In this solo, podcast‑style episode, Claire Hayek, founder and CEO of Mind Soul Purpose Team Building, explains how the heart functions as a "second brain" with an intrinsic cardiac nervous system of about 40,000 neurons that constantly communicates with the brain via electrical impulses, hormones, and the vagus nerve. She argues that most signals travel from heart to brain, making the common phrase "I know it in my heart" a literal description of bodily intelligence. Hayek describes "cardiac coherence"—a smooth, rhythmic heartbeat—that signals safety to the brain, balances the nervous system, and unlocks creativity, empathy, and intuition. When heart rhythm is erratic, the brain receives mixed messages, leading to confusion and poor decision‑making. To help leaders harness this connection for year‑end reflection and strategic planning, she outlines a three‑step practice: (1) pause and breathe at about six cycles per minute, (2) focus attention on the chest while visualizing breath moving in and out of the heart area, and (3) ask a single alignment question such as “What does my heart actually want more of next year?” The physical response (relaxation vs. tension) indicates coherence and guides the decision. Hayek also highlights the gut’s 500 million‑neuron enteric nervous system, completing a brain‑heart‑gut tri‑axis that, when aligned, provides clear, confident direction. She closes with a brief call‑to‑action: a 60‑second hand‑on‑heart breathing exercise, a QR‑code link to her TEDx talk on voice alignment, and an invitation to join her Mental Fitness Masterclass for deeper training. The episode blends neuroscience, personal anecdote, and practical leadership tools aimed at helping listeners start the new year grounded, calm, and aligned.
Chapters
Let me blow your mind for a second. Inside your heart is a small network of about 40,000 neurons, a built-in guidance system that talks constantly with your brain. And here's the twist. Most of the messages travel upward from the heart to the brain. So when you've said, I just know it in my heart, that's not a metaphor. That's your body's intelligence speaking, basically. And honestly, there's no better time to talk about this than right now as we close the year. Because this is when most of us stop to think, reflect, plan. And if you're like most leaders, you're doing it all from your head. Today, I want to help you do it from your heart. Welcome to the NeuroLeadership Edge, where we use brain science to build clarity, courage, and impact. I'm Claire Hayek. I'm the founder and CEO of Mind Soul Purpose Team Building, an engineer turned neuroleadership expert, a TEDx speaker, and a lifelong musician. As we wrap up 2025, I want to leave you with something different. A way to start the new year grounded, calm, focused, connected. Today we're exploring the real power center behind great leadership, your heart. Yes, your heart. You're going to learn how your heart and brain communicate in real time, why balanced heart rhythms create calm focus and intuition, and how you can train that connection to make wiser, more aligned decisions as you step into A brand new year. So let me start by sharing a little story. I pretty much learned this lesson the hard way. Back when I was leading engineering projects, my entire focus was on logic, numbers, and data. You know, I definitely was connected to a lot of people. I was great with people. But it was all about deadlines, right? Then one day my body signaled something literally my spreadsheets couldn't. A quiet tension. I had a tension in my chest telling me something was off. I ignored it like we all do. The plan looked perfect. It looked flawless. I was in flow, was doing my thing until we uncovered a human error variable that had slipped through every metric. That moment made me curious. What if my body knew before my brain did? And this is when I started studying how the heart communicates with the brain. I started reading more books about it. I started getting more interested about the brain and neuroscience and learning a bit more about how leaders can use the signal instead of ignoring it or overriding it. And every December since, I've made it kind of a practice before I plan the next year, I pause, I breathe, and I listen. Although I try to do that pretty much every day now after taking on the mental fitness practice and training my brain daily, but I make it kind of a ritual where I intentionally pause in December. One thing that we all ignore, most of us ignore, Is that we get real clarity and real focus. Things just become obvious to us. It's like, oh my God, yes, I get it, right? That happens when we stop pushing harder and start aligning deeper from the inside out. So here's what's happening behind the scenes. Just to explain how this works, your heart isn't just a pump. It has its own cluster of neurons, often called the intrinsic cardiac nervous system. It talks to your brain through electrical impulses, hormones, and the vagus nerve. Now, when your heartbeat is smooth and rhythmic, what researchers call cardiac coherence, it sends the brain a signal of safety. Now that message balances your nervous system and opens the door to creativity, to empathy and intuition. So brain-heart coherence is very important and is often overlooked. Because when your heart rhythm is erratic during, for instance, stress or fear, It floods the brain with mixed messages. That's when basically you're confused. Clarity is gone and every decision feels really hard. You're not really sure what to do. So before you set your goals for next year, remember your brain performs much better when your heart is steady. This isn't about doing more, adding more to your plate with all the other things that you need to do. wrap up the year, and you're probably really overwhelmed at work, and you're trying to just get everything together. It's important because it's all about tuning in. It's all about taking the time to tune in. All right. So that moment before a big decision, when your mind says yes, but your chest feels tight, you're like, yes, But you're like, ah, I don't know about this. That's pretty much your internal guidance system speaking. And I want to share with you a tool that's going