Our collective consciousness can be calm, collaborative, productive, and harmonious—or stressed, agitated, fearful, and chaotic. If you’ve ever thought that everyone you encountered one day seemed a little on edge or that the energy of your office, community, or even the entire planet was off, you were likely feeling the effects of the collective or global consciousness.
What determines collective consciousness? We all do, based on how physiologically safe we each individually feel in our nervous system and whether we’re in a coherent state. This is because everyone’s individual safety and heart coherence affect those of everyone else in our group and around the world, as if we are all playing one giant game of dominos.
With 8 billion hearts and nervous systems communicating with one another all the time, unseen signals are constantly boomeranging around the world, faster and more effectively than any wireless network. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we all affect one another in a continual feedback loop.
For more proof of our collective and global consciousness, it’s interesting to look at research conducted by the Global Consciousness Project (GCP). This international collaboration of scientists analyzed the effects of hundreds of events, including the death of Princess Diana and the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, that have activated a worldwide emotional reaction or outpouring. Over the past few decades, the GCP has found that these globally impactful events alter the output of random number generators—quantum-based devices often used in research—in a statistically significant way that cannot be explained by chance. This has led the scientists to conclude that it is our collective energy shifts the outputs.60 Though the GCP has been criticized by some for being biased, the project has analyzed the quantum output of more than five hundred worldwide events to date, enabling its scientists to argue that their results cannot be misinterpreted.61
There’s no denying that we as human beings are interconnected in a state of collective or global consciousness. We’re all made of the same natural elements, share the same space here on Earth, and pass nervous system energy back and forth to one another every second of every day. We may spend most of our attention and energy interacting with those in our immediate environments, but we’re also connected to wider groups, networks, systems, and humanity as a whole. And because we’re connected, we as individuals can begin to use the peaceful state of our own body to impact the bodies of those around us.
YOUR HEART IMPACTS OTHERS
In chapter 8, we learned about co-regulation and some of the ways in which we can use the safety of our nervous system to help our loved ones feel safe and open to connecting with us on a deeper level. Now we’re going to explore how we can use co-regulation to communicate safety not only to those in our immediate proximity but also to those in our groups and communities and even people we don’t directly interact with or even know. What I’m referring to is a phenomenon known as social coherence, which occurs when our state of heart coherence spreads to others in our wider groups, networks, and systems.
On the simplest level, social coherence occurs because kindness is contagious—literally. When we embody core heart feelings like compassion, appreciation, acceptance, tolerance, patience, forgiveness, and love, we radiate these feelings through seen behavior, including our words, actions, vocal tone, and facial expressions, in addition to unseen signals, like the energy we emit from our nervous system and heart. This spread of social coherence is a form of entrainment, which occurs when cooperative rhythms are generated between individuals. Anytime we interact with others, whether they’re near or far, our individual system will actively coordinate with their energetic communications. This energetic entrainment joins the “me” of us as individuals into a “we” in a relationship with another.
This synchronization of human energetic communication has been documented by a phenomenon known as emotional contagion. You already read about the meditation studies at the beginning of the chapter, that illustrate the widespread impact that a small percentage of peaceful individuals can cause. Emotional contagion is the spread of emotions between and among individuals. Emotions spread because we subconsciously mimic the behaviors of others, as our brain activates mirror neurons, cells that fire when we witness another person’s actions.62 Mirror neurons help us attune to or feel the emotional state of the other person, which can spread emotional energy and deepen our bond with them.63
Lots of research has been conducted on emotional contagion, in part because businesses and corporations have used the findings to influence consumer decisions and purchases, as well as employee satisfaction and loyalty.64 By eliciting certain emotions through ads and marketing, businesses have learned how to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. Though this can understandably be viewed as cause for concern, the research can help us comprehend why our individual safety matters so much to the collective consciousness.
