Heart vs. Mind: Which way do you sway?

Old_Dame

Old_Dame

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Heart vs. Mind—

“We observe thoughts coming from the mind, but we observe emotions as they are felt in the heart; that's why the debate between the mind and heart.”

First Question: When conflict arises between heart and mind; Do you satisfy one over the other, or do you satisfy both?

Second Question: In terms of a crisis concerning a loved one, do you follow your natural inclination? If so; which do you follow? Your heart, or your mind?
 

I've pretty much satisfied both in one particular area, my head says that my Triumph is the best bike I've ever owned and my heart says that the Harley is.
 

I like to think my mind rules, but it’s really my heart in most big decisions, even when my mind clearly is leading me elsewhere.

In a normal crisis, my mind easily wins…but when a loved one is involved, the heart quickly overtakes all reasonable action and wins out.
 
I'm actually pretty much down the center... I have an extremely strong intuition about some things, so if decisions are needed and I use that intuition, I would assume that's a "heart" decision.

For your second question... heart or mind for a crisis with a loved one... oh dear, that's tough. I think I'd gather the facts/info I needed, but leave final decisions to heart after I have all the pro and con data. Flying blind here, though, without any clue what the "crisis" would be. (i.e. a medical crisis would probably require "mind" and a personal crisis may be better handled with "heart" decision.)
 
This person is exceptionally sensitive to interoception because I've had to in order to stay alive despite bouts of spleen and pancreatitis pain all my adult life. That has also been key to rarely catching virus diseases by being aware of subtle feeling changes in my upper respiratory tract I then can take preventative actions on when I feel virus starting to attack.

https://scienceandnonduality.com/article/the-brain-heart-connection-emotions-feelings-and-health/
snippets:

Being perceptive to the physical sensations within our heart — and possibly other parts of the body — is linked to our emotional capabilities. Some researchers even suggest that people may one day be able to shift their emotional state by learning how to tune into the beating of their own heart.

The ability to monitor the physiological condition of your own body is called interoception. While most of us are aware of our heartbeat, bladder pressure and hunger to some degree, there’s wide variability in how sensitive we are.

But people who have a natural capacity to monitor the internal state of their own body have been shown “to be more intuitive, experience stronger emotional arousal, have better memory for emotional material, and perhaps be better able to control their negative emotions,” Vivien Ainley, a neuropsychologist at the University of London, told Psychology Today.

This connection between the physical sensations in our body and our emotions extends to the neural processes in our brain. In a 2012 study in NeuroImage, researchers asked people to monitor their heartbeat and then watch videos of people sharing emotional stories. Both activities resulted in similar patterns of activation in the insular cortex — the location in the brain that is involved in interoception and emotions.
 
To Everyone Who Answered This Post:

“Thank You!”

I enjoyed reading your replies, and found them all fascinating, insightful, and unique to each individual’s personality.

I have no doubt that when writing your reply to this post, mindfulness was given in searching both your thoughts, and your emotions.

I’d recently cross path with an individual in which we shared this very conversation among ourselves, and in having delved significantly upon the topic for a lengthy period of time in conversation, it made me curious as to the opinion of what members here in SF might think.

I, personally, lean towards “intuition” which is commonly referred to as an “irrational function” and so it seems, especially in the face of knowing, that our brain/mind truly governs our body's functionality, including our heart. For the triggered emotions we feel in our heart, stem from brain activity.

Yet in knowing the aforementioned, I do think it’s wisest as others have expressed, that utilizing our brain and heart (our emotions, sensitivity) together as one; is the ideal approach when dealing with matters we profoundly care about.
 
Old_Dame said:
To Everyone Who Answered This Post:

“Thank You!”

I enjoyed reading your replies, and found them all fascinating, insightful, and unique to each individual’s personality.

I have no doubt that when writing your reply to this post, mindfulness was given in searching both your thoughts, and your emotions.

I’d recently cross path with an individual in which we shared this very conversation among ourselves, and in having delved significantly upon the topic for a lengthy period of time in conversation, it made me curious as to the opinion of what members here in SF might think.

I, personally, lean towards “intuition” which is commonly referred to as an “irrational function” and so it seems, especially in the face of knowing, that our brain/mind truly governs our body's functionality, including our heart. For the triggered emotions we feel in our heart, stem from brain activity.

Yet in knowing the aforementioned, I do think it’s wisest as others have expressed, that utilizing our brain and heart (our emotions, sensitivity) together as one; is the ideal approach when dealing with matters we profoundly care about.
Click to expand...

I agree with several replies given here but especially with what you say here. I also rely on intuition a good deal and trust it most. I think mind-only solutions only work where the situation is familiar and one has previously come to grips with key aspects in a heart manner. Ideally mind serves heart felt ends.
 
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