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Healing heartache helps heart health

December 15, 2015 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

©Glowimages (model for illustrative purposes only)
©Glowimages (model for illustrative purposes only)

Is heartache the same as a damaged heart muscle?  No.  But can mending a broken heart help heal heart disease?  Yes.

This phenomenon shows that our thinking has a direct correlation to our physical health.  And it’s one example of how a mental change can bring health benefits to the body.

I listened to Dr. Irv Hinds talk about his book, “Healing the Pain of Heartache:  a physician explores broken heart syndrome.”  Dr. Hinds is certified in pain management and as a cardiac anesthesiologist, formerly with the Open Heart Team in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  His current work is focused on the interrelation of mind, body and spirit and the crucial role of spirituality in breaking the cycle of pain.

He explains how heartache adversely affects heart functions and affirms that healing heartache is vital to healing heart disease.  He urges dealing with broken heart syndrome directly and not sweeping it under the rug, allowing its effects on the heart to become chronic.  The griefs, grudges, hurts, resentments we carry with us – sometimes for decades – are unhealthy.  Dr. Hinds says that if we walk around with a heavy heart, that can become synonymous with heart disease.

And he states that addressing our spiritual needs is indispensable for healing heartache.  That really spoke to me.  I know people who have experienced the healing of heart trouble through healing the heartache of a broken relationship.  Forgiveness plays a big role.

In the recent Oprah Winfrey “Belief” series, one man’s quest for the love he never received while growing up with crack-addicted parents, led him to say, “Forgiveness…cleans out a place in our heart for a new life to spring from.”

A friend of mine was in pain due to his brother’s refusal to forgive him for something he’d done years ago.  Emotionally, he felt as though his heart had been frozen for a long time.  He was also having physical heart symptoms that restricted his activities.

Many times he’d prayed out of heart-wrenching anguish for this relationship to be made whole again.  It was tearing him up inside – literally – and he yearned to be free of the hurt and coldness.  He knew from his spiritual practice that to help bring healing to the situation, he needed to humbly align his thinking with God.  So, he prayed to know how to do that more.  He understood God to be totally good and unconditionally loving.

In answer to this prayer, he had a “change of heart” and felt impelled to forgive his brother for not forgiving him.  This gave him a measure of freedom, yet he still felt the pain of estrangement and suffered with heart symptoms.

Fairly soon after that, his brother called and finally forgave him.  Upon hanging up the phone, he went out for a winter walk in the mountains where he lived.  In the snow-covered stillness, he followed the sound of ice thawing and cracking to the stream where it was melting.  Looking down, he saw the nature scene at his feet as a metaphor – his frozen heart was melting and his feelings were starting to flow again.  All physical symptoms involving his heart were gone from that day on.

The correlation between our heart-life and the life of our heart is increasingly being recognized by modern science.  A new book by Gregg Braden, “Resilience from the Heart:  The Power to Thrive in Life’s Extremes,” even asserts there’s a direct link between the heart and the brain.  The goal of Braden’s work is always to bridge ancient wisdom with the latest scientific research in a way that people can utilize in their everyday lives for better health and prosperity.

And this cutting edge connection truly isn’t new.  Most faith traditions urge us to examine and improve what’s in our hearts – what’s in our thinking – to bring health and harmony to our lives.

About twenty centuries ago, Jesus of Nazareth healed many incurable diseases through an understanding of God’s love.  His success in healing would naturally make us want to hear what he had to say.  He stressed that in order to experience God’s love and its healing power; we need to express this love to each other.

The Bible records these consecutive sentences from Jesus:  “I tell you to have faith that you have already received whatever you pray for, and it will be yours.  Whenever you pray, forgive anything you have against anyone.”

Right after exhorting confident trust and faith, Jesus urged forgiveness of the heart.  That’s instructive.  It says to me that if I’m seeking healing through prayer for a physical ailment, especially anything heart-related, I need to address my emotional baggage.  It’s hard to be lifted up in inspiration with hurts and resentments weighing you down.

So, deal with what is tugging at your heartstrings.  Finding your peace, forgiving, healing whatever it may be, can become synonymous with a healthy heart.

Malala Yousafzai and the healing power of forgiveness

January 28, 2015 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

malala1The world seems caught up in an endless cycle of attack and retribution.  Whether on an intimate, national or global sectarian level, mankind seems hopelessly drawn toward answering violence with violence.  But there is another way.  My colleague from British Columbia, Anna Bowness-Park, explains how one young girl’s example of forgiveness is having a powerful healing effect and leading us to peace.  Here’s Anna…

Is there a way to heal the effects of violence in our communities?

2014 Nobel Peace Prize co-winner, Malala Yousafzai, is not only convinced there is, but she lives what she believes.  At just 15 years old, she survived a brutal attack by a young “Talib” who shot her in the head on a school bus in Pakistan.  Her crime – in his eyes – was having the audacity, as a girl, to want to work toward an education!

When speaking at the United Nations in 2013, she said she knew her life was threatened long before the attack, and wondered what she would do if faced by a man with a gun.  She remembered thinking to herself:

“If he comes to kill me, what do you do, Malala?  I thought I would take my shoe and hit him.  Then I thought, ‘if you hit a man with a shoe, you would be no different to the Talib.  You must not treat others with that much cruelty and that much harshly.’”

In this description of her first reaction to the Taliban threat, we may think it merely the self-defence response of a child.  But in her culture, to throw a shoe at someone is a mark of deep disrespect.  What Malala was really saying is that disrespect was not on her agenda.  She wanted to have a conversation – to show respect for her attacker, rather than contempt and hatred.

Please click here to read the rest in its original context…

To forgive and to be forgiven each benefit our health

February 27, 2014 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

@Glowimages 1830676.
© GLOW IMAGES (models used for illustrative purposes only)

Thoughts of unforgiveness aren’t good for us.  They affect us like water in our car’s gas tank – we don’t run right.  And those we won’t forgive can be affected too.

The health-giving effects of forgiving have been well documented, to the point of becoming common knowledge.  Back in 2004, a Harvard Medical School publication summed up:

“Researchers found that mentally nursing a grudge puts your body through the same strains as a major stressful event…a link between forgiving someone for a betrayal and improvements in blood pressure and heart rate…those converting anger to compassion felt less pain and anxiety than those who received regular care.”  (See also 11/23/11 report by the Mayo Clinic staff)

And that’s just about the body.  Of course forgiveness can heal relationships and bring more peace and happiness.

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Can forgiving and being forgiven improve your health?

April 26, 2012 By christianscienceminnesota Leave a Comment

During the last decade plus, there has been a growing number of studies showing the beneficial effects of forgiveness on the body.  As far back as 2004, a Harvard Medical School publication) was able to sum up:

“Reduced stress. Researchers found that mentally nursing a grudge puts your body through the same strains as a major stressful event: Muscles tense, blood pressure rises, and sweating increases. Better heart health. One study found a link between forgiving someone for a betrayal and improvements in blood pressure and heart rate, and a decreased workload for the heart…Reduced pain. A small study on people with chronic back pain found that those who practiced meditation focusing on converting anger to compassion felt less pain and anxiety than those who received regular care.”  (Also see 11/23/11 report by the Mayo Clinic staff)

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About Joel

Joel Magnes Hi, I’m Joel Magnes, writing about the connection between our thinking and our health -- focusing on how spirituality and prayer can have a positive impact on our well-being.   I'm a practitioner of Christian Science, with over 25 years of expertise and experience in prayer-based healing.  And I serve as the Christian Science Committee on Publication for Minnesota; the church's media and legislative liaison. Contact Joel HERE.

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