Chinese Medicine: view of body mind and spirit

Why Love Heals: Heart Coherence

“Ultimately, every form of healing goes back to the Divine: love melts all blockages. Compassion gives strength and boosts power. Light heals and blesses.” -Zhi Gang Sha

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” The heart is a global internal synchronizing signal. What signal are you sending to every cell in your body? The electromagnetic field of the heart is measurable five or more feet away from the body. What signal are you sending to people you come in contact with? As we connect with the Divine in loving compassion, allowing light and love into our Heart we overflow this life to all around us. Sounds mystical? It is. And science is proving this ancient wisdom. Read on.

Chinese medicine teaches that the heart is the Emperor, regulating all functions and organ systems in the body. “Above all else, guard the heart, for it is the source of all life.” We read this in the Bible and in the teachings of Chinese medicine.

This teaching of the heart is also represented allegorically and historically. In China, the Emperor was considered to be the direct representative of Heaven. His word and directives were considered Divine Authority. He was protected at all costs, for upon him rested the fate of the whole nation. When the Emperor lived in accord with Divine principles of life, ruling with compassion, wisdom and mercy, the kingdom flourished at all levels. Favorable climate and weather promoted crops flourishing. Thus, the people were fed, healthy and content. This fostered well-being, healthy communities and spiritual, artistic and intellectual development leading to a rich and diverse culture grounded in spirit. Conversely, when the Emperor neglected Divine Authority and lived according to his own whims, lusts and thirst for power, the land would suffer from severe climatic conditions leading to earthquakes, droughts, floods leading to crop failure. Thus, individuals would suffer from hunger and hardship leading to decline of the nation at all levels.

The Heart was considered the seat of consciousness, the most important aspect of mind, encompassing not mere intellectual capacity, but spiritual qualities of awareness, compassion and wisdom. The spirit of the Heart, or shen is connected to the greater Shen or Spirit. In the quiet place of the Heart, we commune with Spirit and receive guidance. When we are centered in our heart with quiet awareness and loving kindness, harmony is created in our being at all levels: spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. In this way we effect our own well-being and positively influence the well-being of all around us.

Well, as I’ve always quipped, tongue in cheek, modern science is finally starting to catch up with ancient knowledge. Researchers are onto some fascinating territory investigating the role of the heart and positive emotions in our psyche and health. The Heart Math Institute is one the forefront of some of this truly exciting research. Scoffers of Chinese medicine and psycho-spiritual approaches to well-being, it is time to open your eyes and hearts. For the rest of us, our time is at hand. Awake and rejoice!

Researchers find the heart generates the largest electromagnetic field in the body, 5,000 times stronger than that produced by the brain. This field can be measured several feet away from the body with SQUID (Super-conducting Quantum Interference Device-based magnetometers). The electromagnetic field generated by the heart permeates every cell and acts as a synchronizing signal for the body.

Traditional models of the human body were based on the brain as being the determining factor in human health and emotions. The heart was considered to have too low a frequency field to exert any influence and has been heretofore considered by Western medicine as merely a mechanical pump for the blood. It was considered that only the endocrine system and brain produced neurotransmitters that effect our emotional state and health. Now, it is known that the heart itself produces peptides that effect emotions and that there is a nerve ganglia around the heart which communicates directly with the higher cognitive areas of the brain.

“Traditional linear theory predicted that weak, extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields, such as that radiated from the human heart, could not generate enough energy to overcome the thermal noise limit and thus effect biological systems. However, more recently it has been recognized that a linear and equilibrium approach is not appropriate for modeling biological systems, which are intrinsically nonlinear, nonequilibrium and noisy….” states Rollin McCraty, PhD in his paper The Energetic Heart (see reference below). “As a weak signal becomes more coherent, the greater its capacity becomes to entrain ambient noise and thus produce significant effect.”

HeartMath Institute researchers find that in positive emotional states of love, appreciation and gratitude, the heart rate and rhythm becomes even and the wave produced is a smooth, even sine-wave pattern. This positive, loving heartfull-ness evokes this pattern referred to as “heart coherence”. In this state of heart coherence, the higher cognitive functions of the brain are engaged, such as the frontal lobe and the areas of integration and processing between the right and left lobes of the brain.

Conversely, when we are in a negative emotional state, such as frustration, insecurity or anger, the waves measured on the ECG are disordered, close together and uneven. They look much as we feel when in those upset emotional states! When there is no heart coherence, the higher cognitive brain functions are simply not accessible. We are then reacting from the backbrain based on fear and memories of the past.

The good news is, that the moment we can bring into our heart a feeling of love and appreciation or gratitude, our frequency shifts, just as if a switch had been turned on. The squiggly, scrunched up lines become smooth, even sine waves. Our heart rhythm smooths, our heart becomes coherent, the cardiac ganglia communication lines are now engaged with higher cognitive functions and our thinking is now coherent! We can make choices based on empathy, caring, compassion. With our hearts relaxed and open, we can receive Divine guidance. Resting in the Presence, we can fully be in the present. From this place we can create loving and win-win solutions and options for our lives. We have a choice, moment to moment. Perfect love casts out fear, but we are the catalyst.

The state of our emotions effects heart rhythm and heart rate variability. These in turn produce changes in the hearts electromagnetic, sound pressure and blood pressure waves effecting every cell in the body.