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Dr. McCraty Speaks of the Heart at Saudi Conference
During his trip in the fall to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a conference focusing on the heart, Institute of HeartMath Director of Research Dr. Rollin McCraty was one of the main speakers of the 2nd International Conference on Advanced Heart Sciences: The Heart: King of Organs, held in the city of Al-Hofuf, also written as Al-Hufuf. The primary organizers of the event were Dr. A. Abdullah Al Abdulgader and the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, which he directs. Abdulgader hopes to one day "help establish a research center that investigates the deeper role of the heart for humanity" said McCraty, who believes the conference went a long way toward realizing that goal.
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Dr. Rollin McCraty, IHM’s research director, at Saudi Arabian conference |
McCraty addressed the estimated 600 attendees during several presentations, discussing, among other subjects, neurocardiology and the heart-brain; energetic connections between people; intuition; heart-rhythm patterns; heart-rate variability; and solar and geomagnetic influences on humans. All have been key areas of interest and research at IHM over the nearly 18 years since its founding.
McCraty also discussed the international effort IHM began earlier this year to harness the heart coherence of millions of people worldwide and intentionally focus it on distressed areas of the planet to effect environmental healing and social harmony. People were quite interested, so, McCraty said, "I invited them to become members of the Global Coherence Initiative (www.glcoherence.org.)"
Coming from Middle East nations that included Bahrain, Dubai and Egypt, and a large number from Saudi Arabia, many of the healthcare professionals and academicians in attendance expressed a keen interest in IHM’s work.
In a lot of cases, McCraty said, "They had been following HeartMath for years, which I didn’t know." Moreover, he said, "They very much want to have an official collaboration with HeartMath."
Along with McCraty, others who attended from the United States and spoke were American Institute of Stress President Dr. Paul Rosch, who gave a historical presentation about the heart and another related to how stress is a major contributor to heart attacks and sudden death; Jim Lynch, a pioneer in the effects of loneliness and social isolation on human health and author of The Broken Heart: Medicinal Consequences of Loneliness and other works; and Dr. Neha Sangwan, an internal medicine physician and pioneer in corporate wellness who works with Dr. James Gordon, founder and director of the Center for Mind Body Medicine, where she was being certified.
Among the large contingent of attendees from Middle East nations were members of the Saudi Heart Association and the Ministry of Health and the Council of Health Ministers of the Gulf Countries.
Among the primary topics of the conference were neurocardiology, cellular memories, heart-brain interactions, cardiac energy, the heart’s electromagnetic field and the science of congenital and acquired heart disease.
Conferring on a Giant Oasis
The Oct. 28-30 conference was held in the Al-Ahsa Intercontinental Hotel in Al-Hofuf, the biggest urban center in the magnificent Al-Ahsa Oasis, which is in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province and is the largest oasis in the nation as well as one of the largest in the world.
The Eastern Province, the nation’s largest province, borders the Persian Gulf, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman and Kuwait. It is governed by his Royal Highness Prince Muhammad Bin Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, whose patronage made the conference possible.
In ancient times, Al-Ahsa, also known as Al-Hasa, was at the center of trade routes from the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula and India, Persia and the Far East. Al-Ahsa Oasis, which has a tropical climate and roughly five months of summer, is nurtured by large reserves of underground water. It is truly one of the great natural wonders of the world. As of early December, the oasis ranked No. 6 of 77 candidates being voted on by people around the world for inclusion on a list of finalists for the New7Wonders of Nature project – www.new7wonders.com. Voting for finalists ended Dec. 31 and they were to be announced in July 2009. After that, voters may cast votes for the final seven wonders through part of 2011, with the winners being named sometime that year.
Lasting Impressions
"Nowhere have I felt so warmly greeted," said McCraty, an internationally recognized researcher who has traveled to many parts of the world. His and other presentations were received with great applause, he said, and afterward people thanked him profusely for talking about intuition, heart intelligence and other areas of research at IHM. "People want to shake your hand and they are very open," he said. "I was very taken by how warm, friendly and caring everybody was."
At dinner one day, McCraty recalled, he gave a royal introduction to HeartMath technology: "I offered the prince an emWave® (PSR)," said McCraty, who then was invited to give Prince Muhammad a private training session the next day on the PSR handheld as well as the emWave® PC/Mac Stress Relief System, the software program for managing stress and emotions using a computer.
The rich and expansive content of the event was matched by the accommodations where it took place, McCraty said.
"They really know how to throw a conference," he remarked in praise of host Abdulgader’s efforts. For example, he said, "The front of the conference hall was lined with big, comfortable sofas. … and there were flowers everywhere."
Typically, at such events in a Muslim nation, McCraty observed, when there are women, you would expect to see them seated on one side of the hall, wearing burkas, of course, and the men on the other. Not in this case. He said Dr. Al Abdulgader arranged to have a more inviting setup in an adjacent meeting room for the many women who attended. "So, off came the burkas," he said, noting that the women seemed much more comfortable with the arrangement. He said Dr. Sangwan was able to move back and forth easily between the two meeting rooms to give her presentations.
One experience McCraty will long remember is venturing out with Prince Muhammad, Rosch, Sangwan and others to a remote area, where all they could see was desert dunes everywhere, and participating in a singular experience: falcon flying with an Arabian prince.
"Afterward we drove off and laid out a beautiful Persian rug. … We were having coffee and a heart-to-heart talk with the prince – kind of out in the middle of nowhere."
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