A massive study of Facebook users found that when researchers manipulated their news feed to present more negative content, users created more negative posts and vice versa, generating more positive posts after seeing more positive content.65 Another well-known study shows that people are more likely to be generous when they see other people acting generously and more likely to be stingy when seeing others do the same. Those who see generous behavior are also friendlier, more empathetic, and more supportive of strangers.66
The empowering message for us is that when we show up in a state of safe coherence, whether we’re directly interacting with others or not, we have the power to spread social coherence to many other people, including those outside our immediate circles.
YOUR COHERENCE MAKES YOUR GROUPS MORE SUCCESSFUL
When we embody heart coherence, we help make our groups more harmonious, productive, effective, and ultimately successful. We’re better able to pursue our unique skills, talents, and gifts and can more easily enter our flow state, increasing our personal productivity, creativity, and problem-solving ability. Being in our own flow state can even activate the same brain regions in those around us, helping them more easily get into their own flow.67
When we’re incoherent, on the other hand, we’re more likely to stay locked in stressful cycles, rife with competition, conflict, and inefficient functioning, according to research.68 Only when we feel safe and social are we able to tolerate others’ differences, and, as a result, feel less competitive and stressed. When we can see things from a more distanced perspective, we’re better able to consider the group’s best interests and negotiate for the greater good rather than being more focused on our individual desires or interests. Research on individual safety and heart coherence even shows that one person alone can reduce conflict among families, offices, organizations, sports teams, and larger entities.69 And, the more synchronization in brain waves between a speaker and students in a school setting, the more effective the communication is, with higher levels of class engagement and improved social dynamics.
Sharing a sense of communal safety enables individuals to be more present to the current moment, which can open up new opportunities in their relationships to break repeated cycles. When we are fully in the moment, we are more likely to engage our creativity and imagination, allowing us to see and honor the creativity in those around us. Our safety and energy encourages others to share their unique skills, talents, and gifts with the group. This enables the group to then have multiple perspectives to consider when coming up with new and more innovative solutions to problems. In other words, social coherence enables everyone in the group to find their flow and specialize in what they do best, benefiting the group as a whole. Companies, hospitals, sports teams, and military units that have worked to develop social coherence have lower rates of physical and mental stress and/or improved communication, satisfaction, productivity, and problem-solving among their members, according to research.70
I’ve experienced the effects of social coherence in many of my own communities, including with the creation of The Holistic Psychologist. After I began my healing journey, I started to seek more authentic relationships with those with whom I shared interests or goals and could be myself. Understanding the importance of being myself in my relationships, I created the @the.holistic.psychologist Instagram account and started using the hashtag #selfhealers as a way to connect with other like-minded people who were on a similar healing journey. My hope was that, over time, I could create a socially coherent community in which collective safety would make the process of healing more accessible for everyone; to truly heal, we need to feel safe enough to express and share ourselves without focusing on our differences from others or fearing judgment by them.
Soon after launching the account and hashtag, people from around the world began to communicate, connect, and join with me, honoring our individual differences and journeys. Sensitive to the reality that many people don’t have the resources to access the services they need, I made it one of my missions to ensure that the information and tools we shared on the free platform were available to all.
After the account had been live for several months, I started to receive more and more requests from followers to create a safe space outside the social media account. Inspired by these messages, I created Self Healers Circle, a private community where members can share compassionate communication and self-exploration, both of which are essential to healing and social coherence. I’m continuously humbled when I hear the impact that this safe and supportive communal environment has had on member’s individual healing journeys.
In addition to its benefits within our chosen communities, social coherence can change the dynamics of unorganized groups like the atmosphere we experience at restaurants, theaters, parties, and other social or public events or spaces. Let me give you an example.
You recently attended a group event with some colleagues but arrived a little later than most. When you walked into the room, you could feel that the collective energy was strained and uneasy; people didn’t know one another, and the conversation seemed tentative. Because you felt particularly safe, coherent, and joyful that evening, you embodied your heart-coherent self: you smiled at everyone, channeled compassion and gratitude to those in the room, and were genuinely interested in hearing about other’s experiences and stories. Shortly after you arrived, the dynamics of the event started to shift; others began to smile and speak more openly to those next to them. Their body language became more relaxed, and the room started to lighten with laughter and more fluid conversation.
