Heart/Small Intestine
The Heart/Small Intestine is the house of Spirit. Our Heart/Small Intestine wants our true Spirit to pulse through every aspect of our life!
In relationship to the other four organ systems, Heart/Small Intestine is like a Spiritual leader. This wise system is connected with the highest level of faith that no matter what we are experiencing body, mind, Spirit, it is happening for good. It is happening to unfold Spirit’s purpose.
As a Spiritual leader, the Heart/Small Intestine should not be troubled with day-to-day body, mind processing. This is the purpose of Liver/Gallbladder, Stomach/Spleen, Lung/Large Intestine, and Kidney/Bladder.
All other systems will “sacrifice” themselves before the Heart/Small Intestine becomes impacted physically and energetically.
All other systems will “sacrifice” themselves before the Heart/Small Intestine becomes impacted physically and energetically. There will be many signs, symptoms, and “cries for help" from the other organ systems that are trying to wake us up. If the Heart/Small Intestine are impacted, it becomes a Spiritual opportunity to reset all systems to a new level of balance and harmony.
Summer is the season that reflects the essence and frequency of Heart/Small Intestine. After, the intensity of creative breakthrough of Spring, Summer offers an opportunity to rest peacefully. In Summer, we can sit back and appreciate all of our creative efforts with deep gratitude (even though some or many are still in process or incomplete!). In a way, Summer is the equal and opposite of Winter, as it is also a time to pause and reflect.
The Spirit of Heart/Small Intestine can also be understood through the concept of Love. We all have been head over heels in Love with someone, something, some concept. When we are in Love, we experience the world through the lens of Love. It is as if we have “rose colored” glasses on and we SEE and connect to joy and love everywhere, even though the rest of reality still exists. People may try to disuade us or wake us up to reality, but nothing can stop the Love train!
This Love creates a flow within life and within the body that creates peace and opens the possibility for miraculous healing! At the Heart of each and everyone of us is the flow of unconditional love that is the source of all creation. When we tap into the flow of Love, we tap into the flow of Universal Love!
Fire is the element that reflects the essence and frequency of Heart/Small Intestine. Fire brings light, warmth, and passion to all of life! When you are in the depths of shadow, darkness, and cold physically and emotionally, you can choose to fight these experiences or you can simply let in the light, the Fire that always glows at the Heart of you. Though we may hide it, it can NEVER be extinguished.
Many of us seek exercise as an outlet for stress and a way to maintain strength and vitality. Exercise is a valuable tool that should be used with awareness. Traditional physical cardio and strength training exercise have an energetic cost in order to have a gain. If your Kidney/Bladder and Liver/Gallbladder are out of balance, exercising can actually create further problems such as physical injury, worsening of chronic conditions, or may even lead to energetic damage to the Heart.
If you choose traditional exercise, do so when you feel well and preferably at the beginning or middle of your day, rather than late afternoon and evening when the Kidney/Bladder energy may be at its lowest. Read this article “Ask Grand Master Nan Lu: Exercise” to learn more.
We are open energy systems. We receive energy from Nature, the greater Universe, in relationship to others, and through electromagnetic fields (EMF’s). EMF’s are particularly disruptive to the energy of our Heart/Small Intestine.
Try this test: have someone try to lower your raised arm while you resist it. Now hold your cell phone in the opposite hand and see what happens. The Heart/Small Intestine meridians run through the arm and shoulder and the EMF’s disrupt the flow, temporarily reducing your strength.
With this awareness, limit your connection with EMF’s as much as possible, take frequent breaks. If you use your cell phone as an alarm clock, consider going old school and getting a real alarm clock. They still sell them! Also, use headphones when on extended phone calls and avoid keeping your cell phone in your pocket. Practicing The Four Energy Gates and Qigong will strengthen your ability to process everything, including EMF’s.
The Key to Heart/Small Intestine Health: Embrace a Higher Love!
“The Heart can create Heaven. The Heart can create Hell.” Grand Master Nan Lu.
The Heart/Small Intestine is an organ of infinite creativity. It requires that we use our unique Spirit to connect into life from a place of peace, joy, and total faith. We can use our imagination to tap into this power. Allow yourself to recall past moments when you were in the flow of Love. Envision the time, the space, and how it felt within your body. This recollection can reawaken the power of your Heart/Small Intestine! Also, consciously CHOOSE to bring more of what you Love into your life: music, food, colors, Nature, people, and messages. You always have a choice! Enjoy this video: Emotions & Imagination: We Create Heaven, We Create Hell
Healing Foods
In general, bitter and red foods go to the Heart/Small Intestine. Specific foods: plum tomatoes, barley, goji berries, bee pollen, broccoli, broccoli rabe, escarole, licorice, watermelon, beets, red apples, red grapes. Again, remember that nurturing Stomach/Spleen is an important way to nurture Heart/Small Intestine! Please visit my eating for healing page to learn more on how to support your digestive system and discover easy, delicious recipes.
