Chakras and Health - Healing Arts Health and Wellness

4 Facts to Know about the Heart

February 3, 2022

4 facts to know about the heart, the smartest organ in your body.

I have always found the heart to be the most interesting organ in the body. I have the privilege of listening to the beating hearts of my patients every day as a part of the physical exam.

Each “lub-dub” I hear speaks volumes about a person’s health, mind, body and spirit.

In preparing for my upcoming book, The Heart of Being, I’ve been doing some research about the mystique, miracle and wonder of the human heart.

1. The Origin of the Heart Shape

Do you know where the heart shape comes from? Before starting my research, I assumed the origin of the heart shape related to Valentine’s Day. The origin of the heart shape is not so obvious.

According to Art and Object , the heart shape may have been used as a decorative symbol in ancient societies as far back as the Indus Valley civilizations It was often in use in decorative jewelry, and the shape appears to derive from the heart shaped plants such as fig leaf, Ivy or water lily, These plants have heart-shaped leaves.

According to History, a theory concerning the origin of the heart comes from the silphium. This is a form of a giant fennel, that once grew in North Africa on the coastline near the Greek colony of Cyrene. The ancient Greeks and Romans use silphium as a food flavoring. Silphium worked as a medication to alleviate cough.

The silphium was most famous as a form of birth control. Ancient writers and poets scribed about silphium for its contraceptive powers. These plants power to work as a contraceptive lead to over-cultivation, and eventual extinction around the first century A.D. The seed pod of the silphium seems to resemble the traditional heart shape.

The heart shape’s origins are a mystery. Although this popular symbol is ubiquitous, its origins may been a cough suppressing plant that could function as birth control. Maybe the association with love is that as a contraceptive, sex could be enjoyed without fear of an unwanted pregnancy?

2. The Heart Develops on the 21st Day after Conception

The heart is the first organ to develop and function in the human embryo. The baby’s heart will start beating about 21 days after conception.

The healing art of Reiki honors 21 days is an important time after the first attunement. The new Reiki practitioner will perform Reiki on themselves for 21 days in a daily basis. During this time, the new Reiki student goes through a process of transformation and healing.

Just completed your Reiki Training? Download my 9 Minute Reiki Session to help support your daily practice.

I find it interesting that 21 days seems to be a significant time of transformation in life, as in conception, as well as personal transformation.

3. The Heart is Intelligent

Did you know that your heart has its own nervous system? The heart actually has to have its own little brains.

These small brains are call nodes. There are two nodes, the Sinoatrial Node and the Atrioventricular Node. These are collections of nerves that communicate with the Vagus Nerve. Together, they determine how fast and how intensely the heart beats.

“Your heart is connected to your mind, your mind controls everything, control your mind to heal your heart.”
-Dr. Kathy Hays, Interventional Cardiologist

According to my dear friend, board certified cardiologist, Dr. Kathy Hays, “your heart is connected to your mind, your mind controls everything, control your mind to heal your heart.”

She tells me that she often longs to share with her patients the importance of calming their mind to ease their cardiac symptoms. She shared with me recently that she is surprised at how much psychology she practices in cardiology. Over the years she’s frequently share with me how often patients come in with anxiety as the source of their palpitations.

Calm your mind now, pick up a copy of the 21-Day Meditation Journey today

4. 4 Chambers of the 4th Chakra

The Heart Chakra, also known as Anahata, is located in the chest. The Heart Chakra is the Chakra in a 7 Chakra system of Ayurveda.

The heart has 4 Chambers.

According to Numerology, the number four is typically associated with order with service.

The positive attributes of the number four include being highly organized and grounded, being dependable and reliable, trustworthy with attention to detail and manual dexterity, dexterity.

Positive attributes of “4”

Being Grounded
Being Dependable
Trustworthy

The negative attributes of the number four are limiting beliefs, being “boxed in”, stubbornness with tend to change being shaky or unstable, or unable to create a solid foundation to support goals and desires and being untidy.

Negative attributes of “4”

Being disorganized
Being Untidy
Stubbornness

When your Heart Chakra is open, it is easy to give and receive love. Compassion comes easily. You can easily love yourself and others.

A blocked heart chakra is often associated with many of the negative attributes of the number 4; being stubborn, closed off, and lacking of empathy for self and others.

