Solar Worship & Heart-Brain Coherence
Usil, The Etruscan Sun God - drawn by me
Introduction
Hi, Friends!
This post is for subscribers only and was intended for November’s Subscriber post.
The following post is derived from a free assignment I did for school after dealing with COVID-triggered sudden Histamine Intolerance. If you have been following me for some time, you know I like to incorporate “low-hanging fruit” practices for myself and my clients, as it is accessible and you can always build upon it when it feels safe for you to do so. One major life change I began integrating was resetting my Circadian Rhythm which started a friendship with the Sun, which then turned into Solar Worship, and reduced my symptoms of HI.
I have written about the Etruscan people, their culture, and especially their religion as I feel they are my ancestors. The Etruscan Sun God is Usil (oo-seel), whom I started to beg for health when things turned scary and I was in and out of hospitals/doctors due to bradycardia and heart palpitations. At one point, I felt my heart stop. We discuss this further in the essay, but in astrology, the Sun rules Leo who governs the heart in Medical Astrology. It was only when I started practicing Heart-Brain Coherence that I felt the connection.
This post explores the connection between the Sun, the heart, and heart-brain coherence, and it draws on astrology concepts, scientific research available to me, and anecdotal experience. I discuss the concept of the heart as a "brain" and its role in emotional regulation and vitality (a Solar word). We also discuss HeartMath Institute's study on heart-brain communication and its impact on cognitive function, and self-regulation. We briefly look at the influence of the Sun's energy on human behavior and the Earth's resonance. I also emphasize the importance of maintaining a healthy circadian rhythm through practices like sun exposure for vitamin D production for optimal health. In earlier blog posts, we discussed the importance of vitamin D to also (ironically) regulate melatonin production at night. Click below to learn more.
While this post does not focus on what the Sun can do for Histamine Intolerance (many studies say that resetting the Circadian Rhythm for HI decreases symptoms quickly), it does focus on the circadian rhythm for overall health and wellness. I will, at some point, create a post that focuses on circadian health for long COVID, hormone regulation, nervous system dysfunction, and more (there is a connection between inflammation, estrogen/androgens, cortisol, and histamine not surprisingly).
One last thing I want to add is that in my breathing practices and meditations, I would breathe in and out while chanting Usil’s name where the inhale was “oo” and the exhale was “seel”. Out of the British autumns and winters I have experienced, this year has been the sunniest. Recently, it has dropped down to 30 degrees with the usual Northern England winter fog, yet still, I can see Usil’s luster behind the foggy UK sky.
This year, I have learned a lot about my body, especially how stress can affect one’s health. We hear all the time how stress can cause illness, but I was not aware of how quickly I could decline from good health just by submitting to external stressors. So, I put together a treatment plan that was comprised of many elements, with the obvious being nutritional and herbal support. However, I made a point to focus on stress and the nervous system with the inclusion of Heart-Brain Coherence. The focus on the heart became a ritual and intuitively, I sought out the rising sun every morning to reset my circadian rhythm.
The practice of Heart-brain coherence led me to understand Qi, Prana, vitality, and lifeforce. Brigid Burke, a Tantric Spiritual Practitioner and Life coach once stated that “finding God is like falling in love again”, and after this experience, I can only echo this sentiment. My perspective of how important my vitality and life force are, paired with my relationship with Solar entities, has begun a new chapter of healing and vibrancy.
The following information is based on interviews with Dr. Rollin McCraty, and they are listed in the resources section at the end of this essay.
The Heart, Leo, and The Sun
Leo is a fixed fire sign symbolized by The Lion, the King of the Jungle, and it is associated with joy, creativity, dramatic flair, bravery, loyalty, confidence, leadership, generosity, and sovereignty. Wherever this sign sits in your chart is where you feel brave enough to express your inner artist, leadership, and generosity.
Leo is ruled by The Sun, the Life-Giver of the zodiac, which governs vitality and lifeforce, and are concepts that echo throughout time and culture: Qi, Ki, Prana, etc. In Medical Astrology, it rules the heart, spine, and the circulatory system. However, it is also intrinsically tied to vitality, general well-being, and physical strength.
The 5th House of Creativity and Joy is the house that Leo rules, and this is a house of artistic endeavors and creative passions. I call this house The Vitality House, as I believe this is, for the most part, where one may get a little bit more information on what restores vitality to us, and how to do it. In addition, this is the house of romance and progeny (we can be the parents of children or our artistic creations and innovations). Let’s say you have Uranus in the 5th House. This would signify a desire to be eccentric and unconventional in your art, creativity, expression, and romance. Therefore, being a pioneer in your projects, and getting recognition for it, would bring vitality back to your being.
