One of our most frightening realizations as humans is the sneaking suspicion that the sensation you just felt, was your heart. The most common reaction is to right it off, ignore it, pretend it was all in your head, or hope that it was another near-bye organ causing you to be scared for no reason whatsoever. For 95% of us, doing just that would not be completely irrational. It is largely benign for the moment and there is no reason to go running to the doctor and crying “palpitation”. But for those of us who know that an abnormal sensation is a warning sign, ignoring it for any lengthy period of time is just unacceptable. And rightly so.
Heart palpitations result from many etiologies, and they occur in almost every one’s lifetime at certain intervals, for short time periods, longer time periods, isolated instances, and sometimes in completely predicted sequence. It can feel like something jumping into the throat, a thumping or fluttering in any part of the upper abdomen or chest, a rapid heart beat, a sudden stopping and then starting feeling, or in more pathological instances, with the accompaniment of pain, shortness of breath, sweating, light headedness or other symptoms. They are hard to catch with diagnostics and most of the time they decide to play hide and seek when someone is at their doctor’s office insisting that, yes there is actually something going on and they are not crazy.
There is little information available on the internet about heart palpitation. In my opinion, this is due to the western cultures dismissing it as a benign incident, hypochondriac behavior, or hysterical woman’s disease. Eastern medical theory has a completely different take on this. They do not dismiss it lightly at all, but rather consider it an important determining factor in diagnosis and treatment protocols. There are specific herbs, dietary suggestions, vitamins, and other modalities that will eliminate the symptoms rather quickly if the correct diagnosis is made.
In almost all cases of heart palpitation, where actual heart pathology is not found, the causative factor is an endocrine imbalance. This is why the symptom has been labeled hysterical women’s disease historically. A hysterical woman is generally a woman who is completely stressed out, hormonally imbalanced, blood deficient, maybe pregnant, pre-menopausal, or menopausal and at her wits end. A man, knowing that he may be labeled as acting like a woman, will most likely ignore this symptom and hope that it will go away. Balancing the endocrine system is a lengthy process. Usually the target organs are the Adrenals, Pancreas, Liver and Thyroid. When it has gone to this point, the fatigue and energy deficiency are pronounced and need plenty of time, rest, and adequate nutrition to rebuild and re-establish normal function. An effective plan for this is to target the endocrine system with herbal formulas, a change in diet, vitamin supplementation and a supportive therapy.
Nutritional suggestions:
Take all unnecessary sugars out of the diet. This includes cookies, cakes, ice cream, other pastries, excess alcohol, breads, rolls, pasta, and crackers that are not whole grain.
Try to get six to nine servings of veggies per day, and preferably nine to eleven servings of veggies per day with a couple of fruits thrown into the mix. When there is a pronounced blood deficiency, organic beef broth, sweet potatoes, beats, dates, and asparagus are good foods for building blood. Completely avoid all animal products that are not organic. The hormone content in the commercial animal products completely throw off the endocrine system. Don’t forget to add in the Mediterranean diet components. Almonds, small amounts of red wine, olives, olive oil, herbs and spices and a bit of high quality, high percentage dark chocolate are an important addition to heart health. Check in with your body on your caffeine intake. Try eliminating it for a few days, and (when the headaches have stopped) add it back in gently, one cup of green or black tea (not coffee) at a time. Find out what your body can really take. When it comes to heart palpitations and the amount of vitamin C (anti-inflammatory) and Vitamin B that smoking takes up, need we even mention why it is a good idea to put the habit to rest? I didn’t think so.
Vitamins:
The heart needs a complete set of B Vitamins to function properly. If there is a pronounced blood deficiency, then sublingual B 12 drops, that have all the other B’s in the formula, is indicated. Your physician can also give you B 12 injections.
A 100% absorbable chelated and bound multi-vitamin or a high quality food derived multi vitamin is also indicated and completely necessary.
Omega fatty acids and oils:
The heart and other organs need good fats for hormone production and hormone balance, as well as a defense system for free radicals and other anti-inflammatory processes in the body. Fish oils from the cold section at your health store are a good idea. Vitamin E should be taken in the form of Evening primrose oil and/or Olive oil. Sesame oil has been shown to have a prominent effect on the heart and blood vessels and in clinical trials, has been shown to lower blood pressure remarkably in just 30 to 60 days. Coconut oil and ghee are the best fats to use when cooking at high temperatures to avoid oxidative damage and toxic accumulation in food.
Herbs:
Herbal formulas and all other herbs should usually be approved by your holistic healthcare practitioner. Some suggestions for females are: Co-op Fem cycle, La Puebla Blood tonic, Fem-gest topical cream, and La Puebla yam topical cream. Also, Evening Primrose oil, Vitex/Chastetree Berry, and Dong Quai herb will all help to balance the hormones. Evening Primrose and Vitex need to be taken together and many formulas will have them both combined. For males and females, the Chinese formula “Gui Pi Wan” is a good choice for building up the blood, balancing the hormones and nourishing the heart. Additionally, Hawthorne Berry herb and Chinese Go ji (wolf) berries support the blood and the heart function.