Interested in Learning More about The Heart and Heart Chakra?

Heart of Being

Cultivating resilience, gratitude, inner peace, compassion and self nurturing through an intimate journey of the anatomical chest and Heart Chakra.

The upcoming book, “The Heart of Being” will take an intimate journey through the heart, lungs, thymus and chest to cultivate gratitude, resilience and overall well being. Sign up to stay in touch on the book release!

Positive Affirmations for Each Chakra

June 23, 2021

Positive Affirmations for Each Chakra

Yoga Therapy for Healing and Resilience Interview with Intuitive Healer Sara Alavi

March 24, 2021

I recently had the honor of speaking with Sara Alavi. Sara has an incredible story, having overcomes Multiple Sclerosis and heart disease by pursuing her own personal healing journey of meditation, Yoga, Reiki, and many other healing modalities. Sara created Yoga Home of Therapeutics, a yoga studio that has trained many Yoga Instructors, Reiki Healers and other healers that have worked across the globe. She has instructed thousands of students in Yoga meditation as well has treated thousands with her Intuitive Healing services. Sara is my personal Guru. I was blessed to have been introduced to her by a dear friend when I began attending her studio where I was fortunate to train as a Yoga Instructor, Reiki Healer, as well as many wonderful workshops. Sara is now providing her amazing healing skills on her website Sara Alavi Intuitive Healer. She is offering many powerful healing techniques, including Yoga Therapy. I often share with my patients and clients the importance of Yoga and how it can help in bringing balance to the body.

I really wanted to go deeper into Yoga Therapy and what is offered with this service. The following is our discussion on the role Yoga Therapy plays in healing and resilience.

“What is Yoga Therapy?”

Sara shared with me the following:

“Yoga in the West is portrayed mostly as a Yoga poses. This is because people gravitate towards this aspect of Yoga, and rarely go into the depths of the Yoga poses. Most Yoga classes focus on the poses, mainly alignment and breathing. Most Yoga classes tend to focus on alignment and breathing. Most students will learn asana, meditation and relaxation. In the west, more value is based on the physical body appearing strong, creating a strong, healthy body. Why the west focuses so much on the poses is that in the West, we tend to focus more on external appearance on Yoga Poses. Yoga in the west often overlooks the depths of Yoga beyond asana.“

“Yoga therapy looks at the person as a whole, seeing the human body as a universe. Yoga therapists view the person as a mind, body, brain, emotions, and feelings. The Yoga Therapist sees the person as presenting with a past that includes times in the lifetime as well as past lifetimes. “

According to Sara, Yoga Therapy approaches the individual as a whole, and not only takes into account the current issues such as pain, physical illness and emotional suffering. Yoga Therapy embraces the human being as what Dr. Richard Weber, author of Vibrational Medicine, would say, “Multidimensional beings of energy.” Yoga therapy not only addresses challenges in this life, the ancient healing modality can address past life dissonance. Yoga Therapy uses energy in the physical body to heal the mind and body.

Yoga Therapy is an individualized approach to health and wellness. Rather than a classroom setting in which students follow the instructor, individuals work one on one with a highly trained instructor such as Sara to achieve results. As a practicing physician, I find this approach very attractive since Yoga can be tailored to individual needs.

Issues Addressed in Yoga Therapy

Mind
Body
Spirit
Emotions
Past Life

An important aspect of Yoga Therapy is consideration of personal past history as well as karmic past history. Yoga Therapy takes into account the individuals history of reincarnation, and how that may play a role in current illness.

“What kind of conditions does yoga therapy help?”

Yoga therapy can address many different needs, from feelings of disconnection, depression, to severe autoimmune diseases such as Lupus. Sara learned Yoga herself to overcome a major neurological disorder by practicing Yoga. Her experience has translated to a Yoga practice that has not only educated and trained many instructors, but has also aided thousands through their own personal trials.

According to Sara, the Yoga Therapy Client learns about this body, both physical and energy body. “Pranayama kosha, the energy source that sustains your life“, is used to heal the body, mind and soul naturally in Yoga Therapy.

“Yoga therapy allows the person to feel at peace and calm and harmonious within themselves,” which can help with healing, living through, surviving, or accepting a difficult diagnosis. Sara has applied the healing modality even to clients who are preparing to die.