Here’s another example. Imagine a busy restaurant where a server shows up in a safe, grounded state. This socially coherent server holds compassion for any irritated or demanding patrons and can more authentically connect with those around them. They don’t complain to other servers about how terrible their tables are, which prevents the other waitstaff from looking for similar or confirming experiences elsewhere. The safe server emits unseen signals of coherence, helping regulate others in the room. Patrons and staff who show up stressed, irritated, or upset may start to soften and smile. Soon after, the energy of the restaurant shifts to be friendlier and more harmonious. Feeling this energetic shift himself, the server continues to benefit from the aftereffects of his initiated compassion. We can all do this, too, whenever we choose to embody a more compassionate response in our own daily interactions.
This harmonious, socially coherent state has allowed humans to evolve and thrive as a species. Banding together in collaborative ways enables some of us to meet our fundamental needs for food, shelter, child care, and health care while others pursue art, music, technology, and other interests that bring them and others joy or make it easier for us to live longer or more fulfilling lives.
DEVELOPING SOCIAL COHERENCE
Creating sustained social coherence requires more than making sure we’re not dysregulated at an individual level; we also need to be able to extend compassion, empathy, and even support to others. When we embody compassion we send regulating signals to those around us so that they’re better able to feel safe, coherent, and more connected to the group. We’re better able to empathize, or to be present with others in their emotional world by listening attentively as they share their experiences instead of becoming distracted by our thoughts or feelings about what is being shared. And we’re able to ask questions to better understand the other person’s perspective before making assumptions or disregarding their viewpoint.
As we develop social coherence, we’re also better able to notice the times when we feel unsafe or combative, giving us the opportunity to calm and ground ourselves by taking space away from the group or reaching out to a trusted loved one for help or support to co-regulate. Once we return to a more open state, we can practice collaboration by honoring one another’s differences while focusing on the group’s shared goals. We’re able to be curious about one another, even if we’re at odds over certain issues, and find ways to move forward while retaining our own sense of individual safety. With social coherence, we can stay an I even as we connect with others as a we.
To increase social coherence, it’s helpful to notice or seek out others who allow us to feel safe and at ease. On the other hand, if we notice we struggle to feel comfortable or at ease around certain people, we can communicate our need to take space and choose to re-engage with them when we feel ready and able—not when we don’t have the internal resources to needed to navigate the interaction. Though it’s not possible to avoid all stressful or upsetting interactions or experiences, social coherence increases our ability to tolerate stress and other activating emotions. And when we cultivate a community where all members feel safe and at ease we can all develop deeper, more authentic connections. Finding and rooting yourself in just one community where you feel a sense of belonging or social coherence can help you build and sustain the safety you need to extend coherence to your wider world.
Social Coherence Checklist
The following checklist can help you assess your current state of social coherence. Be as honest and objective with yourself as possible. And, remember that to get to where we want to be, we first have to be realistic about where we are now. Consider the statements below and mark the response(s) that resonate most.
_______ I notice how I feel during and after consuming certain content (TV shows, podcasts, social media, etc.).
_______ I can identify which relationships, circumstances, or experiences make me feel lighter, hopeful, and more expansive or spacious and airy.
_______ I can identify which relationships, circumstances, or experiences make me feel unsafe, heavy, fearful, worried, constricted, or tense.
_______ I know when I’m overwhelmed and can ask for and receive or accept support.
_______ I feel securely connected to those around me and am able to authentically express myself to them.
_______ I can consider my own needs as well as the needs of the group or collective at large.
_______ I know which activities I like to do for fun and what brings me joy.
_______ I know what is important or meaningful to me and regularly make sure to embody these values and work toward these goals in my relationships.
_______ I know what inspires me or makes me feel uplifted.
_______ I can engage in active and open communication with others, allowing for a calm and curious exchange of thoughts and emotions.
