The heart is an incredible muscle—yes, muscle. The amount of work done by the heart each day is almost too incredible to even believe. The body contains approximately six quarts of blood. This blood is pushed through the blood vessels over 1000 times in a day. The heart, incredibly, pumps about 6000 quarts (about 1,500 gallons) of blood in a single day for all the days of one’s life!
There is simply no way that I can cover the complicated workings and anatomy of the heart in this article. (I certainly do try during Foot Zone Therapy classes, as some of you can probably attest, to do my best with pages and pages of information—possibly too much information—in the material provided.
Two systems regulate heart activity. One involves the nerves of the autonomic nervous system and acts as an accelerator and as brakes for the heart rate. The other is the intrinsic conduction system—nodes which are built right into the heart tissue. This system sets the basic rhythm of the heart. For this article, let me stress firmly (very firmly) that when a person is under either physical or emotional stress, the heart works much too hard, pumping faster and more forcefully, in order to make more oxygen and glucose available to the systems of the body. The good news: For people who know how to handle stress more calmly or know how to rest and rejuvenate between periods of stress or hard work, the heart will slow down and beat steadily. This gives the heart a period of rest when the crisis is over.
Stress Cardiomyopathy – Broken Heart Syndrome
A troubled mind may lead to a broken heart in a very literal and physical sense.
Many patients arriving at emergency rooms and doctors’ offices with symptoms of a heart attack have just experienced the death or loss of a loved one. Traumatic experiences such as a car accident or mugging are also recognized as triggers for heart attack-type symptoms.
Intense emotional events can trigger your sympathetic nervous system, unleashing a flood of chemicals. This sudden surge of chemicals can stun the heart’s muscle and leave it temporarily, and sometimes permanently, unable to pump properly. In medical speak, this is referred to as ‘Stress Cardiomyopathy’. Energy workers often refer to this situation as ‘Broken Heart Syndrome’. It is very real!
My point? If we insist on living our lives in real or imaginary stress, we will be increasing, daily, the stress on our hearts.
A second point? Anything that strengthens you emotionally—whether oils, herbs, exercise, faith, or anything else—will benefit your heart. . . and the heart certainly needs all the help that we can give it. Statistically speaking, heart disease of various types is the leading cause of death for both men and women and has been for more than a century!
Albert Einstein is reputed to have said that he studied science in order to ‘understand God’s thoughts’ as He created the world. As I have studied anatomy and physiology and the healing properties of “God’s pharmacy’—for a lifetime—I am always in awe of the genius of our Creator and His overwhelming love for each of us!
With plants, in either herb or essential oil form, we have been given wonderful ways to nourish and heal our bodies. And the energetic miracle that is Blessed Water/Homeopathic Remedies is almost beyond belief!
We are meant to be well and happy and energetic into our advanced years! Please do not accept pain and physical limitations as a normal part of the aging process! Eat right. live well, and use the wonderful and amazing remedies that God has provided for us everywhere in the world!
The digestive system is a very intricate and complex system. To my mind, it is much like a fragile ecosystem. There is a constant need for balance in the digestive system, just as there is in nature. The balance between the organs and among the different types of healthy bacteria found in the digestive system is absolutely essential to good health. When the digestive system is not working properly, the body becomes either malnourished or toxic. As a result, all the woes of poor nutrition and/or a toxic system eventually show themselves in the overall health of the body and mind.
Due to the many different organs included in the digestive system and their specific roles in the body, there are a lot of essential oils and herbs which have an ability to impact this system and bring about improvements. This month’s newsletter targets only a few of them. (I know from the length of the article that it seems like we surely must have mentioned them all. Not so—but it did feel like that to me as I wrote it.) I hope you find something useful to you or your family in the information I have tried to present here.
My husband and I (he does this better than I do sometimes) look at the plants—every one, and perhaps the rocks and minerals, too—as personal messages from a loving Heavenly Father. Because He understood that we would not always ask for, or even recognize His help in our lives, He endowed the various plants with His own healing capacities and invited us to partake of them to balance and heal our own lives. Plants affect us, not just on a physical (vitamin and molecular) level, but on a spiritual plane as well. It is impossible to use an herbal remedy or and essential oil with an intent to heal the physical body without partaking of its ability to bring light, wisdom, healing, and peace into your life. This peace and wisdom will be multiplied many times over if your use of the herbs, the essential oils, and the blessed water/homeopathic remedies with gratitude to the Creator and an acknowledgment of the role of the atonement in the healing of both physical and emotional (spiritual) pain. Embracing an attitude of GRATITUDE opens the door to ABUNDANCE, allowing us to fully experience the gifts of HEALTH and healing that surround us. See the full list of topics.
In April, our topics are HAIR, SKIN, NAILS, and NUTRITION. Nutrition plays a very important part in keeping hair, skin, and nails healthy. Often when we focus on nutrition, healthy hair, skin, and nails will follow. This newsletter will focus on nutrition with an emphasis on hair, skin, and nails. The discussion will include essential oils, herbs, blessed waters, and supplements.See the full list of topics.
In June we will be talking about gut health. Having a healthy digestive system is important. So much of our health depends upon nutrition – not just what we eat, but how what we eat is digested and absorbed (or not absorbed as the case may be). A healthy gut plays an important part in immune health.