“How does yoga improve resilience?”

I have wanted to focus on resilience during the month of March 2021.

Have a listen to “Reiki as a Resilience Lifestyle” on the Art of Healing Podcast

We have all seen and been through so much. As I have posted in previous blog posts and my podcast, resilience sometimes is the last tool to helping in getting through challenges in life.
Here is Sara’s Response:

“Everyone deserves prosperity, abundance of love, joy, peace and wisdom. With Yoga Therapy, you never run out of tools for healing. Because of the depth and breadth of Yoga Therapy, there is always some aspect of Yoga Therapy that can improve strength and resilience.”

Sara also shared with me something I found very interesting, and comforting. In her Yoga Therapy Practice, she has has new clients that were facing a disease that would end their lives. These students wanted to work with Sara in Yoga therapy to help in the process of dying. She shared with me that for these individuals, the practice of Yoga Therapy helped to being peace, acceptance and calm to a difficult process. This effect spread to the families of the dying individual.

Sara has an active presence on social media on Facebook, Instagram as well as her website Sara Intuitive Healer.

I have so many exciting things coming! Let’s keep in touch, sign up for my newsletter to get the latest news and announcements from Healing Arts.

Chakras In The Human Body

January 19, 2021

In my previous posts, I have mentioned the energy centers of the human body that are described in the practice of Ayurveda. Chakra is actually the Sanskrit word that would translate to “wheel”. The human body includes seven important chakras and also many minor chakras. These 7 chakras start from the bottom of the tailbone and finish on the top of the head. The root (1^st chakra) has the slowest revolving speed while the crown (7^th chakra) rotates the fastest. When these chakras are unhealthy, unbalanced or clogged up, illness and disease can develop more easily. This leads to overall poor mental and physical health.

Stimulation for each chakra comes from its individual and complimentary color. These chakra colors consist of the 7 colors of the rainbow; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Chakras

Chakras have a clear connection among themselves and also the condition of its corresponding organ.The following are the 7 chakras and their related organs in the body:

1^st chakra (root) – connected to large intestines, anus, has some effects on kidney functioning
2^nd chakra (naval) – connected to the reproduction system, sex gland, testicles, urinary system, bladder and kidneys
3^rd chakra (solar plexus) -connected to gall bladder, spleen, liver, small intestine and stomach
4^th chakra (heart) – associated with the heart and arms
5^th chakra (throat) – associated with throat and lung area
6^th chakra (3^rd eye) – associated with the face, nose area, eyes and brains.
7^th chakra (crown) – related to the whole being, not corresponding to any particular organ.

According to Dr. Gerber, “anatomically, each major chakra is associated with a major nerve plexus and a major endocrine gland.”^1.

The practice of modern medicine trains practitioners to treat every individual disease as a standalone illness. We rarely appreciate the interconnectedness of the endocrine system, the energy system and our emotions.

According to Dr. Gerber, “anatomically, each major chakra is associated with a major nerve plexus and a major endocrine gland.”^1.
1.Gerber, R., & M.D., G. R. (2001). Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies (3rd ed.). Bear & Company.

Understanding the location of the Chakras helps when you’re dealing with a condition such as insomnia or reaching a healthy weight

I also have audio content available through my podcast, and which I have previously discussed chakra blocks and insomnia as well as chakra blocks and weight gain.

If you are at a place in which you are curious about your body, starting with an understanding of the Chakra system is an important tool. You can easily began to understand how stress leads to adrenal stress, or how holding anger in the abdomen can lead to diabetes.

If you’re interested in learning more, please follow me on social media. If you’d like to be notified notified about my latest offerings, including my courses on meditation and Reiki.

1.Gerber, R., & M.D., G. R. (2001). Vibrational Medicine: The #1 Handbook of Subtle-Energy Therapies (3rd ed.). Bear & Company.

Your Energy Centers, Your Endocrine System

December 1, 2020

I have created podcasts discussing how blocks in your energy centers can lead to issues such as insomnia or weight gain. In this post, I’m making the charts available for review along with the PDF’s to download. Below you’ll find pictures you can screenshot as well as downloadable PDF’s. Sign up for my newsletter for more information.