The Heart Only Says Yes!

Spirit Storehouse, Spirit Seal, Spirit Burial Ground. What do these points have in common?  Not only do they have mysterious names indicating spiritual functions, but they each lie on the Kidney meridian as it travels up through the chest from the abdomen to the collar bones. Their presence over the heart gives us a clue as to the value of the heart in acupuncture theory.

My first acupuncturist taught me that the heart only says “yes.” In his book on the ancient cosmology and theory of the five elements and acupuncture, Nourishing Destiny, Lonny Jarrett explores the rich meaning of points like Spirit Seal and those listed above. I met Lonny in a workshop I took while deciding whether to go to acupuncture school. In his work on the use of acupuncture in healing, the experience of betrayal (often suffered as a result of divorce, for example) he examined the function of the heart from acupuncture theory. Healing from betrayal requires regaining trust in our ability to discern what is most fundamentally true about life and about ourselves. This knowing, or wisdom, lies in the heart.

When he told me that the heart only  says “yes,” he was pointing out the noisiness of the mind and emotions when we say “no” to our experience. Finding the stillness of the winter, creating the quiet of meditation – the ultimate Water-element activity – allows us to hear the heart. The voice of the heart is not angry or righteous, resigned, sad, greedy or lustful. Nor is it excitable and joyful. It is quiet and it is peaceful. And never does it tell us to do what is easiest. What the heart says “yes” to is usually the most difficult choice to make, not the one that satisfies the emotions.

When we do not listen for the heart’s “yes” and instead respond to the noisy voices of the mind and emotions, it is easy to lose connection with our spirit – the spirit of the heart. While points located throughout the body do connect to the spirit in a variety of ways, these upper kidney points located over the heart are called on in cases of resignation and disconnection from our inner spark. Located about an inch to either side of the sternum and between the ribs, these points are easy to find. Gently pressing them can help bring us back into a listening for the wisdom of the heart.