How to Support the Heart & Small Intestine

If you missed the previous post, The Fire Element and the Role of the Heart & Small Intestine, check it out for more background before learning how to support these organs.

Bring Mindfulness to Your Speech & Spirit

The Heart has a special connection to the tongue in Chinese medicine. Through its role in speech, the tongue allows us to express what is in our hearts.

• Focus on your heart center when speaking to others (or yourself!). If you tend to talk a lot, or talk quickly, bring awareness to your words—and the space between them. Mindful speech can also include praying, singing, chanting mantras, and saying affirmations.

• Silence allows an opportunity to connect with our spirit, and the universal spirit of all things. Practice meditation, focusing on the noises around you and your own inner quiet deep within.

Calm the Mind through Herbal Medicine & Diet

In general, eating a diet high in carbohydrates—from organic whole foods—aids in calming the mind, uplifting the spirit, and preventing heart disease. Eating a diet high in processed, refined carbohydrates will not have the same effect. In particular, here are some dietary sources to calm the mind:

Food

• Grains like whole wheat, brown rice, and steel cut oats

• Mushrooms

• Cucumber, celery, lettuce

• Oyster shells

• Dill, basil

• Chia seeds

Beverages

• Generally Chinese medicine does not recommend dairy past infancy, but if you consume dairy, a small amount of warm, good quality, full-fat milk in the evening may help with insomnia by curbing blood sugar spikes at night.

• Avoid or limit coffee—try cacao or tea.

• Cacao, the raw source of chocolate, contains valuable minerals such as iron, potassium, and magnesium that are stripped from most chocolate. Schasteâ, a tearoom in Providence, makes a delicious Mayan cacao with heart-healthy mushrooms (I recommend asking for a little honey!). Cacao is available for purchase in certain grocery stores and online if you’d like to make it yourself.

• Oatstraw tea—available at Farmacy Herbs in Providence

Herbs (Chinese herbs may be available at an Asian market or online.)

• Mulberries (sang shen)

• Jujube seeds (suan zao ren)

• Schisandra berries (wu wei zi)—available at Mountain Rose Herbs

• Biota seeds (bai zi ren)

• Valerian root—particularly good for insomnia; tinctures are available at Farmacy Herbs

The Peak & Weak Times for the Heart & Small Intestine

In following with the Chinese medicine clock, the time when the sun is highest in the sky is associated with the Heart. This falls roughly from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., depending on the time of year. This is considered a good time to “be a leader”—communicate, oversee big things, have lunch with friends or coworkers, and socialize in a heartfelt way. The following two-hour period, roughly 1 to 3 p.m., is the peak time for the Small Intestine. This is a good time to sort things out intuitively, listen, and discern, remaining centered on the present moment.

The Ie timeframe, 11 p.m. to 3 p.m., Is the Heart & Small Intestine’s weak point. You may remember from How to Nourish the Liver & Gallbladder for Spring that it’s their peak point—and for all organs involved, it’s best to be asleep.

Calcium’s Role in Heart Health…

Stay tuned for next week’s post for information on calcium’s role in heart health & how to ensure we properly absorb it.

Interested in trying qigong, acupuncture, or another Chinese medicine modality? Register for a class or book an appointment here.