The Heart of the Matter

Image Credit: Unsplash

Come December, the theme of the heart is especially on my mind. In 2015, my husband experienced a sudden cardiac arrest.  He was without a heartbeat for seven and a half minutes. It is a miracle he survived, so of course my heart holds immense gratitude. But the experience left many questions in my mind about the workings of the heart. The cardiologist could not find any biological or genetic reason for his cardiac arrest. After completing many tests, the doctor said, “For as much as we know about the workings of the heart, there is a lot we still don’t understand.” 

This leads me to consider: How much do any of us know about the heart?

It is that thing that races in our chest when excited or anxious and hurts like hell in grief. It pounds in our chest during intense exercise and skips a beat around our crush. And at times we feel her swell in joy or gratitude. But what does any of this mean? Is it something you have ever thought about?

I have been on a quest to understand her from different perspectives and connect with her.

Here are some things I have unearthed…

The heart is more than the organ that pumps blood through our body, centers the circulatory system, and controls the rhythm of the heartbeat.

The heart is the most potent part of our Self.

Scientists are finding that the heart, like the brain, contains neurons. Dr. Rollin McCraty, of HeartMath Institute has revealed the heart sends more neurological signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. Further, the magnetic field produced by the heart is more than one hundred times greater in strength than the field generated by the brain and can be detected up to three feet away from the body, in all directions. (“Chapter 06: Energetic Communication | HeartMath Institute”)

The heart is essential to our depth of experience as humans.

What the great traditions, such as Buddhism, teach us is that the monkey mind really is rather useless when we get to things like truth, love, freedom, infinity, eternity, and God. To access such things and to take them in at any depth we need to involve the heart.

The heart is the center of our being and houses the life force energy of joy.

Yoga and Ayurveda also offer a few perspectives on the heart: the koshas and the chakras.

Koshas 

In the yogic model, there is a general collection of layers that surround the true nature of the self. The different layers are called koshas, or sheaths. You might understand them like Russian dolls – seeds within seeds within seeds. There are five koshas that move from the outermost layer inward. Ideally, as we proceed along the yogic path, each layer nourishes the next, so these layers become integrated, allowing us to experience our innermost source.

In this system of understanding, the innermost sheath is the “bliss body” that bathes in “oneness.”  This most subtle sheath is a place of feeling joy, contentment, and bliss.

Photo source: https://www.fitsri.com/yoga/koshas

The sheath of joy lives in the territory of the heart kosha. Here, memories help to support sensations of joy, peace, and bliss. Per yoga philosophy, joy is native to the body. We miss experiencing joy because we are stuck in our physical layer, or we are distracted by the thinking mind that grows thoughts like wild grasses in a prairie. Joy is there to receive if we practice movement inward using the body, breath, and meditation.

Chakras

Photo source: https://www.womenshealth.com.au/what-are-the-7-chakras/

Chakras are important in ayurvedic healing and are understood as energetic centers that assimilate and express a certain aspect of life force energy. Chakras are latent energy centers that mirror the nerve plexus in the body. That is to say, the chakras direct and guide the physical body from behind the nervous system.

We want to bring our chakra energy into balance so that prana, the life force energy directed by breath, flows unobstructed from the root of the spine the spine to the crown of the head so there is a free flow of energy for healing and growth. Physical and psychological diseases involve imbalances in the chakra functioning.

The heart is the center of our being and the center of the chakra system. The heart chakra is dominated by the air element, which governs breath and circulation, and physical relates to the heart and lungs. But energetically, it involves itself with issues of giving and receiving love, devotion, connection to others, compassion, self-acceptance, and forgiveness. When this chakra is “open” we experience beauty, joy, and loving connections in life. When out of balance, energies are trapped in insecurity, anger, impatience, grief, and/or codependency.

We must engage in practices to connect to the heart and keep it open

The heart is a muscle that must be intentional and explicit in the access of love. When connected to the heart, we can use its fluctuations to guide our daily life. The heart center will open when prana is flowing, because of breath and awareness, and we can experience beauty, joy, and love. Even allowing the feeling of pain allows the energy to flow in a healthy manner.

When prana is blocked in the heart, we experience fear, anger, and injustice.

Yoga offers methods of asana (poses), breath and meditation to work with the powerful energy of the heart to move towards openness and healing. Here are two of my favorites:

Pose & Breath to Open the Heart

Allow yourself to be in a position that creates space in the upper torso, ribcage, and chest to enhance the prana vayu – where breath moves in and up.

Lie on a yoga bolster under your shoulder blades and place support under your head. Permit your arms to be heavy and fall to the side.

Focus on your breath at the tip of the nose - finding a slow, steady, and even pace.

Then feel or envision breath moving up from the navel to the heart and lungs on the inhale. And as you exhale, feel, or envision the breath spilling into the heart and lungs. Perhaps you could envision this movement of breath like the Buckingham Fountain. The inhale pulls the breath upwards, and the exhale allows the breath to cascade down and around the heart.

One last addition…smile down at the heart center.

Soak in this “fountain breath” for as long as you enjoy.

Gratitude Meditation

Research has demonstrated that heart meditation practices appear to make a significant difference in psychological and emotional states (practitioners tend to be happier and less anxious), but they also impact areas of the brain associated with emotional processing, empathy, and positive feeling. (Hoffmann, et al. 2011)

Here is an invitation: come to a comfortable seated posture and close your eyes.

Bring your attention to your breath at the tip of the nose and follow it into a slow, smooth, and steady rhythm.

Shift your attention into your heart space and let your awareness rest there. Bring to mind a time when you felt love, joy, or happiness in your heart. It could be a time from the distant past, or recent. Maybe it was a big family dinner, or when you saw a toddler take their first steps. Maybe it was a time you laughed yourself to tears or felt completely at safe and at ease. Perhaps it’s the way your pet greets you upon your arrival home or witnessing joy exploding on a loved one’s face.

What stirs your heart? What brings a smile to your face? Abide in the that memory or image and receive the feeling of love in your heart. Feel into the sensation of love and happiness inside you. What does it feel like in and around your heart? Around your belly? In your face and head?

Now, let go of the memory and/or distinct story line. But keep attending to that feeling of love. As you inhale, expand the feeling in your heart, as if you are stoking a fire, and know this is love. Let that spark illuminate your body, mind, and heart with joy. Absorb it. Let it nourish you. Know you can bring the feeling of love into your heart at any time. Exhale with gratitude.

Remain for as long as you would like to savor.

When you are ready to end this practice, on an inhale lift your heart, and on an exhale humbly bow your mind to your heart. Thank yourself for the time you took for this practice. Inhale and gently blink open your eyes and exhale your awareness into the space around you.

The Heart of the Matter

I still do not have answers about the mechanics of the heart or why it may stop beating. But it seems as though recent research backs yoga and Ayurveda’s teachings in knowing that the heart is potent, and essential to our experience of love and truth. Its energies are subtle and underlie thinking. When tended, the heart positively impacts psychological and emotional states, as well as areas of the brain associated with emotional processing, empathy, and positive feeling. Yoga offers practices to journey inward from the body to the heart. With poses, breath, and meditation, we can arrive back at the center of our being and experience our native energy of joy.

Wanting to go deeper? Contact Kristen to begin your wellness journey!