Customer Reviews

The Hidden Power of the Heart: Discovering an Unlimited Source of Intelligence

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Sara Paddison gives a moving account of her personal transformation through using HeartMath techniques. She includes summaries of recent scientific research on the heart--how it actually functions, its two-way communication with the brain, and its relationships with other organs. This gives a scientific framework for understanding the emotional, mental and even physical improvements she experienced. I already knew HeartMath techniques worked by the time I read The Hidden Power of the Heart, but Sara gave me insight into why and how they worked and an a fuller sense of their potential. Sara includes descriptions of how to do some HeartMath exercises and refers to other books and the HeartMath website for more. I highly recommend this book to anyone seeking simple, practical and powerful tools for stress relief, emotional and habit pattern management, awakening intuitive intelligence and more.

Sara Paddison gives a winning and very personal testimony to the value of the Heartmath world-view and techniques. If you look through the Table of Contents, you may easily classify the book under "spirituality" with chapters on compassion, surrender, God's creation, deep heart listening, forgiveness, death... The heart of the book can be summarised, I think, by this paragraph. "As you practice loving each person you meet, you will perceive at deeper levels that earth is all one family, a global family living in one back yard. The first step of the mathematical equation for fulfillment, one that anyone can do and understand, is to just love the people. The more people in this stressful world that can build this foundation and take Step 1, the better chance humanity has." (2nd last page) Yet this is not mere pious verbiage. Readers are introduced to the scientific basis, world-view and technology of Heartmath. (Please confer my review of Cut-thru for some background.) I'd recommend this book in particular to people who are under stress, confused or not finding meaning in life. Sara's own experiences may inspire them. My reservations with the book are related to language that is too vague and sweeping. For example, "Einstein's discovery that everything is energy helped launch a whole new science, Quantum Physics, which states that nothing is really separate from anything else, everything is interconnected and interrelated." (p. 77) In reading the crucial chapter on "The Dimensional Shift", I miss more stringent criteria for each of the 5 dimensions. And I still don't know what the author's first two dimensions are. Even though I'm a Catholic priest, I actually feel uncomfortable in Chapter 14's mixing science with faith, using the Big Bang to prove God's creation. There are more recent evidences of an expanding universe. But in terms of science, we cannot rule out an eternal pulsating universe before the Big Bang. Science deals with the realm of knowledge that can be postulated and proved, while faith is in the realm of beliefs, values and meaning. The Genesis story of creation has no implication for how the world developed scientifically. It only aims at shedding light on the meaning of life, of each person in face of evil and suffering. How do you explain light before the creation of the sun on the 4th day? [Aside from a short Introduction by Deborah Rozman, Ph.D. and the author's expanded Preface, the only revisions that I can spot are 4 to 5 pages in Chapter 15 on "Holographic Awareness".]

This was the third time I purchased this book because I keep giving it away. It is a powerful book with an incredible perspective to help you work your way through any situation life may bring. I also work with the HeartMath tools as a coach and it is a most powerful, life changing series of tools. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wishes to move beyond his or her current state of being.