The Heart is King

In February there is a big focus on Valentine's Day and hearts. We love with all our heart, we get heartbroken, we are heart sick, we wear our hearts on our sleeves, we are heartfelt, and people tug at our heart strings. Since hearts are equated with love it is regarded with high importance in our emotional as well as our physical lives. Our hearts are one of the most amazing organs in our bodies. Without it, life would not be possible. It is King, or according to the ancient Chinese scholars and doctors, the Emperor. In the ancient texts they say the heart governs the mind. Thus anytime mental illness was present it was attributed to a malfunction of the heart or its meridian (energy pathway that feeds the heart).

The heart has an electrical field that is sixty times greater than the brain. The magnetic field is 5,000 times greater. Recent research shows that the heart has a central role in emotional perception and is capable of learning, remembering and making decisions independently of the brain! The heart truly is the ruler of our emotions and our physiology. Every day advances in science close the gap between ancient wisdom and modern technology. The more we advance the more we see that the ancients knew exactly what our bodies were capable of and how they functioned.

Heart functions according to Western medicine include removing metabolic waste, pumping blood through the body, and moving oxygen, nutrients, and other substances via the blood. Functions from the Eastern paradigm include controlling sweat, blood vessels & circulation; housing the "shen" or mind; and controlling mental activities. As a matter of fact, there is no mention of a brain in the organ system of Chinese medicine. According to their philosophies, the heart and kidney performed most functions considered cerebral in our culture.

Acupuncture physicians will look at a person's complexion and tongue to determine the heart's state of health. For example, people with heart conditions often have a very red tip of their tongue and may also have a crack down the center that goes all the way to the tip of the tongue. The ears can also be an indicator of heart issues. Frequently you will see a crack or line formed in the earlobe of a person with heart disease. The crack will start at the inferior notch on the ear and extend to the very end of the lobe. It is referred to as a stress line. These lines can occur years before heart symptoms ever surface. Your complexion can change according to the state of your heart as well. If you are blood deficient (anemic) then you will be very pale, if you have heart fire (irritability, palpitations, thirst, mouth/tongue ulcers, bitter taste in mouth) then your whole face will be red, or if you are suffering from heart yin deficiency (night sweats, palpitations, insomnia, dry mouth) then your face will be red only in the cheek and nose area.

Many people today suffer from symptoms that are attributed a dysfunction of the heart or its meridian. Some of the more common illnesses are anxiety, depression, hot flashes, low or high blood pressure, insomnia, schizophrenia, cardiac arrest, palpitations, poor memory, dream disturbed sleep and mental restlessness.

The heart meridian is strongest during the hours of 11 am to 1 pm and weakest from 11 pm to 1 am. This is why many people die of heart attacks in their sleep. Their energy in their heart is weak to begin with and during its lowest energetic period it gives out.

There are many practices you can take to heart to insure the health of your heart. Diet and exercise play a central role. Foods that can benefit the heart include but are not limited to oysters, persimmons, raspberries, dates, asparagus, basil, black beans, cinnamon, spinach, and red beets. You want to avoid foods high in saturated fat and salt. Yoga, tai chi, aerobics, and weight bearing exercise are all beneficial for your ticker.

Emotions play a huge role in your heart health. It is this organ that allows us to form deep energetic and emotional connections to others in this world. Without these connections we can not thrive. In Chinese medicine each organ has an emotion attributed to it. For example, the lungs relate to grief, the liver relates to anger, the spleen is associated with worry, the kidneys are ruled by fear, and the heart is affected by joy and sadness. These emotions are considered to be the basis of the majority of illness. It is important not to dwell on the negative emotions. Doing so will surely result in an imbalance of any meridian or associated organ. To truly help maintain your heart the best thing you can do is to love truly and love deeply. It is the energy of love that will make your heart and your entire being flourish.

Winter... The Season of Cool Water

In Traditional Chinese Medicine the ancients tried to live in harmony with nature. They felt that this was the best way to maintain health and mental vitality. As the seasonal transformation is upon us let's look at what changes could enhance our well being.

According to Chinese Medicine there are five seasons; spring, summer, late summer, fall and winter. The winter months correlate with the element of water. Think of a deep pool of water and it evokes images of coolness, stillness, deepness and quietude. We can also think about the depths at which water goes. Water is versatile. It can be solid as earth in the form of ice or light as air as it evaporates into steam. The organs associated with the water element are the kidneys, the bladder, and the reproductive organs. Since these organs are associated with the winter it is the perfect time to tonify and regenerate their energies. By revamping the kidney energy you can increase your energy levels and also fire up your metabolism. It is one of the organs acupuncture physicians treat to assist in weight loss. By tonifying in the winter, you can lose more weight in the spring.

