SHEN

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the organ of the heart is the ‘emperor’ of the body. 

When the heart is in balance, the whole body is in harmony. When the heart goes out of balance, so does everything else; there is dis-harmony, dis-ease.

TCM tells us that the heart houses the Shen (spirit, or ‘original soul’), which influences mental clarity, emotional well-being, and relationships. 

Psychology tells us that romantic love is a ... "state of intense longing for union with another.”

“A complex functional whole including appraisals or appreciations, subjective feelings, expressions, patterned physiological processes, action tendencies, and instrumental behaviors. Reciprocated love is associated with fulfillment and ecstasy, unrequited love with emptiness, anxiety, or despair." - Hatfield and Rapson, 1993

It is interesting that falling in love and falling out of love may have similar symptoms.

What happens to the Shen when we fall in love? Well, what happens during other states? Typically, during sleep it resides in the heart and during the day it shines out through the eyes. 

It is intertwined with the fire element and can be perceived in a bright open gaze, warm words, and the vibrational essence of the palms. 

A flame needs connection to oxygen to burn and we need connection with one another, which can be established through seeing, communicating, reaching out. 

Love, the greatest medicine… the Shen longs to be seen, related to, appreciated… 

When the heart is open, a person can feel such belonging within themselves and also influence others around them to feel safe and seen, as well. This authenticity leads to a feeling of expansiveness and joy.

However, when an open heart is not met with acceptance, there may be confusion, grief, or shock. This is because our Original Soul is perfect and rejection can injure the deepest essence. 

When falling in love, memories of how the Shen was related to in the past can arise leading to impressions of wounds, or traumas. Still, when falling in love the perfection of the Shen can be perceived internationally, like a mirror.

The connection can lead to overwhelming feelings of joy which seems euphoric or even addictive (obsessive thinking, anxiety, insomnia), and can cause the energy of the heart to scatter, thus the original soul flies up to the heavens. This can cause a sense of disorder or chaos, which also can even feel good (think of the head in the clouds feeling, or being ‘high’). 

The line between where I begin and you end becomes blurry — we are ‘under the influence’ of the most powerful substance in the world: love itself.

But in healthy love, there is a boundary: a space where each soul can be appreciated without either person losing their autonomy.

And… what is this mysterious magnetic field of the heart that effects everyone around us when it is open?

The heart’s magnetic field is scientifically proven to be the strongest rhythmic field produced by the human body.

This invisible forcefield not only envelops every cell of the body, but also extends out in all directions, like subtle luminosity, expanding light beams in all directions into the space around us…

May we have the courage to open our hearts to the unknown, with wise discernment —

[Research on the heart + Self-portrait. 11-2025]