“The heart is the home to our spirit”
The spirit is the energetic part of ourselves that resides in our physical body. The spirit is yang and the physical body is Yin.
Our spirt is more than our personality and physical traits – it is the sum of who we are. Our spirit is the “you” that you know yourself to be. It is your inner guidance and it’s not limited. It is your very essence. Your spirit resides in your heart.
To nourish our hearts – we need to experience joy, love and laughter. Experiencing joy lifts our spirit and provides nourishment to our soul.
Joy comes in many forms – it can be as simple as smelling a flower, or smelling your favourite food, a hug from a friend, dancing or listening to a wonderful song.
However – when our hearts do not have a steady, stable and reliable place to reside – our hearts become agitated. Our hearts can be agitated by too much heat, extroversion, too much mental strain (overthinking and over worrying) and too much emotional stimulation.
Our hearts become depleted when there is not enough joy – there is too much cold, too much isolation, not enough emotional stimulation.
When our heart is agitated and depleted – our “spirit” does not have a stable environment and does not feel secure in its home.
Insecurity of the spirit can lead to – anxiety, mental restlessness, mania, insomnia and emotional instability and cardiovascular problems.
When we talk about the heart from a Chinese medicine perspective – we give reverence to this organ – as it houses our “spirit” our inner essence.
The heart is a fire organ and is it represents the “utmost yang”. This means that it is the greatest peak of Yang energy. Think of the heart like our bodies sun – it provides us with warmth and light.
When we think of the heart – it has many qualities. The heart is a yang organ and pairs with the small intestine.
The emotion of the heart when balanced is joy, love and exuberance. When out of balance – impatience, mania and over excitement.
The heart is associated with the season of summer – light, brightness, joy, partying, socializing and celebration.
The taste of the heart is Bitter – therefore to aid with balancing the heart organ – we need to eat bitter foods.
Its colour is red and the tissue is blood. The sense organ is the tongue.
The main function of the heart organ is to govern the BLOOD. This is taking into account both the physical aspect of blood – it pumps blood around the body, as well as referring to it nourishing aspect. Blood provides nutrients to our body and organs and carries oxygen to all of the body.
Just as Yin and Yang are a pair and need to be balanced – you cannot have blood without Qi. Qi and blood are a yin and yang pair and need each other to flow and move through the body. Qi – is the driving force of blood and directs it around the body.
How do we balance our heart?
Fires needs a root, – its needs to be grounded and contained. Without a root – fire spreads rapidly and rises in every direction – unpredictable and dangerous. The root of fire is water. Fire and water are a Yang/ Yin pair. The water element pertains to the kidney organs.
The heart (fire) and Kidneys (water) are a yin / yang pair and need to balance each other. Disharmony between these 2 pairs can also lead to anxiety, emotional instability, insomnia and sleep issues.
We have a specific acupuncture point that we use to reharmonize kidney and heart disharmony – and this assists to rebalance the yin and yang of the body and bring harmony and balance back to the mind, the body and our spirit.
How Can we help our Heart and Spirit?
In Chinese medicine – it is important that we nourish our soul. This means that it is important to provide contemplation and time looking inwards towards our spirit and who we are.
Qi-Gong, Yoga and Tai Chi can assist us with movement to move our blood and Qi around our body. It can also provide some time out from the busy world and when in this relaxed state allow us to contemplate “us”.
Journaling and just being still and silent and going deep within our body also helps us to nourish our spirit. We need to journey inward to ourselves – this is where breathing and meditation are important.
Solfeggio frequencies music at 528 Hz ( is known as the love and miracle frequency) – also aids to balance our spirit and calm our soul. I tell my clinets to put this frequency music on while meditating or at night to help with sleep and relaxation. If you have a look on Youtube – you will see many titles – ease anxiety and stress and worry under this frequency. Just type in either Solfeggio frequency or 528 Hz. This is also useful to assist children to become calm and centred.
Breathing is essential – as it aids to “calm our spirit” and move our blood and nourish the blood.
A breathing practice that I like to use that also calms down the nervous system and activates the vagus nerve is this:
- Sit comfortably and shit your eyes.
- Breathe in through the nose for 4 counts
- Breathe out through the mouth for 6 counts
- Do at least 3 times – if still feeling anxious or upset – do another 3.
- You can use this breathing technique at any time.
To assist to drain the excess fire from our bodies – taking a gentle walk is good – as it releases excess heat in the body, moves our Qi and blood.
Taking a nap in the afternoon also aids with balancing our energy and nourishing the heart.
To nourish the heart – we need to incorporate “bitter” tasting food into our diet. Bitter food has the actions of draining heat, drying dampness, restoring yin and improving digestion.
- Foods that are bitter include: bitter melon, rye, green tea, celery and bamboo shoots.
- Please only use a little amount as to much of these foods can weaken our Yang Qi.
- Bitter foods from A western Medicine perspective are used as they stimulate the taste buds (the sense organ of the heart is the tongue), which gets the salvia and gastric juices flowing and digestion begins.
From a Chinese Medicine perspective – we do not just treat the symptoms we treat the root cause of the issue.
I hope you have enjoyed learning about the Heart from a Chinese Medicine perspective.
If you are feeling anxious, experiencing emotional issues or insomnia – please try the breathing technique and spend some time “looking inward” to your soul. Your soul is trying to communicate with you – you just need a quite space to hear its words of wisdom.
Please give us a call on 0412 789 772 to book an appointment with Julia.
Online consultations are available on Wednesday and Thursday’s.
I have also linked the following artciles below – these are acupressure routines, that you can use at home to hep with anxiety and stress.
https://www.rebalancetcm.com/3-acupressure-routines-for-stress-and-anxiety/
https://www.rebalancetcm.com/3-acupressure-combinations-to-aid-anxiety/