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!
I have been a teacher all of my life! I was given the responsibility to lead the music in my LDS primary meetings when I was 11 years old and should have been just an attendant. By the time I was 14 years old, I was also the teacher of a Sunday School class of 4-year old children. (Primary was on Mondays in those long ago days, so it was possible for me to do both!) I loved those callings!
What does this have to do with this newsletter highlighting Butterfly Express, LLC specials for other Foot Zone specialists? Not much, maybe, except a desire to share some of what I have learned over these many intervening years!. I am getting older by the day, and sharing what I have learned, often by hard experience, is the best of the things that fill my days!
I have been zoning feet for almost 30 years, guessing as best I can about the ages of my children at the time. Although our family was already using both herbal and homeopathic remedies, learning to ‘zone’ feet made a significant impact on the health of my family, just as it had done for me when I began getting zoned regularly a few months before begging to be taught to do it myself. My husband’s health was very sketchy at the time, as it had been for many years already. I believe, as I did then, that regular foot zones kept him with us. His health, even now at 73 years old, is better than it was then!
After some deliberation and visiting with an employee who also knows the Zone, we decided to feature the Synergy Kit to offer these ‘whole-body’ oils to zone therapists at a discount, along with a bit of information about various body systems and the essential oil blends, mostly formulated by me, that I have found useful during foot zones over the years.
During sleep, our bodies should be working to support healthy brain function and maintain our physical health.
How is that working for you?
I hope very well! But, if not, I hope something in this article can help you! There are few things in life more frustrating—and more detrimental to our health—than lying awake, so very tired, but unable to sleep. Not getting enough good quality sleep is, however, more than just frustrating because sleep is a very essential function! Without sufficient rest/sleep, it is impossible for a person to be well either physically or emotionally! As you sleep, your body and mind get a chance to recharge. If that ‘recharging’ gets accomplished, you should wake up refreshed, energetic, and alert. If not . . .?
During childhood and into the teenage years, sleep also supports growth and development. Getting inadequate sleep over time increases the risk of chronic (long-term) health problems.
Studies show that when we don’t get quality sleep or enough sleep, our immune system gets disrupted and weakened. This, of course, makes it more likely that we will get sick when we have been exposed to any sort of illness. Our bodies need sleep to fight infections that are passed from one person to the next. Long-term lack of sleep also raises our risk of obesity, diabetes, depression, high blood pressure, stroke, and heart disease.
I could go on and on here, but let’s just get on to possible solutions!
An allergy is an inappropriate response by the body to a substance that is not harmful to most people. The immune system, which is supposed to protect us from toxins and pathogens, wrongly identifies a substance as harmful to us and goes into action. The response can be anywhere from mildly annoying to symptoms severe enough to create anaphylactic shock. These types of allergies may begin with only mild symptoms but grow worse with each reaction; they are NOT something that a person typically grows out of.
When I saw this month’s topic I got very excited. Allergies can be devastating and have a nasty effect on trying to live life and enjoy it! I had so many allergies—an unbelievable number and to a wide variety of substances—during my childhood and early adulthood. If it blew on the wind, if it was meant to be consumed in a raw or natural state such as watermelon or nearly every kind of vegetable or fruit, or if it was a drug of any sort—even such things as antibiotics, dental deadening, and mouthwashes—I was going to react to it in some uncomfortable or dangerous way. Oh, the list could go on and on! I spent my life either in misery from one allergy or another or I was sleepy from the allergy pills I was taking. Trips to the dentist’s office became scary for me and for the dentist! Eventually, I even started to react to allergy pills of every variety.
As with all true allergies, the reactions to many of my ‘triggers’ got worse with time—much worse, involving my heart in scary ways!
Who am I today as far as allergies are concerned? I have none and haven’t had for many years! I eat whatever I want. Do you have any idea how enjoyable a piece of watermelon or a raw carrot tastes these days? Or how fun it is to be outdoors. I don’t even worry about bee stings these days! If I feel the slightest itch in my throat or eyes or any other allergic-type reaction I simply go back to the things I know. Many of those things will be talked about in this article.
Side Note: Having had some scary reactions to antibiotics and other types of drugs in the past and having lived so many years without them, I can’t really say for sure whether they are still a problem or not. I suspect those allergies have also gone away. I took 2 antibiotic pills and 1 painkiller a while ago (the first of either in 40 years) after some extensive dental work. No reaction at all!
I was absolutely delighted to see what had been chosen for this month’s topic! February can be such a hard month for so many people, and this coming one promises to be harder than usual for me and those around me. As some of you may have heard, our family experienced the devastating loss of a dear loved one recently. I am very grateful for the opportunity to refresh my own mind, study the remedies that deal with depression, grief, and other emotional and mental issues a bit deeper and then share with you what I know and learn. The use of some of these remedies has already had a profound effect on my own mental health recently.