HEART/SMALL INTESTINE FUNCTION
Remember all symptoms and signs are your body’s creative expression! They are guiding you to connect into the deeper emotional and spiritual aspects of each organ from which they arise.
“The Body Never Lies!”
-Grand Master Nan Lu
Most of the conditions we attribute to the Heart from a Western framework, are actually connected to the function of other organ systems. For example, high blood pressure is related to the Liver/Gallbladder and Kidney/Bladder. High cholesterol is related to the Liver/Gallbladder and Stomach/Spleen.
If the Heart/Small Intestine is energetically out of balance, you can see spontaneous sweating, night sweats, heart palpitations, anxiety/agitation, and insomnia. In addition, dry mouth, patchy changes in the tongue, and dark urine can be present.
Spiritually, both diabetes and thyroid conditions are rooted in Heart/Small Intestine. In diabetes, at sometime there has been a separation from connecting to “the sweetness of life.” The thyroid gland anatomically resembles a butterfly and rests over the vocal cord area. There is an assoication between feeling unable to speak one’s truth and follow one’s purpose that is connected with the Spiritual root of thyroid conditions.
Co-operative Relationships
Our Heart/Small Intestine/Fire relies on the Kidney/Bladder/Water to maintain energetic balance. If the life force becomes scarce, one can see hot flashes and heart conditions. When we think of cycles, it is no surpise that we see a rise in heart disease in women after they reach menopause. This is because the Kidney/Bladder energy is not sufficient to balance Heart/Small Intestine. Heart/Small Intestine provides the faith and infinite creativity to support Kidney/Bladder in reaching its highest potential: expressing our genetic/inherited WISDOM.
Heart/Small Intestine provides Fire to keep Lung/Large Intestine/Metal malleable. In addition, Heart/Small Intestine is the house of Spirit, Faith, Compassion, and Joy. This co-operative relationship helps us to see there is black, there is white but they are part of a bigger whole, a larger process at work that is always transforming.
Parent/Child Relationships
The mother of Heart/Small Intestine is the Liver/Gallbladder. We must learn how to release stress/frustration and express our creativity to create flow in Liver/Gallbladder so she can adequately nurture and nourish her child.
The child of Heart/Small Intestine is the Stomach/Spleen. All Heart disease begins in the Stomach/Spleen. The Heart/Small Intestine will provide unconditional flow to her child. Our Stomach/Spleen has high energy demands as we rely on it to help us digest EVERYTHING! By nurturing Stomach/Spleen by eating warm foods, avoiding raw vegetables, and ice-cold drinks, and releasing patterns of overthinking and worry, we can help conserve precious Heart/Small Intestine Qi.
Spirit Gate Breathing
This form of breathing is a great way to bring you back to the flow of Love. Focus to your navel. When you breathe in, draw the belly in. When you breathe out, push your belly out. The navel is a Spirit Gate. This magical button connects you to your genetic line as well as to a time when you were in perfect alignement, in utero, with all of Nature. Begin this practice daily, especially before sleep and upon awakening. You can also use this practice before beginning a meal. You can use your mind to intentionally envision a loving connection between you, your loved one’s, and all of Nature. Overtime the practice will become a natural healing habit. Click the link below to hear more on this powerful Spirit Gate from Grand Master Nan Lu of The Tao of Healing.
Energy Exercises
You can build your Stomach/Spleen energy with Qigong energy exercises such as The Four Energy Gates, Qigong for Coronavirus Prevention, and the Dragon’s Way Qigong pose, The Dragon Stands Between Heaven and Earth. These exercises are essential to support your body, mind, and spirit, if you wish to reach the highest level of healing.
Our body has an energy grid called the Meridian System. Like highways, this system connects every cell and tissue and impacts the function of every organ. According to Chinese Medicine, when energy is moving and flowing in the Meridians disease cannot enter and healing naturally follows.
The purpose of Qigong energy exercises is to open the energy flow within the Meridians. Below are two practices: Qigong for Coronavirus Prevention and The Four Energy Gates. Begin these practices daily and share them with your family. The goal is that they become your “healing habit.”
Read my blog on Spirit to connect inward and learn about Qigong stance The Dragon Stands Between Heaven and Earth.
Learn more about Grand Master Nan Lu Here