Holy Basil supports the adrenals, pancreas, and immune system and calms the mind. This will help to balance blood sugar and give the organs a rest while they rebuild. If there is a pronounced problem with insulin and sugar balance, then Stevia granules can be added to the diet one to three times daily in a dosage of 1 TBSP. It is necessary to test your blood sugar twice daily to find out how much you need and when to begin decreasing the dosage. This should not be used if you are currently taking medication for diabetes or hypoglycemia.
Aloe Vera juice also is an excellent herb used mainly for the gastrointestinal tract and the skin. However, it has a gentle yet pronounced effect on the stomach and will help to balance the interior environment of the organ, therefore reducing a hyper vagus nerve response, which can be the culprit in some heart related symptoms. When the vagus nerve is suspected, alignment of the spinal column, neck and rib cage need to be checked. Vagus impingement needs to be ruled out.
Candida and other yeasts:
Candida and yeast cause heart related ailments because of their neuro-blocking capability and their ability to eat up and impinge the passing through of important vitamins and nutrients, therefore starving the heart and other organs of what they need to function. Candida and yeast infection should be ruled out by your healthcare provider. If a yeast infection does exist, then a yeast clearing protocol should be followed.
Supportive Therapies:
Supportive therapies, after a proper check-up from your primary care provider, can help the body to rebalance and recovery more quickly. They include, but are not limited to: Acupuncture, Massage, Chiropractics, Lymphatic Therapy, Ayurveda, Native American Medicine, and other Energy Therapies.
Heart palpitations do not have to be a persistent part of your life. If you have checked with your healthcare provider and you do in fact have an actual heart pathology, don’t be discouraged. See an Acupuncturist or Naturopathic Doctor and let them give you some advice and care in conjunction with what your allopathic doctor is doing for you. There are many herbs that can clean out the arteries and increase the strength of the heart naturally. If you are deemed a hypochondriac, mad, crazy or worrying for no reason, then try to take a natural approach to eliminating this little warning sign from your body. Little warning signs turn into bigger warning signs and then an entire group of symptoms that will later be labeled as a pathology. Catch it while it is small. After all, the heart is the gateway of the spirit. Don’t ignore it.
If you need further suggestions, look me up on LivePerson.com at the following URL:
http://www.liveperson.com/amber-msom-nd-lac
Friday, March 13, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Going Inward
Lately I’ve been trying to formulate some way of understanding my world, the world around me and the world beyond. As humans…so much comes at us on a daily basis and we have to figure out how to process all of it. We end up feeling like ultimately we have to take all of it in and try to understand what it means to us and how to assimilate it into us. This becomes so confusing and so overwhelming. We drink. We smoke. We jump into religious groups. We sit under a tree and meditate. We learn how to do spells and bind webs and blue bubbles around ourselves for protection. We call psychics. We go to therapists. We jump off the into the deep end. We self emplode. Or…maybe if we’re lucky, we remain completely unaffected by the energy around us and afar.
I’ve been reading books on Witchcraft, learning how to meditate, learning how to bind myself from picking up energy that is less than constructive, and realizing more and more what I am able to cast off from my old self that may be limiting my full potential as an adult and a liberated being. I even…finally…saw a therapist, which turned out to be two of the most mind blowing hours of my life. There were a few…”here it is”…but mostly there were the really uncomfortable rhetorical questions that make you go…”errrrhhhgggg.” I really thought that the desert landscape of Santa Fe and its mirrors were finished with me. My thought was that there is nothing left here for me. I have grown enough as a person for the next ten years. But things seem to be speeding up in the evolution of humanity and there are the birds in the sky and the butterflies on the land saying…”keep up. Don’t be left behind. The world is changing.”
During my two hours of self examination and having my ass handed to me on a platter, I realized many things. Too many things to write here that should not be written because we are all on our own journey and one person’s “ah hah!’s” are certainly not intended for everyone. But the really important things were…if it does not feel like love, then it is probably not from you. And…we are to give ourselves permission to be okay with what we’ve done, thought and felt in this lifetime so far. It is all part of the journey. It is all a piece of the great puzzle of learning and the evolution that is to take place within each one of our spiritual bodies during the present incarnation. Does this mean that it is okay to do things outside of the normal moral code? Don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t rape, plunder or pillage, don’t say something that is going to hurt someone else, don’t take land…or OIL that is not yours, etc etc etc… But the things we feel compelled to do, that are right and productive, are part of the path we walk upon. We are to continue down that path until we reach the next clue. Or…if we feel there is just no clue to be found on that path, or it is too thorny and overgrown to be able to see the clues…then we get off. Or if we are really stubborn, we carve our way through. There is no point…no end game…no finish line. We should have learned by now if we are watching the modern scientific community, that it is not linear. We are spiraling endless through space. But…we are all connected. The idea…as John Lennon blazingly risked his life to promote…is to love. Love gets us through the trials that we predestine ourselves to in order to work through the lessons that we’ve not yet mastered. If we try to work through it without love…then we die without accomplishing the task and have to repeat it in the next lifetime. And I would hate to mess up this time and have it be a more obvious choice in the next lifetime. Obvious choices are frightening.
