Your heart is not just a pump

Your heart is not just a pump. It is a living, sensing, responsive centre inside you.

It is a radiant magnetic vortex.

The way you relate to it shapes how you show up in love, in connection with others and even in moments where you feel yourself disappear.

Some years ago I was in a training where the facilitator demonstrated something simple but powerful, the energetic radiance of the heart. She invited a participant to recall a pleasant memory of genuine love that felt warm and real in her body. As they did this, a sensor measured the magnetic field around their heart. As they settled into this experience the space changed: it softened, opened and extended.

She was then asked to think of a mildly unpleasant memory and within moments their whole system shifted. The field around them contracted and their body collapsed a little and became smaller.  

The change was immediate and you could feel it in the room.

We often think of the heart as something physical, a muscle or a pump. But when you bring your attention there you may notice something else; a warmth or a movement. There may be a subtle expansion or contraction, depending on what you’re feeling.

When you feel safe, connected and loving something inside you opens, expands. 

When you feel guarded, uncertain or braced something contracts.

This reminds me of what I learned about the Heart in Chinese medicine, where the energetic heart is seen as the Emperor of all organ systems and where our Spirit lives.

It shapes how clear we think, how we feel and how we connect with others.

It is associated with the Fire element and embodies passion, joy, vitality and relational warmth.

Our heart loves, feels and thinks, remembers and communicates with other hearts.

The thing is that your heart’s response doesn’t just stay inside you, it also shapes how you meet another person and how available you feel. It impacts how much of yourself you can stay with when you are close to someone.

If you’re someone who tends to lose yourself in relationship, this will be familiar. You’ll know the moments where you start to go quiet inside, where your body tightens, where you feel yourself pulling way from your own centre.

Learning to stay connected to your heart in these moments is not about forcing yourself to be open. It’s about noticing when you’ve left, and allowing yourself to connect to this experience.

Your heart is not just a pump but a living centre of connection, to yourself, others and the world.

You don’t have to disappear to stay connected. You can be here, in yourself and in relationship at the same time.

Thanks for the image by Congerdesign.