When I first learned about Medical Astrology and Astro-Anatomy, I thought at first, “The brain must be ruled by Leo since Leo represents the King, and the King wears the crown.” Unfortunately, this is incorrect because it is Aries, the first sign of the zodiac that is associated with the head and brain, and as we’ve learned, Leo rules the heart. However, the researchers at HeartMath Institute offer a new perspective of the Heart as a “brain”. Whereas Aries is Head-First, Leo is Heart-First. Dr. Deanna Minich states in her book Whole Detox that the heart is a neuroendocrine gland that affects hormone balance, just as much as it regulates blood flow.
Both the brain and the heart produce electromagnetic energies and communicate with each other based on our emotional states. This is why when we are chronically stressed, we may suddenly develop an irregular heartbeat, but through HeartMath techniques, we can find homeostasis and rebalance ourselves by leading Heart-First like Leo.
What is HeartMath?
The HeartMath Institute is a non-profit organization that is involved in research and education in emotional self-regulation tips and techniques that center the heart and its functions. It was founded in 1990 by Doc Childre and is focused on aiding people in bringing their physical, mental, and emotional systems into balance aligned with their hearts by becoming heart-empowered (or Heart-Led) individuals. Dr. Rollin McCraty believes that the heart can be used to tap into our intuition or Source (he calls it The Large) when we are in Heart-Brain Coherence.
Coherence is a term that is used to reference order, harmony, connection, and structure within systems, especially organs, body systems, and even atoms. In the physiological sense, the word coherence is used to explain the harmony, stability, and rhythms that are going on within the body. According to McCraty, coherence significantly improves brain function, boosts our ability to self-regulate, promotes healthy cognition and long-term/short-term memory, increases our ability to focus and process information, regulates hormones, and strengthens reaction times and our ability to learn.
Why is Becoming Heart-Empowered Important?
Proper blood circulation, or Blood Qi, is incredibly crucial for hormone regulation because hormones are transported through blood flow to get to their receptor sites in our body [1]. It is the hypothalamus, a gland that is part of the brain, which produces neurochemicals and hormones that signal the pituitary gland to release certain hormones into the bloodstream.
Additionally, the hypothalamus also translates emotions like rage, anger, and fear into physical responses, which include a racing heartbeat or shallow breath [2]. When we are in an incoherent state, however, it inhibits or interferes with our ability to synchronize the electrical activity of our heart to the electrical activity of the brain. Therefore, McCraty proposes that we can use the heart as a feedback signal to get in tune with how we are feeling through Heart-Brain Communication (Coherence).
Heart-Brain Communication Pathways
The heart sends more neural communication to the brain than the brain sends to the heart. This is done through afferent ascending pathways from the heart to the brain through sympathetic and parasympathetic nerve fibers. These specific signals encompass activities such as strategic thinking, self-regulation, and reaction times. McCraty explains that the signals the heart sends will affect our brain, especially areas of the brain like the frontal cortex, which is involved in self-regulation and self-awareness. These signals are sent due to emotional experience.
Another ascending pathway is a direct connection to the thalamus which plays a role in synchronizing electrical activity in the entire brain through thalamic cortical loops. When we are in a coherent state, which relies on the signals to the thalamus, it enhances cortical synchronization and optimizes cognitive function and the capacity to self-regulate. The prefrontal cortex is also involved in Heart-Brain Communication pathways, and the prefrontal cortex gives us the ability to have foresight, which McCraty describes as things like discrimination of appropriate behavior, abstract thinking, and appreciation of achieving/setting a goal.
Incoherent rhythmic neural patterns, which impinge on the thalamus, correlate with low Heart Rate Variability (HRV), which is different from heart rate. Where the counting of how many beats per minute determines heart rate, HRV is the measure of neurocardiac function that reflects the heart-brain interactions, as well as autonomic nervous system (ANS) dynamics. These HRV readings can give us some insight into how the heart and brain are communicating.
Heart Rhythms and Mental Performance & Benefits
McCraty explains that we have the highest HRV when we are young, but it declines as we age. Below-normal HRV (for your specific age bracket) is a predictor of future health problems. Low HRV is a good indicator of how the effects of general depletion on the autonomic nervous system affect our general well-being and vitality. In addition, it is associated with inflammation, congestive heart failure, diabetes, hypertension, weight gain, and Metabolic Syndrome. Incoherent rhythms are associated with our cognitive processes, which is called Cortical Inhibition. McCraty explains that it is negative feelings that prompt us to do or say something we may regret later, and inhibit our ability to self-regulate.
When one is in a coherent state, it reflects the following:
Increased synchronization in higher-level brain systems
Capacity to self-regulate behaviors
Increased parasympathetic activity (vagal activity)
Entrainment between physiological rhythms
Coordinated activity in the two branches of the ANS
Increased heart-brain synchronization
Cardiovascular system resonance
