When I think of the heart, I think of the physical sacred place where the emotional body, the mental body and the spirit meet in the world of chakras. It is a place of green and pink, a place of balance! We all know when we are coming from a place of heart because it has a specific feeling.
Many of us have been taught that we must turn the other cheek to be in a place of heart, but sometimes, the most loving thing to do is to let the situation play out for the best possible outcome. This is not the same as the heartlessness I hear like 'live by the sword, die by the sword' and such like expressions but rather a compassionate understanding that all things must come back to a state of love for full resolution, and that can get messy.
In this heart place, we have empathy, compassion and an understanding that all is sacred and that we are all connected. Our heart's decisions are usually correct when we come from that understanding.
We suffer heart pain from loss, betrayal, evil and more. As uncomfortable as that is, thankfully, our hearts can still feel, or what is the point of being here? Our hearts on all levels can heal, but some effort is required. This will involve allowing ourselves to release the grief, anger and fear that has built up within us and let it go. I call this release 'heart song" in my practice as a healer because I know the heart is healing itself as painful as it can to experience and witness.
The reflection of the strength of our hearts is the physical heart itself, which is one tough muscle with four chambers which pump life-giving blood every few seconds for our entire life. Truly amazing!
To care for one's heart is to care for oneself on all levels. Your heart is not just a pump that you can abuse or neglect; it will keep pumping. It is affected by all of you: your emotions, your mental state, your spiritual practices or lack of and, of course, your physical care.
Keeping one's life in balance allows the heart to do the same. Eat right, sleep, exercise, rest, have fun, fall in love, and be mindful of this amazing life and heart you have been gifted.
Today's talk will discuss one of my favourite plant families, the rose family and its relationship to the heart and circulatory system. Rose has long been associated with love and the heart. Many rose family plants are excellent for healing broken and hurting hearts. One can take in the rose family plant's energy; you are protected and rocked as you heal. The rose family traditionally has thorns, and they are for their protection, which extends to you when you reach out for the rose's help.
Of course, because Mother Earth is infinitely wise, she has provided us with the hawthorn tree, which in Western herbology is our chief circulatory and heart medicine and is a member of the rose family.
Hawthorn is a mythical tree surrounded by folklore and tales throughout many cultures and traditions. The Celts considered it very dangerous to damage a Hawthorn tree in any way so as not to hurt the wee folk (fairies) because doing so would bring bad luck. For that very reason, you will see lone Hawthorn trees sitting in the middle of farmer's fields and roads being diverted around them.
Hawthorn wood is solid and dense, just like the heart muscle tissue. The entire tree, its leaves, flowers and berries, are revered by all healers worldwide for their healing properties.
