take you on a journey where we relate beating with feeling.

" The very essence of the creative is its novelty, 

and hence we have no standard by which to judge it. " 

Carl Rogers

Could we ask ourselves why does the heart feels with such a vast wavelength?

How can this biological organ - equal and transversal to mankind - raise so many different human beings? Is the heart the source of our uniqueness? If not, what else could it be? Are we even more complex than we thought?

The free encyclopedia defines mood congruence as the consistency between the emotional state of a person and her reaction to external circumstances caused by environment.

So, if incongruence in one´s life relates to the gap between self-image and ideal self, the more they distance from each other, the less congruent one is. This could lead us to walk outside the boundaries, and start wondering:

If we lack congruence in our life, if we skip the authenticity of who we are in our daily life, would this develop prominent and consistent suffering in our lives? Would this affect the good function of our body, of our heart?

Let us now think about what Harvard Medical School´s Health Publishing says about what can be done for a failing heart, shall we? It says tiny pumps can help when heart failure advances. So, for the whole scenario, thanks to science, we can still keep on living when the machine starts failing on us - which is also an enormous relief, indeed.

On the other hand, we find psychology...

Psychologist Nina Strohminger addresses the issue about a psychological concept of the True Self in Research Gate claiming "The self contains multitudes: it is a body and a mind, organs and thoughts, desires and intentions, whims and dispositions. Are all parts of the self equally self-like, or are certain parts especially essential?

So, could psychology be the science we´re looking for? Or should we search a little bit more?

How can we increase consistency in our behavior? How can we shorter the disparity between self-image and ideal self? How can we become more and more honest with ourselves?

Psychology will help. But maybe we could start searching out there in the world until we find the thing that will resonate with our soul. The little thing that will empower our mind and body in such a way that all our organs and body cells will have to join the voyage and allow being lead. This could mean that only we can drive a healthy heart through a healthy journey. This could mean, we, and we alone, can help to decide how many pumps our heart must carry on until the end of our mission.

So, grabbing to Rogers´s words, we could ask: would the fulfillment of our potential as human beings help to fortify the health of our biological organs? Was this what Strohminger was trying to approach when she asked if there were "certain parts especially essential"? If so, which ones could they be?

Why does our heart beats, after all?

If you´re now searching for a higher purpose in your life, and your main concerns and consciousness are already depth into the higher reasons for you to be alive... you might be questioning out loud inside your silence:

Could I invert all the frustration I'm feeling now? Will this pain I feel inside make my heart fail faster? Can suffering literally break one´s heart?

The answer my friend, only you can give it. But our mission here is to help you find out more about your heart, and the revolution you can dazzle him with. Making each heartbeat a living count for you.

A lasting approach...

Michio Kaku, a futurist and renowned physicist, has recently released "The God Equation" accepting the challenge of answering the deepest questions of humanity - which happen to be the deepest mysteries in science. One of them is precisely "Why are we here?". This is Kaku intertwining - as he always does - metaphysics with the conception of the universe. Making us look above and way outside our little bodies an immense possibility of wonders...

Would it help us to better understand ourselves if we knew a little more about what are we humans doing on this planet? And are we really fulfilling that mission? Or the opposite instead?

What kind of life does a heartbeat allow us to have?

What´s stronger than what?

A heartbeat, or a conscious mind that knows why is it pumping for?

                                                                                                                           Joana Fonseca