Summer heat: What makes your heart beat faster?

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, summer is ruled by the fire element, and by the heart – the fiery engine that is the source of our emotions, our desire, our courage and wisdom. Although ruled by fire, the heart has a secondary association with water: it pumps fluid blood throughout our bodies. Modern medicine is just beginning to recognise that the heart is more than just a pump: it is a highly complex processing centre with its own ‘brain’.

 Emotions – negative or positive – affect our heart’s rhythm and have a direct effect on our nervous system. Our hearts beat differently when we are happy, stressed, joyful, anxious or angry. Yoga can help us regulate our emotions, and so can mindfulness.

Would you like to engage in some heart-healing practices this summer?

1. Try smiling from the heart. You’ve felt it before – the openness and lifting of the heart when you exchange a sincere smile with another being. Just once per day, give it a try.
2. Notice how joy feels in your body.
3. Explore more back bends, for example Camel pose, to open your chest and make room for a ‘larger’ heart – one that beams joy and heart’s Love to the world.
4. When you bring your hands together in front of your heart in Namaste acknowledge that your practice contributes not just to you but to the well-being of all others in the world.
5. Know what you desire – what makes you literally feel ‘fired up’ and ignited with light, energy, warmth and heat. Our desires create our lives.