Thursday, February 22, 2007
I don’t know about you, but I find it easy to take the gift of my body for granted. In younger days, my body worked well and I expected it to remain that way. My head operates as if I am still in my twenties, but my body squawks otherwise. As I come to terms with the aging process, I am learning to appreciate my body’s deep wisdom and its connection to my spirit, overall health, and wholeness.
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women in the United States, a matter serious enough to have the “Heart for Women Act” moving through Congress. This act would introduce legislation to improve and provide more preventative and diagnostic help for women’s hearts. The American Heart Association has just introduced new guidelines to help women lower their risks for developing heart problems; these include the usual list of diet, exercise, weight control, supplements, and daily aspirin. It does not mention emotional or spiritual care.
The heart has long been seen as the symbolic emotional center of the body. We use phrases like “I’m heartbroken,” “I don’t have the heart for it,” “I’m heartsick.” There may be others that you have heard or used yourself. The heart is also used in exploring spiritual development. When I was a nun, part of the morning dressing ritual was to pray from Psalm 51 “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a right spirit within me.” I have prayed this very deliberately during National Heart month and have added “spiritual and emotional care” to my list for heart health.
Looking at my heart and its symbolism in my spiritual journey, I was reminded of Jeremiah 29:12, “If you seek God with all your heart you will find him.”
“What is ALL of my heart?” I ask. “Do I have a fully open, functioning heart?”
In daily meditation this month, I have become aware of closed- off areas in my heart. Like many of you, I have been deeply hurt; I have felt betrayed and let down; I still harbor resentments and know I need on-going work on forgiveness. I continue to protect some areas of my heart; in heart-to-heart conversations with some friends, I find myself holding back. Why do I do this? I am working on the answers. I realize the issue of guarding my heart needs to be tackled if I am not to become another statistic in the heart disease tally.
My daily spiritual aspirin is to spend time sitting quietly with my hand on my chest marveling in the strong, steady beat within me. As I tune into the rhythm, I ask God to heal me and show me how to fully embrace the gift of living with a fully functioning, open and loving heart.
How do you take care of your heart?
What heart exercises have helped you in your spiritual journey?
What spiritual practices have helped you seek God with ALL your heart?
Comments
daphne (anonymous) says...
Very good points.
I will have to give some thought to the questions as I do not know the answers at this stage. It is interesting to consider what do we do to protect our hearts? What safeguards do we put in place to protect our hearts? Do we ever give our hearts completely or do we keep back just enought so that we can cope if something awfull happens?
Heart diseas is a killer and interestinly people can die from just having a broken heart, they can just give up. Doctors say that the people who have not given up, survive things other people would not. Is that just becuse there heart is so set on being around for loved ones, pets, jobs etc. that they will fight to stay alive.
I will consider your question and do a lot of asking of mysleft as to the answers.
Thank you again Eileen for a very fulfilling piece.
God bless you
February 23, 2007 at 6:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
pgm (anonymous) says...
I have read 2 articles now and they are very thought provoking, thinking about pain and how it affects our lives and hearts
February 26, 2007 at 8:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
eroddy (eroddy) says...
Thanks, Daphne and PGM. I have been reflecting some more on the whole process of emotional pain as it relates to the heart. I remember when I was a child, and facing fear-filled situations, my heart would race at a terrific speed. I understood the phrase "my heart was in my mouth." I will share some further reflections about this in the next column. Meantime, I would love to hear from others about issues of the heart and how they shed light on your spiritual journey.
March 3, 2007 at 10:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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