February is lurve month, but did you know that a healthy heart is one that lives in a healthy energetic environment?
Multiple research studies have shown that there is a relationship between heart-related diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity and psychological characteristics such as grief, anxiety and anger.
The research finds that people that are poor at regulating emotions and who frequently express themselves in a negative way are more likely to have coronary heart disease than those that exhibit emotional intelligence such as emotion perception, emotion regulation and emotion expression.
Add to that, the biggest threat to spontaneous heart failure is loss and bereavement. This is why it is common for a loved one (particularly when older) to pass away before the one year anniversary of their spouse. They literally do not wish to experience the re-traumatisation of the passing of their loved one, so their heart stops.
But how do emotions affect our physical body?
Emotions are energy in motion. They are a by-product of our thoughts (often unconscious ones) and this energy has an impact on the body. Personally, I do not believe there is such as thing as positive emotions - often described as joy, contentment and love - because these are states of being. I similarly wouldn't say negative emotions exist (even though research does) - as this denotes something is bad and I gave up good/bad/right/wrong/positive/negative thinking a long time ago as it's a pathway to suffering.
The way I see it is, if we experience life as ourselves and are kind and compassionate when our mind generates an emotion in our body (inevitable - even for the most practiced of spiritual guru's) then we will experience better health than if we are experiencing life through our fear-filled lens of the past - which creates tonnes of emotions, and opinions about those emotions too!
When we have strong emotion to something - let's say we're mad at the neighbour for being noisy, the body responds by upping certain biochemicals such as cortisol - the fight/flight hormone and this prevents healthy hormones from circulating that make us feel happy and loved from such as oxytocin and serotonin. Now imagine this response on a daily basis because you have unresolved trauma from your childhood. That would be like experiencing a noisy neighbour on a daily basis.
The effect is a double whammy. Chronically elevated cortisol levels are linked to diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, adrenal fatigue and Addisons disease, whilst lack of oxytocin and serotonin are linked to low mood, depression, anorexia, poor sleep, irritable bowel and chronic fatigue.
Essential life skill
Having a healthy relationship to our emotions therefore becomes an essential life skill if we want to experience good heart health.
The good news is that the research found that patients with heart disease can be trained to have a better relationship with their emotions through developing emotional intelligence.
The first step is perception. It means being aware of the emotion. Being consciously aware that we are experiencing an emotion removes its unconscious grip over us and gives us the opportunity to make choices about it. Examples of not perceiving emotions would be abuse of food, alcohol, overworking, making sure you are constantly busy/stimulated, being shut down and sleeping all the time, simply denying them and blaming others. These keep our emotions stuck in our body, which makes them a ticking time bomb for health conditions later in life.
Depending on your upbringing around emotions, being open to acknowledging them can be hard. Being seen as emotional can be considered weak, disruptive, too difficult to deal with and many other reasons we have culturally used to shut down the expression of emotions - so being brave enough to feel them and become aware of them is an important first step.
Personally, I like meditation for creating a safe space to feel our emotions and acknowledge them. Meditation is a free resource we can do for ourselves on a daily basis to support a healthy relationship with our emotional state whilst cultivating deep levels of kindness and compassion.
Next, once we are aware of our emotions, comes a need to make wise decisions moving forwards. Giving in to anger and rage, being consumed by grief, staying stuck in anxiety just perpetuates the same cycle of events - so nothing changes. It can also end us up in a lot of trouble - particularly if that rage is directed at ourselves or another. Instead, a healthy approach would be to perhaps name the emotion (there's not right or wrong on this) and see it as separate from who we are. Instead of saying "I am mad", we might rephrase that to be "I see I am experiencing anger, frustration and fear." Putting a gap between the emotion and us stops us identifying with it. It helps us to realise it is temporary and it will leave when it's ready. For advanced spiritual practitioners, a name for the emotion isn't even necessary. Acknowledging there is a strong energy is enough, before letting go and returning to a resting state of openness and awareness and going about your day. Both approaches ensure their is no attachment or resistance to the emotion, so like a cloud, it's allowed to float on by...
Finally, many find expressing their emotions helpful. This can be a body response such as crying, speaking them out loud, shaking or shouting, or it can be creative responses as pouring emotion into a piece of artwork or a piece of music. Reiki is also good as it allows the energy to flow freely as it needs, letting it be released and expressed that way.
Emotions can be powerful forces for good if harnessed correctly, so it is extremely important to have a healthy relationship with them to capture the value of them when they are there. An example is using the energy from the emotion to speak politely to the neighbour to ask them to be more considerate to others. I can't promise it will work, but at least you have harnessed your feelings to take action and advocated for yourself - which is important when it comes to self-worth.
Mind-based causes of heart conditions
In his book Body Calm, Sandy Newbigging attributes the function of the heart as the organ responsible for circulation. He suggests the mind-based causes of heart issues are being blocked, disconnected, hurt, closed to aspects of Self and out of flow with life. He invites the reader to become aware of areas of their life they are feeling disconnected or hurt, and what areas of themselves they may be closed off to? The antidote calm thought to be repeated as an affirmation is:
"I am open to all aspects of myself and life".
This calm thought helps us to release our beliefs around ourselves and our life and open ourselves up to the endless opportunities that await.
I trust you have found this blog useful in understanding the connection between emotions and heart health and you give yourself the gift of emotional freedom this Valentine's Day!
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