Healthy Heart, Happy Heart: An Energetic Approach to Cardiovascular Health

People have a lot of concern about the health of their heart, and rightly so. After all, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in virtually every country in the developed world, and it’s responsible for 30 percent of all deaths in the world. During the past few decades, people have become more aware of the diet and lifestyle factors that contribute to heart disease, and that has helped reduce the rate of heart disease in some countries. Yet, it remains a huge health issue that is affecting far too many people, often in the prime of life. We know we should eat healthy foods and exercise regularly, but what else can we do to ensure that our heart is healthy for a lifetime? Well, there is one element that is often missing from the discussion of heart health—energy.

Your Heart Is at the Heart of Your Being
First, realize that your heart is literally at the center of your energetic system, so its importance should not be underestimated. As you may know, we humans have seven energy centers, often called chakras, running through the center line of our bodies. The heart chakra is right in the middle, in the center of your chest, with three others above and three below. You could think of the heart chakra as a gate between the upper three chakras, which regulate the energies of mind and spirit, and the lower three chakras, which provide energy to the physical body.

Having a closed heart is like having a closed gate in your chakra system because there is no connection between your spiritual self and physical self. Without an open heart, you are a divided person, a person who walks this Earth without full realization of your divine nature. Sadly, this is the case, at least to some degree, for most people alive today. The stress and emotional strain of living in a difficult world has caused them to lock their hearts up, rendering them unable to connect with others in a genuine, heartfelt way. Becoming a whole person means growing beyond these scars and freeing yourself to love unconditionally.

The Mind-Heart Connection
You may be wondering, however, if this really has anything to do with the heart’s physical health. After all, we’ve been taught that physical things, like diet and exercise, are the basis of lifelong heart health. Well, these things are indeed important, but science has discovered that mind and emotions play a huge role in maintaining a healthy heart.

Multiple studies have confirmed that heart problems are often predicated by emotional and mental issues. Those with depression, for example, are much more likely to experience cardiovascular problems. Also, people with strong emotional support networks are less likely to have these kinds of problems, and managing stress has been found to be as important as a healthy diet and exercise. Some of the behaviors that lead to heart problems—like overeating and smoking—are self-destructive ways of compensating for and coping with emotional issues.

Emotional Clearing Is the Key
So how do we make our emotions heart healthy? Emotions are perfectly normal, so you can’t just stop negative emotions from happening. You can, however, stop carrying them with you. Sadly, many people relive the negative events of their lives on an endless loop by carrying around and constantly reliving old hurts.

Forgiveness and acceptance are keys to dropping negative emotions. This can be difficult, though, if your mind is in the habit of obsessing about insults you received or disappointments you have experienced. Although you may rage inside your mind about people who have wronged you, you are the only one who ends up paying the price if you cannot let go of these experiences.

Once you begin to change your mindset about these issues, you can also clear them from your body. When you hold on to negative emotions, you also hold them in your body. The tense muscles of everyday stress in a common example of this, but it is true of other kinds of emotional residue, too. Old emotions held in the body can block the flow of energy through the body, leading eventually to disease.

For the kinds of emotions that most affect the heart, such as sadness and anger, chest breathing and meditation are very helpful. As you practice them, you’ll feel tension melting from your body and tightness in your chest releasing. Also, special stretches, like those found in Ilchi Lee’s Meridian Exercise book, can specifically target the energy channels related to the heart. The intestines are also related to our emotional health, so intestine exercises and Belly Button Healing are recommended. Coloring has also been show to release stress, and some adult coloring books, such as Healing Hearts by Manwol, contain meditations for removing old negative emotions. Many of these exercises are very easy and only take a few minutes to do, so why not incorporate them into your daily health regimen?

Love Is the Best Heart Medicine
Most importantly, make this your primary heart-health goal: to love a little more every day. Remember that love is better than any medicine that money can buy. Love is the energy of openness and connection; it is the true nutrition that your heart craves the most. If you find yourself isolated or alone in this life, don’t wait for others to love you, locking your heart away in a prison of despair. Instead, go out and find others who need your love even more than you need theirs. By healing other’s hearts, you will undoubtedly heal your own.

 

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