But furthermore, if we are approaching our evolutions with love, then we should also be okay with the present and future thoughts, paths and choices that we feel are right for us. Why try to justify it? Why try to analyze it or explain it away to the people we feel subject to? If we trust ourselves…then shouldn’t those who have our best interests at heart trust us as well? If they have a negative reaction to your thoughts and ideas, you must ask yourself it they are projecting their fears, lusts, desires and/or own ambitions upon you. How much easier would it be, to take a stride in absolute confidence and…in an attempt to avoid using the word faith, which has picked up a very destructive definition in western society…lets use: poise, buoyancy, trust…love.
In an attempt to be more productive, these are the choices I have made over the past week. I’ve made decisions which are going to change the course of my life for the next few years. I am giving up some things…yet again…but I am taking back parts of myself as well. I am no longer asking permission…but instead presenting my thoughts in confidence, love and clarity…and asking for a blessing. Sometimes its easier when your star charts align with different planets. Sometimes its easier when you’ve been on a cleansing spa retreat. Sometimes its easier after a night in a sweat lodge. And sometimes all you need is to sit on your adobe hut under the thick blanket of stars in the New Mexico sky…but it is always easier…when you love yourself.
I’ve been reading books on Witchcraft, learning how to meditate, learning how to bind myself from picking up energy that is less than constructive, and realizing more and more what I am able to cast off from my old self that may be limiting my full potential as an adult and a liberated being. I even…finally…saw a therapist, which turned out to be two of the most mind blowing hours of my life. There were a few…”here it is”…but mostly there were the really uncomfortable rhetorical questions that make you go…”errrrhhhgggg.” I really thought that the desert landscape of Santa Fe and its mirrors were finished with me. My thought was that there is nothing left here for me. I have grown enough as a person for the next ten years. But things seem to be speeding up in the evolution of humanity and there are the birds in the sky and the butterflies on the land saying…”keep up. Don’t be left behind. The world is changing.”
During my two hours of self examination and having my ass handed to me on a platter, I realized many things. Too many things to write here that should not be written because we are all on our own journey and one person’s “ah hah!’s” are certainly not intended for everyone. But the really important things were…if it does not feel like love, then it is probably not from you. And…we are to give ourselves permission to be okay with what we’ve done, thought and felt in this lifetime so far. It is all part of the journey. It is all a piece of the great puzzle of learning and the evolution that is to take place within each one of our spiritual bodies during the present incarnation. Does this mean that it is okay to do things outside of the normal moral code? Don’t steal, don’t kill, don’t rape, plunder or pillage, don’t say something that is going to hurt someone else, don’t take land…or OIL that is not yours, etc etc etc… But the things we feel compelled to do, that are right and productive, are part of the path we walk upon. We are to continue down that path until we reach the next clue. Or…if we feel there is just no clue to be found on that path, or it is too thorny and overgrown to be able to see the clues…then we get off. Or if we are really stubborn, we carve our way through. There is no point…no end game…no finish line. We should have learned by now if we are watching the modern scientific community, that it is not linear. We are spiraling endless through space. But…we are all connected. The idea…as John Lennon blazingly risked his life to promote…is to love. Love gets us through the trials that we predestine ourselves to in order to work through the lessons that we’ve not yet mastered. If we try to work through it without love…then we die without accomplishing the task and have to repeat it in the next lifetime. And I would hate to mess up this time and have it be a more obvious choice in the next lifetime. Obvious choices are frightening.
But furthermore, if we are approaching our evolutions with love, then we should also be okay with the present and future thoughts, paths and choices that we feel are right for us. Why try to justify it? Why try to analyze it or explain it away to the people we feel subject to? If we trust ourselves…then shouldn’t those who have our best interests at heart trust us as well? If they have a negative reaction to your thoughts and ideas, you must ask yourself it they are projecting their fears, lusts, desires and/or own ambitions upon you. How much easier would it be, to take a stride in absolute confidence and…in an attempt to avoid using the word faith, which has picked up a very destructive definition in western society…lets use: poise, buoyancy, trust…love.
In an attempt to be more productive, these are the choices I have made over the past week. I’ve made decisions which are going to change the course of my life for the next few years. I am giving up some things…yet again…but I am taking back parts of myself as well. I am no longer asking permission…but instead presenting my thoughts in confidence, love and clarity…and asking for a blessing. Sometimes its easier when your star charts align with different planets. Sometimes its easier when you’ve been on a cleansing spa retreat. Sometimes its easier after a night in a sweat lodge. And sometimes all you need is to sit on your adobe hut under the thick blanket of stars in the New Mexico sky…but it is always easier…when you love yourself.
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