Body Basics Part 3: Heart, Mind, Womb Connection

What is the state of your Heart?

In Chinese medicine we see a strong correlation between the state of the Heart and the state of the Womb.  What nourishes the Heart, nourishes the Womb.  What warms the Heart, warms the Womb. Creative expression of the truth in one’s Heart opens up the creative capacity the Womb.  

Similarly, what troubles the Heart can trouble the Womb.  In more Western medical language, when our emotions are unsettled, our hormones can be similarly unsettled. Chinese medicine has long known this, and Western medicine is now also beginning to identify and accept the links between stress levels, anxiety, mood, and the smooth flow of hormones that govern the menstrual cycle.

We see this most obviously in cases where ovulation is delayed due to an acutely stressful or traumatic event: the body, in its infinite wisdom, recognizing that a high-stress, high-stakes scenario may not the best scenario into which to insert a new life.  We can also see evidence in exacerbations of PMS symptoms — every woman prone to PMS has experienced her symptoms worsening in especially stressful months or seasons of life.

So to a large degree, the state of our Mind and Heart (in Chinese medicine this is actually called the Shen, or Heart-Mind; the Heart and Mind aren’t separate) governs the state of our hormones. 

This is partly why acupuncture alone can have such a dramatic impact on hormone regulation, menstrual cycles, and fertility — it quickly and easily relieves stress and calms the mind, and in doing so it soothes the Heart and nourishes the Womb.

Have you experienced a time in your life when your mental health clearly impacted your hormonal health?  Are you in the middle of one right now? (This is, after all, an unprecedented and exceptionally stressful time for all of us.)  What are your favorite tools to soothe your nerves and calm your mind?  What are your best practices to cultivate creative expression?  

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