_______ I work to resolve conflicts by trying to understand the lived experiences and perspectives of others.
_______ I celebrate my own successes as well as the successes of those around me.
The more statements you checked, the more likely you are to be moving toward social coherence and able to influence the experiences of those around you. As you continue your journey, you can revisit this checklist as a way to notice and celebrate your progress.
TAPPING INTO YOUR GLOBAL CONSCIOUSNESS
Our body is always gathering energetic information from our environment. When we’re heart coherent, we’re able to intuitively assess that information and feel shifts in the collective and global consciousness. The more connected we are with our heart, the better able we are to accurately sense and interpret what’s happening in the world around us.
Everyone alive on Earth today impacts the global consciousness because each of our individual bodies emits energy. Similarly, the earth itself produces energy, in part through something called the Schumann resonances, which are low-frequency electromagnetic waves that exist between the earth and the ionosphere, the atmosphere’s outer layer.71 Schumann resonances are sometimes called the earth’s “heartbeat.” Centuries before scientists discovered and named this field of energy, ancient scholars and indigenous healers described this “web of creation,” or a unifying energetic force that holds everything together. And, because humans are made up of the same four elements (hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon) that make up our universe, our physical bodies are easily impacted by changes in the natural world around us, including shifts in the earth’s heartbeat.
The earth’s natural Schumann resonance is 7.8 hertz (Hz), which is relaxing to the human body, whereas lower or higher levels can make us drowsy or send us into fight-or-flight, according to research.72 Schumann resonances fluctuate based on ionospheric changes, and when they do, they affect our nervous system, dialing our collective stress level up or down, altering human health and behavior.73 Increased solar and geomagnetic activity impacts our autonomic nervous system (ANS) by altering our melatonin and serotonin balance and blood pressure, along with our immune, reproductive, cardiac, and neurological processes. Some studies even show that our body can experience an “anticipatory reaction” two to three days before a geomagnetic event that alters our heart rate, heart rate variability, blood pressure, and skin conductance.74
Being exposed to Schumann resonances when they’re relaxing—or at the 7.8 Hz frequency—is extremely beneficial. One study found that participants who lived in a special underground bunker that screened out Schumann resonances for one month suffered from sleep problems, emotional distress, and migraine headaches.75 Their health stabilized after they were reimmersed in the natural world. Other research has found that exposure to natural Schumann resonances helps us fall asleep faster and stay asleep through the night.76 I know that I often experience this effect, sleeping better at night after I spend time in contact with nature during the day.
Just as the earth affects our energy and health, our global nervous system energy can change the planet’s natural frequencies. Put more simply, we humans and Earth are in a continuous feedback loop.77 Modern society may even be shifting Earth’s natural energy with its production of electrosmog, or the man-made magnetic fields generated by modern technologies like Wi-Fi, TVs, microwaves, and GPS tracking devices. According to research, these low-level electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) bump Earth’s natural Schumann resonance from 7.8 Hz to levels that can raise global stress.78
Given the scientifically documented relationship between the earth’s energy and our own, an inspiring new project called the Global Coherence Initiative (GCI) was launched to help create opportunities for individuals to impact the earth’s energetic and geomagnetic fields by joining together in heart coherence. To measure the impact on global consciousness, researchers strategically installed a network of ultra-sensitive magnetic field detectors designed to measure the earth’s magnetic resonances around the world. This research can offer a powerful reminder to each of us to do our own part to help decrease the presence and impact of our individual and global states of stress on our shared planet.
Becoming aware of both our global consciousness and the earth’s energy can help us understand why we may feel anxious or stressed one day, even if nothing is upsetting us personally. When we experience these moments of anxiety for seemingly no reason, we can practice self-care or take steps to self- or co-regulate to soothe the effects that the global incoherence can have on our individual energy. We can be more empathetic to others during these times as well, realizing that they may feel more agitated, anxious, or upset due to energetic agitation in our global consciousness. When possible, some of us can decide to reschedule high-pressure meetings or difficult conversations for a more peaceful time.
