The human heart is the most miraculous and powerful 
pump in all the world. The heart’s natural pacemaker is a small football-shaped cluster of cells nestled in the upper right chamber of the heart. This cluster is called the sinus node and it sends out electrical impulses, causing the heart muscle to contract anywhere from sixty to one hundred times each minute under normal circumstances. Exercise causes the heart to beat faster and send nourishing oxygenated blood outward to every part of the body. The used blood returns to the heart to receive more oxygen in order to begin the ancient supernatural ritual again and again for all the years from the first moment of our lives until the very last. What an extraordinary instrument is the human heart! The most important nutrient we consume is oxygen, without which there is no life.
Our heart can be directly affected by our feelings and emotions both negatively and positively. Our whole family agrees that what killed our Grandmother at eighty-seven years of age, was a broken heart. She had always been a strong woman and hard worker with no serious health problems. Within the last year of her life she had lost her oldest son and a few months later, her husband of over sixty-six years. She then told the family that all she wanted was “to be with your Daddy in heaven.” Her grieving was deep and profound and before long she passed away quietly in her sleep with the dog beside her on the bed. Her death was not horribly tragic because she had lived many years, raised five children and enjoyed many grandchildren and a comfortable retirement. Her life was full and love was everywhere around her. She will always be remembered by our family, for making the very best Indian fry bread in all the world.
The human heart is the center of the whole of human life of the body, mind and spirit. When we fall in love, the electrical impulses of the sinus node quicken, releasing hundreds of powerful healing biochemical responses throughout the body. This is scientific fact. Excitement and exercise quicken the heart and sadness slows it. The heart is a physical as well as spiritual organ. Meditation that includes deep breathing causes the heart to beat regularly and release endorphins and healing throughout. Imagine the cardiovascular impact of walking up hill fast for ten minutes so you can reach the top in time to watch the sunrise. That activity causes deep breathing aerobic exercise and meditation that enriches the body, mind and spirit.
Hawthorn berry herb is a natural medicine that strengthens the heart muscle and can lower blood pressure. The flowers and fruit work as an antispasmodic, cardiac sedative and vasodilator. Hawthorn is widely prescribed in many European countries by doctors as treatment for those suffering from any form of heart disease, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, nervous heart problems and elders whose heart muscle may have been weakened by simple aging or heart attack. The tea can also soothe the nerves and cure insomnia. The plant grows like a huge thorny hedge plant with sharp stickers, lovely small rose flowers in various colors and small plump red fruit. The leaves are shiny and dark green. Dried seeds may be planted in late summer or autumn after being soaked overnight in water. Compost or regular potting soil should be mixed with sand and after planting the seeds, an inch of sand may be placed on top and then covered with hardware cloth. The pots are left outside during winter so the cold months will help them germinate properly.
The human heart deserves all the love, respect and nurturing we are able to give because most of the time it performs miraculously and constantly without even giving it a thought, even through the most hideous of trials. Life, love and good health are precious gifts for those of us in recovery who learn to keep an open heart and mind towards all things. The heart beats to the ancient rhythm of the timeless mother earth and nurtures us with the rhythm of the Inter-tribal drum. Recovery, love for one another, and participating in our ancient Tribal ceremonies, enriches both heart and soul for all of time and all our relations throughout eternity.
