The Heart is Not Just a Pump: Listening to the Emperor
🫀 The Heart is Not Just a Pump: Listening to the Emperor
When most of us first learnt about the heart, it was described as a strong muscle – a reliable pump that keeps blood moving around the body. And while this is true, it’s also only part of the story.
In Classical East Asian Medicine (CEAM), the heart is known as ‘the Emperor’. It is the sovereign ruler that holds court over the body, mind, and spirit. Its role extends far beyond circulation – it is the home of the “Shen”, often translated as our spirit, consciousness, or inner light.
When the Shen is calm, life feels balanced. When it is unsettled, everything else can feel as if it is unravelling.
🪷 The Heart as Resonator
Modern research is starting to echo what CEAM has known for centuries: the heart is more than a muscle. It resonates, remembers, and responds.
* It carries memory, not just of events, but of how those moments felt.
* It influences our rhythms – sleeping and waking, speaking and listening, acting and resting.
* It is deeply responsive to joy, grief, love, and shock.
This means disturbances in the heart may not always show on an ECG. Instead, they can appear in dreams, speech, restlessness, anxiety, or even a sense of emotional flatness.
🌿 Tending to the Emperor
In practice, caring for the heart often means working with both the physical and the emotional together – they are threads of the same tapestry.
Acupuncture and herbs can calm the Shen, nourish blood, or bring stillness.
Simple daily acts – gratitude, music, safe connections, mindful breathing – can help the heart feel at ease.
Presence and connection are medicine in themselves. Just as a mother calms her baby by holding them close, we soothe and regulate each other through the field of the heart.
💗 A Heart of Coherence
Slow, steady breathing and feelings of gratitude or love create what researchers call ‘heart coherence’. In this state, the heart’s rhythm supports clarity, immunity, and inner calm. Harmony in the heart radiates harmony outward.
The heart is not just a pump – it is an instrument of connection, an anchor of rhythm, and a vessel of spirit.
If this reflection speaks to you, I invite you to take a quiet moment today to simply listen to your heart – not only its beat, but its presence.
With warmth,
Dr Ian Dummett (CM)
Sagire Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine
P.S. You can find more reflections, resources, and upcoming sessions in the “Sagire Health Community”. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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