Engage your Heart-Mind

Please see our entire May e-newsletter, Reversing Heart Disease, here.

by Carol Belanger, BA, RM, BHS

Our heart can be both the strongest and the most tender organ in our body.

On the strong side of things, according to standard calculations the entire volume of blood within the circulatory system is pumped by the heart each minute (at rest). During vigorous exercise, the cardiac output can increase up to 7 fold (35 liters/minute). That means a healthy heart pumps about 4-5L of blood through approx. 97km of blood vessels in our body in about 1min. The heart is responsible for keeping activity happening in a crucial way and needs to be kept functional and tuned-up. The brain uses approximately twenty percent of the body’s blood and needs twenty-five percent of the body’s oxygen supply to function optimally. Rejuvenating activity helps keep blood oxygen levels up.

On the tender side of things, our heart is exposed to every strong to nuanced emotion that passes through our body, that changes our hormone levels, nervous system signals, influences how our organs are functioning, how tense our muscles are etc., and how our heart is responding to it all. The heart, and more accurately, the heart-mind, is the epicentre of us. It’s just that we give more of our attention to our minds, mistakenly believing that it alone is ‘running the show’.

Our brains can do a lot. But there is a lot more inter-relationship between the heart and the mind than we account for or give credit to. This is an important realization and can influence how we operate when we take this information into account. This can profoundly influence our heart health.

When we’re in a state of harmony our heart and mind work together intricately. This provides improved blood flow to the brain and enhanced mental functioning. This also provides calming signals to the heart to work in a strong yet calmer manner and increases our intuitive capacity as well.

Both the heart and the mind benefit from regularly experiencing activity that engages us physically and mentally such as walking, playing a sport, home and garden projects, etc. When our minds are focused on the task at hand, our emotions are calmer and blood flow is directed to our muscles and to circulation. This tones the heart, introduces coherence between the heart and mind, and we operate with more efficiency and harmony. I can provide you with simple rejuvenating Qigong exercises in one-on-one sessions that will help you to engage your heart-mind and improve your overall health. You can do these exercises anywhere and need no special equipment. You can book a 15 minute complementary session to learn more.

brain, Energy medicine, Heart disease

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We respectfully acknowledge that Kingston Integrated Healthcare is situated on ancestral Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Territory. Since time immemorial they have cared for these lands and waters, and we are grateful. We recognize that a healthy environment is essential to the wellbeing of all people and all life.


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