Heartbeat

When I was a shiatsu practitioner, I learned to breathe in unison with the client, setting a subliminal rhythm that would help them to relax. By mid-session, our pulses would usually be in synch as well. (If our hearts weren't beating together, it meant things weren't going well-- we were not connecting, and the person was not relaxing at all.) By the time I came to holding their head and sliding my fingers up into the connectors at the base of the skull, our shared heartbeat would be like a tiny earthquake, shaking the world in a slow thumping vibration.

Last night Rob came to hug me goodnight, and then fell asleep on top of the covers. In the dim light of dawn, I reached out to hold his dozing body--the bed is very narrow--and I felt the matching pulse in his chest and my arm. All night, our hearts must have been stabilizing, and resonating with, one another....He and I have always matched heartbeats well; whenever I have occasion to notice, they're in synch. When they're not, we're invariably having some difficulty.

Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside: a loud yowl, and hissing. Cats. Our two hearts sped up and beat quickly, and then gradually slowed to normal. All in unison. Even watching it happen, feeling it in his sleeping body and my curious one, did not disturb the synchrony.

This reminds me that I should look into The Heartmath Solution. I think we barely understand the very real effects we have on one another.