The best way to stimulate these organs is through acupuncture, diet, herbs, tai chi, qi gong, and rest. There are many different foods that can be added to your diet to help rejuvenate the kidneys, bladder, and reproductive organs. Any black, salty or deep blue foods have the ability to energize these organs. Examples include black sesame seeds, walnuts, and black beans. It is also suggested that you eat foods that warm your insides to help combat the external cold. In Florida we aren't battling too much cold but it will still benefit to eat foods such as hearty soups and roasted nuts. Think about the foods our ancestors ate during the winter; cinnamon, cloves, garlic, chestnuts, kidney beans, rice, salty foods, and grains. These are all of benefit to the water element organs.

For people that have kidney disturbances, winter is the best time to try and correct these problems. A trip to a qualified acupuncture physician can prove to be of great benefit. Classic kidney patterns in Chinese medicine can include lower back pain, knee problems, edema or water retention, inability to lose weight, hair loss, graying of hair, low libido, lack of will power, deafness, night sweats, urinary problems, bed wetting, asthma, headaches in the back of the head, dizziness, tinnitus and poor memory. A combination of acupuncture and classic Chinese herbal therapy can be quite therapeutic. Even for those without medical problems relating to the water organs, seasonal treatments can help prevent those illnesses which are common during the winter months.

As we all know, winter means shorter days. The ancients believed that in the winter months you should sleep more. You should go to bed a little earlier and wake later. They thought that if you woke later, the sun had a chance to warm the atmosphere a little and you wouldn't have to expend as much of your own internal warmth to stay comfortable.

Winter is a time to rest and reflect. When we honor the cycles of nature we honor the cycles of our own bodies. With the hustle and bustle of our hectic, fast paced, techno lifestyles winter is the perfect time to slow down and honor the traditions of the past.

How to Stress Less

Every day when we watch the news we are subjected to high levels of stress. We sit in our living rooms and listen to experts insert fear into our hearts as they tell us times are bad. The market is bad. The housing economy is bad. Unemployment numbers are increasing and so on and so on. We start to internalize this information and we become fearful, depressed and angry. If we subject ourselves to this ritual on a routine basis these emotional changes register in our bodies.

Stress can cause innumerable illnesses. Some stress related illnesses include back pain, neck pain, anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, irritable bowel disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia as well as autoimmune conditions and allergies. Your immune system suffers and you are more likely to contract simple colds and flus.

Stress causes us to become tense and when we are tense our qi (pronounced chi) can't flow properly through our body. Qi is defined as the vital force that supports life in our bodies. Once the qi or energy gets stuck, it builds up and that is when symptoms start to appear. Think of a pot of boiling water. If you put a lid on it the steam builds up and pushes the lid off. The water overflows and you have a mess. The same thing happens in your body. If the pressure builds up in your stomach you can get heartburn or stomach pain. If the pressure builds up in your liver you can get pain in your sides, headaches, heartburn, blurred vision, strokes, tremors or ringing in your ears. If the pressure affects your heart you can suffer from anxiety, insomnia, palpitations, and chest pain.

Since we are responsible for our bodies, what can we do to offset the effects of high levels of stress? There is much we can do. First, we can exercise. Exercise has proven benefits for stress reduction. It helps open the energy flow in the body which has become locked and stagnant. It promotes blood circulation and releases endorphins and neurotransmitters that send positive chemical messages to the brain and body. These messages help relax the nervous system and improve overall mood.

Another area to address is diet. The body uses higher levels of B vitamins and minerals during periods of high stress. It is very helpful to increase your intake of fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables and limit fats, sugar and alcohol. The digestion of sugars, fats and alcohol also increase the use of the B vitamins and minerals. A balanced diet can help the body replenish the fuel tanks that are emptied quickly by stress.

Complimentary medicine can offer alternative methods for stress reduction. Acupuncture is highly effective in reducing stress. Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to help restore harmony and balance within individuals. An acupuncture physician will spend time to determine where a patient's main weakness exists. Sometimes the symptom seems completely unrelated to the Chinese diagnosis from a Western perspective. For example, you suffer from lower back pain. Your pain is much worse since you have been under more stress at work. After asking about your energy levels, digestion, sleep, emotions, and other bodily functions your acupuncture physician determines your back pain is actually caused by a kidney qi deficiency. This does not correspond to any Western problems with your kidneys but rather addresses the energy levels flowing through your kidney and the kidney energy pathway. By using acupuncture points in the feet and even on the arms and stomach, you can tonify the energy of the kidneys and get rid of back pain. As the pain dissipates your stress levels reduce, your mood improves, and your ability to deal with stress on a day to day basis increases.

Other methods to help restore balance include yoga, tai chi, qi gong. These are Eastern exercises that help reestablish the proper flow of energy through the body.

Color therapy is experiencing resurgence. Colors have been used for thousands of years to affect people on an emotional level. Various colors have different effects on our systems. For example, red is

Also, we must take responsibility for our thoughts. In these stressful times, positive and negative thinking can have a great impact on our bodies. Trying to eliminate negative thoughts and focus on the positive can help keep the good neurotransmitters and endorphins flowing.

Avoid negative people and situations.

Avoid the news. I never put the news on in my house.

And most importantly... Laugh!