The Mechanics of Heart
60
I remember how all I was taught in school about the heart was that it's a muscle that circulates my blood. Sitting at my chilly silver school desk, I'd drum my pencil on my science book and wonder, how can an organ that's supposedly so mechanical be this universal symbol for love?
Now that I'm an adult, I think that question can be answered in many ways.
But today I like this semi-scientific one: The heart is associated with love because it delivers chemical feedback on whether or not we love our experiences. After all, isn't it the heart's job to circulate endorphins, adrenaline, dopamine and other chemicals through the bloodstream?
What chemicals it circulates and how many chemicals are released depends on what thoughts our brains think. Do we love the things we choose to say, think and do throughout our days? How do we handle stress? Do we put ourselves in stressful situations or around people who drain us again and again?
For the past few years, I've intentionally used my heart as a little red life coach. I've steered clear of stressful situations before I got pulled into them. When I have, my heart's said "good job" by staying calm and steady. When I've chosen to think the best about bad situations and walked away from other ones that were continuously draining me, my heart again has said "good job" by circulating a healthy smattering of endorphins.
On the other hand, the times I've committed to something that I didn't have peace about, or had no passion for, my heart kicked into overdrive to circulate the surplus of fight or flight chemicals being released by my brain. (As we've all experienced, while all body chemicals have their purpose, the release and circulation of too much at once can tax the body.)
So I guess this steadfast, earnest organ does actually have a lot to do with love. If we let it, the heart can serve a sort of divine double duty. On one hand, it delivers blood like a good machine should. On the other, it's more like a living teacher, repeatedly showing us how it's working in cahoots with the brain to coach us into choosing thoughts, experiences and influences that are entirely good for us.
How's that for love?
________
Visit Author, Coach Jenna Forrest online at JennaForrest.com.
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
Yes indeed. If instead of coming from the positive or negative, we come from the divinity, then neither the negative nor the positive (emotions) take control of our lives. We can train ourselves to take control of how we see and react to our experiences by practicing awareness.
Cellebrate! says:
2 years ago
Hi there. this is a good post. I have learned from it. While what you said is true, I'd like to just share a caveat on the heart, because I have been "into it" also a lot, the physical and spiritual side of it.
I am a "heart" person, which I guess a lot of people like me for. Sometimes, more than reason, I use my heart to evaluate things ( sometimes to a fault, I agree).
My point is, some people are over ruled by their hearts - meaning, their emotions, their feelings. While the heart is a good "teacher" like you said, I'd like to suggest that its best to temper our "feelings"/"emotions" with reason once in a while. It wont really hurt.
I love your post. really. thanks for sharing.