Sensitive People and Heart Disease

Illustration by Victoria Borodinova via Pixabay

​Twenty years ago, one of my teachers, a gifted empath, said to me, "Your heart has been broken so many times that it cannot survive another." I accepted her statement as the truth I knew it was, without realizing it could turn into, or be, a medical problem. 

When the pandemic came our way and I got hit, hard, I was forced to slow down, go within, and rethink my life. To go within, I mean start paying attention to the myriad ways my body talks to me. I know our bodies talk, because I've become a professional at reading the bodies of my clients. Reading my own? Not so easy. But, we can learn anything we really want to learn.

Historically selfless, I decided to learn how to listen to my own body so that I could create a healthier balance between others and myself. In the process, I finally asked myself, "What is that sensation I feel in my chest, just to the left?" It was pain - and it had almost always been there - and I'd never noticed it.

A spontaneous internet search brought me to a Cedars Sinai article by a medical doctor who talks about Healing a Broken Heart. Folks, it turns out that everyday heartaches can, over time, lead not only to complex PTSD, but also a medical condition actually called, "broken heart syndrome." It is also known as "takotsubo cardiomyopathy." 

I am a professional healer equally concerned about preventing problems. We cannot heal or prevent that which we are unaware of, so just knowing about broken heart syndrome can motivate us to make changes that will decrease the aggravation of our symptoms and, over time, encourage healing. Some of the core aggravations identified from my research are:

• We ignore little irritations because we underestimate their power, but over time chronic, avoidable irritations can shred us on the inside like death by a thousand cuts;
• We often lack the personal boundaries that need to be there to protect us, mentally and emotionally, only because we find it easier to hurt our own feelings than to risk hurting the feelings of those who don't care about boundaries;
• We don't like conflict, so we let toxic behaviors and attitudes slide, further enabling and empowering the folly-loving;
• We trust too soon and too completely, winding up letting in the heartbreakers;
• We get too attached, forgetting that death and tragedy are a part of life.

Setting firm boundaries based on our deepest core values means we can stop preventable irritants and reduce conflicts. The right boundaries also help us discern who to keep at a safe distance and who the few are that are safe enough to let in. Love may cure all, but love without boundaries is a killer. 

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Broken hearts don't just come from an end to a relationship or the death of a loved one.
Every time trust is broken, every time we are betrayed, it takes a toll on our hearts.
In a broken world, the heart is always at risk.
Some shut down their heart, resulting in broken hearts all around them.
We must not shut down our heart.
We must learn to listen to our heart and protect it with bravery.
To respond with respect and integrity to a broken world is how we heal the world and ourselves.

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