In this moment, every cell of your body is receiving information. Each takes in sensations from its immediate external environment and also from its internal environment. Each cell sends that data to your brain, whose job it is to assimilate the information it receives and then direct the rest of the organism that is you to, both locally and systemically, respond.

Of the billions of sensations that are being processed in your body at any one time, you are consciously aware of about 20. The brains duty of assimilation is no less important than its role as a filter to make sure that you dont experience everything at once.

Strychnines (rat poison) mechanism of action is that it strips away the ability of the brain to filter out information. The affected being, experiencing every miniscule sensation in its body, becomes overloaded and dies by seizure. LSD, oddly enough, works on the same principle it temporarily dissolves filters -- though on a much more limited basis. We cannot function without these filters.

Right now, each cell of your skin, for example, is registering the pressure that its surroundings exert on it. For some it is air, for others, clothing and still others register the pressures exerted by every nearby hair follicle. Each of these cells, individually, go unnoticed until enough of them experience enough pressure that you, the being who is composed of these cells, suddenly becomes aware of it. The sensation essentially bursts through your other filters.

Do this now. Close your eyes and pick an area on your arm to focus on. Now, allow your awareness to take in every sensation that is there. You may feel movement of arm hairs, the gentle touch of a breeze, or even a curiosity about, Is that an itch I feel? as you zero in on a particular area. This point is you can make a choice to have that area of your experience be the localization (focal point) of your consciousness. What you are doing is filtering out most of the other sensations you may be experiencing in favor of that experienced by one area of your body.

There are filters of sensation and filters of perception as well. Have you ever spent time with someone and had a hard time being with them because they reminded you so much of, for example, an abusive other? Perhaps you had trouble seeing that person for who they were. You were actually experiencing that person through the filter of your past experience.

Once you recognize that your interpretation is based on something that was, rather than something that is, you are able to remove those filters and concentrate on the moment in front of you, without the distortion of past associations.

At any one time, we do have a significant amount of choice in where we localize our consciousness through the filters we use or remove. Of course, where our consciousness is located is a metaphor. But still, it rings true that, in the instance of a bee for example, when that bugger sticks that stinger into your skin, for all you know your consciousness IS right in that patch of skin. Every bit of it! And until you realize that the person in front of you is not that abusive other, you will tend to react protectively.

The point I wish to make is that consciousness, and how you apply it, is a muscle that you can strengthen and train with practice.

In the case of working with heart-consciousness, its a matter of choosing to filter your experience through the awareness of your heart. When you place your consciousness on a patch of skin, you are able to receive whatever information those accumulated cells are available to relay to you. When you filter your consciousness through your heart, you are able to receive whatever information is available through it.

Although not proven empirically, researchers are working with the theory that the brain deals more with matter (particles) while the heart deals more with energy (waves). The brain takes in data through the passage of information (chemicals) across the synapses while the heart absorbs and assimilates vibration or frequency.

Working with brainpower most often involves working through a sequence of events to come to an end point. Let's take a problem like "What does three times three plus two equal?" In calculating the answer, if you mess up any of the parts, like multiplying 3 by 2 and adding 3 instead, your answer is wrong. With the heart, it appears vibrations recognize vibrations, and immediately without any form of sequential analysis that we can identify, recognizes 3X3+2is11.

Shifting your consciousness to move through the filter of your heart which is a simple act of will once you get enough practice -- (perhaps literally) tunes you in to what the heart understands.

Our hearts are assimilating and interpreting vibration and frequency this very moment. What we've forgotten is how to respond to and act on that information. In essence, we over-exercised our brains and now they are the dominant muscles of our perception. We can strengthen our ability to use the consciousness of our hearts as well.

Next installment will have some exercises for you to try out.