to help you. Here's how basically to use the brain and heart coherence as you plan your next chapter. The first step, you have to pause. You have to pause, breathe, close, close all your tabs. Do this when you're you know you have a bit of quiet and alone time, even if if you're outside alone, just in your car. Don't do it while you're driving. All right, so you can just pause and breathe. You you need to kind of slow your breath to about six cycles per minute. This simple rhythm brings your heart and brain into. sync. All right, so when you do that, then you are really getting your brain and your heart to sync together, to be in coherence. The next step is you shift your focus to your chest. You— one thing that really helps me is to visualize, visualize basically your breath moving in and out of your heart area. So as you inhale, your chest is going up. As you exhale, your chest is dropping. That small shift and that presence, more present moment, being present with your breath, it calms your physiology faster than any, anything else you could do. Step 3, just ask yourself one clear question. What would Focus, alignment, clarity look like right now? If your body relaxes, it's coherence. You're basically asking your body to show you what calm and clarity is. And if your body just automatically relaxes, that's coherence. It's a yes. If it tightens, if you feel uncomfortable with this question, that's your heart asking you to wait. As you wrap up the year, try asking yourself this one: What does my heart actually want more— basically desires more of next year? So again, write this down: What does my heart actually want more of next year? Notice what comes up. This is your strategic plan. I know it sounds crazy. But it's so efficient. And as I explained, this is the best way to get clarity with and truly being aligned with your heart and your brain for what's coming next in the new year. Now, let's not forget that the gut plays its part too. It's— I always talk about the 3 axes: the brain, the heart, and the gut. So let's not discount the gut. With over— I don't know if you know this, there's 500 million neurons in your gut. Basically, your enteric nervous system is behind those gut feelings that guide you in conversations and deals and relationships. It's over 500 million neurons communicating. Can you imagine? Can you imagine that? So when you feel like you're punched in the gut, or when you feel warm in your stomach, it's your body pretty much saying, we've seen this pattern before. It recognizes it, so it reacts. When your head, your brain, your heart, and your gut are aligned, you don't just plan your year. You feel your way into the whole process, into the whole beginning with focus and clarity and confidence. This is the beauty of it. So before you jump into the new year and build your strategy deck and what you need to do, whether you're a leader thinking of the year to come, the strategic plan with your team, or whether you're an entrepreneur thinking of what you work— where you're heading, or whether you're doing this on a personal level, take 60 seconds for yourself. Do me a favor. Do that hand on the heart. Inhale for 4 counts. Exhale. For 6, and ask yourself, what would the most aligned version of me choose to create next year? It's that simple. And just notice what shows up. That's basically you taking that moment to listen to what your body is saying. It's that simple. And it's 60 seconds. Maybe you're going to resist this and maybe you go, I don't have time for this. It's 60 seconds. Even if you're skeptical, trust me, take the time to do it. You'll thank me later. And don't forget, your brain follows your heart's rhythm. So when, when you're stressed, especially during these, the busy holiday stretch, start with your breath, not looking at your to-do list. Just start with your breath. And inhale through your nose for 4, exhale through your mouth for 6. And just picture that the whole noise, the whole chaos, the stress of the year just going away, clearing out with each breath. We can— it's a great way to clear it when you visualize that you're just expelling it out, right? If you do it 3 times, It, it, that's all it takes to remind your body we're okay, we're safe, we got this, and we're ready for what's, what's coming up, basically what's coming up next. So as we wrap up 2025, I just wanted to say big thank you to all the listeners, to all the followers, and to all our guests. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for participating in this podcast. Thank you for listening, for leading, and for doing the work that most people avoid, that inner work. And if this episode resonated with you, scan the QR code that you see here up on my screen and watch my TEDx talk, The Say It Out Loud Rule: Why Your Voice Matters More Than You Think. You'll also find links and free resources that I share There's the masterclass as well. Do reach out on social media. Do reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'd love to hear from you. And, um, I specifically talk about the TEDx I did because it's all about using your voice to align with who you really are. It's not about practicing your voice and the tone of your voice. It's not a physical thing. It's a really owning your voice in a whole different way. And if you're ready to take it further, to train this connection deeper, the brain, heart, and gut, and everything else that is such a great knowledge to know when you understand the brain and the foundation of how we work and how we were wired, and the fact that you can rewire your patterns and transform your life and play at a whole different level and tap into your full potential, I welcome you to and encourage you to join the Mental Fitness Masterclass Step Into Your Power. It's going to help you start the year strong with the right mindset and the right heart leading the way. Because remember, leadership starts right in here, right in your chest. So take a breath, feel that heartbeat, that rhythm, that reset button. And as we close this year, my wish for you is simple: lead with clarity, speak with courage, and remember your heart's been guiding you all along. Happy holidays, happy new year, and I'll see you all in the new year.
