Heart Health: More Than a Pump––Emotional and Spiritual Healing

“Take Heart:” Expressions tell the story

• Have a heart/heartfelt/lion-hearted/chicken-hearted/hard-hearted/cold-hearted/warm-hearted/ broken-hearted/lose heart/heart-ache/half-hearted/wholehearted/light-hearted/heartless

• Heart health is more than a mechanical matter. Feelings and beliefs contribute to our health and well-being just as much as body-fat percentages and glucose levels.

“What matters when it comes to heart health? Loneliness and isolation can lead to illness; intimacy and connection can heal. Folk tradition is threaded with strong beliefs about the spiritual and emotional nature of the heart.” ~Delicious Magazine, “Have A Heart,” by K.C. Compton, Feb. 1999

Dr. Christiane Northrup, MD: Health Wisdom for Women (newsletter, December 1997):

• Create emotional heart health: Purge the toxic emotions (fear, anxiety, grief, anger, etc.) so they don’t get “stuck” in your heart and blood vessels.

• Appreciate with your heart: Do a gratitude check-in at least 3-times a day!

• Supplement with heart supporting nutrients.

• Eat a modified Mediterranean diet: there is no “one-size-fits-all” dietary plan.

• MOVE: Pump up the volume and activate your heart pump! Good blood circulation promotes good health.

• Cry more: “Crying has been called the oat bran of the spirit and the cleanser of the soul.” Relief and calmness follow your crying storm.

Dr. Elaine Ferguson, MD: “Prescriptions for a Healthy Heart,” Alternative Medicine, 1999, author, Healing, Health and Transformations: New Frontiers in Medicine:

• Live in the here and now: Leave the past behind and let the future unfold. Life is a gift.

• Forgive yourself and others: Don’t carry toxic memories.

• Develop life-sustaining relationships: Social support systems mirror the way we truly feel about ourselves.

• Have faith in yourself: Let God be God! Believing in something greater than ourselves brings forth healing.

• Pray:

• Take time to listen: Slow down, focus internally rather than on all the external chatter.

Steven Horne, author: The Heart’s Key to Health, Happiness and Success, 2011:

• Move out of your head and into your heart (logic vs. intuition)

• The core of what drives us is emotional, not intellectual; emotions connect thoughts to actions

• Three basic aspects of our human nature: Body-Mind-Spirit (Acting-Thinking-Feeling).

• The heart is also a gland, secreting hormones that communicate with other cells of the body.

• Connect with your feelings and pay attention to their messages about what’s going on in your physical body. Don’t ignore signals of aches or discomforts. Address them before they become chronic pain!

The Holy Bible:

Proverbs 4:23:

• “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” NIV

• Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Amplified Bible

• “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” NLT Proverbs 17:22

• “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.” NLT

Life Support––Make every day heart-healthy:

• Indulge in a Happy-Healthy-Heart-Spa in your own home. Items to include: Rosewater aromatherapy mist; Essential oils that promote relaxation (lavendar, German chamomile, Ylang Ylang, orange, tangerine, patchouly); Epsom salts: When magnesium sulfate is absorbed through the skin, such as in a bath, it draws toxins from the body, sedates the nervous system, reduces swelling, relaxes muscles, is a natural emollient, exfoliator, and much more.

• Turn the television and other devices OFF! Listen to soothing, relaxing music. Calming the senses heals them from our everyday environment’s sensory-overload.

I deliberately chose older articles to show that heart health concerns and solutions have been around for decades. While modern research and technology bring advances in treatments and therapies, the key to optimal heart health is prevention. So, take heart, follow some preventive steps and live a long, healthy and happy life!