On a lighter note, my older brother, an advanced mathematics professor, told me once that his classes in February were simply used to play fun (and mildly educational) number/math games. Why? Because, he said, students are just up to too much else in February and they need a bit of fun to cheer them up! I suspect that the darker days of winter and, perhaps even in sunny climes, the let down following the holiday season affects us all. See the full list of topics.
In December we will discuss Anxiety, Stress and Self-Reflection. I would like to begin today by recounting a story told by one of my favorite authors, Bruce H. Lipton, in his book The Biology of Belief. I will paraphrase as best I can, in the interest of keeping this segment brief—well, sort of.
Dr. Lipton uses the example of a track race to illustrate for his readers the effects of stress on the body. A well-trained and healthy group of sprinters steps up to the starting line. They hear the command, “On your mark,” and they drop to their hands and knees. Then the announcer barks, “Get set.” Their muscles tighten as they prop themselves up on their fingers and toes. In a normal race, the strain and tension they are experiencing lasts only a second or two before the command, “Go!” is heard.
But what if the “Go” command never came? These unfortunate athletes would be left at the starting blocks, their blood coursing with adrenaline, their bodies rapidly going into deep fatigue as they try to stay prepared for a race that never begins. No matter how healthy and toned their physical bodies are or how much they have prepared their minds for the race, every athlete would physically collapse from the strain.
Too many of us today live in a “Get set” world! Study after scientific study has shown that our hyper-vigilance is wreaking havoc on our physical health, mental stability, and emotional well-being.
So, what’s the solution? May I offer three quick pieces of advice, based on my own experience:
Count your blessings! A young son of mine, counseled during a family meeting to “count his blessings,” reported in church—over the microphone at the pulpit—the next week that he had counted his blessings and found 385 of them. (I’m not exactly sure of the number, but you get the gist.) There never was a happier, more contented, or more willing-to-serve child, nor man, than he has become.
Count your strengths instead of your weaknesses. Then get to work using your strengths in the service of others. Our suffering is too often more the result of our thoughts than our circumstances. We alone have control over our thoughts! Suffering because of our mindset is optional and up to us.
Replace fear with faith. It has been proven over and over—also in scientific studies—that meeting tragedy and difficulties with calm assurance, knowing we (with Heaven as our partner) have overcome challenges before and can do so again, reduces the impact on our health and well-being when life’s realities and obstacles inevitably come our way.
Anxiety is too often fear of the future and doubt in our ability to handle it.
The health benefits provided by proper nutrition, herbal remedies, and the impact of essential oils on our minds and bodies can have a tremendous effect on our ability to look to the future with courage and determination, helping us to be happy in the here and now. See the full list of topics.
Are you ready for some summer fun? There are so many fun things to do and places to go. Are you traveling, camping, or just getting out in the sun? Summer can be full of bugs, sun, scrapes, and bruises so we are focusing this month’s blog on some of our favorite Herbs, Essential Oils, and Blessed Waters that help us to be PREPARED for the fun of SUMMER. There are some amazing products you need to know about and then we will talk about things for Sun Safety, Building Immunity, Camping and First Aid, and Traveling.
This is the time of year that I am aching to get out in my yard and get started. Spring cleanup and all the activities of spring can leave you with lots of aches and pains and that is why I decided to focus this month’s blog on aches, pains, and sprains. This is an area where herbs, essential oils, and homeopathics really shine. Some of the things we are going to talk about have been used in my family for over 40 years. These are staples in my home and I hope learning to use them will be a blessing in yours. Thanks for reading.
See the full list of topics.
March is the perfect time to focus on Allergies, Liver, and Lymph. With allergy season just around the corner giving your liver and lymph some extra love can make your spring and summer a lot more fun. The lymph is a very important part of the immune system and the liver is vital to keeping your body detoxed. The liver performs over 500 functions in the body. The liver is part of the digestive system. This blog is full of great ideas to help keep your lymph moving and keep your liver happier. This is the secret to surviving allergies. Make sure you don’t miss the new multivitamin.
See the full list of topics.
February is one of the hardest times of the year for many people, myself included. Depression and other mental challenges are often worse at this time of year. As a result, it is particularly important for each of us to give some focus to Boosting Mental Health. It is important to make sure we are giving ourselves, and those we care for, the nutrients necessary and the emotional support that will help us through the sometimes dismal days of winter. Essential oils, herbs, and homeopathics can do so much for each of us in these areas. I am frequently grateful for my herbal upbringing, particularly at this time of year and during times of these types of struggles.
See the full list of topics.