It’s been a lifelong, passionate journey for me (consciously and un) exploring the rhythmical feeling of Heartbeat.
Do you know that we could describe the rhythmical song of the heart two ways? By feeling our wrist pulse and tracking seconds elapsing, we can calculate beats per minute (bpm); by sensing the subtler beating, which points to the heart’s action of “LUB DUB REST”, we get another way of knowing heart bpm.
For example: 60 bpm felt wrist is also 180 bpm, lub-dub-rest wise. We could distinguish the two ways by naming the first as it fits, as a counting of complete cycles.
Thus, CPM. Now, we have it: 60cpm/180bpm — 1:3 ratio.
I go for the rhythmical truth & natural “time” power of bringing forth the later. The rhythmical Heartsong, although the somewhat “reductionist” other way of cycles per minute (cpm) is good enough and probably quite necessary–for its practical and common uses.
Let’s explore the Natural Song of the Heart through many ways of knowing.
It’s been instructive and fun this year (2023) working with young children (ages 6-9) — presenting simple, impressionistic lessons which teach the idea of what makes the “lub-dub-rest/pause” sounds. We can learn about this through embodiment. We can move and sing to the rhythmical 3-pulse of heartbeat — “snap snap fill”. It’s our understanding that these sounds come from the two sets of heart valves in our four-chambered heart–alternately snapping shut. Of course, there must be a silence pause to re-fill. In the classroom, we’ve been exploring many ways to make this heartsong rhythm. For example, 3-pulse heartbeat as 6 flow pulse and 12 flow, with body-beats, movement, and vocalizations. It’s been exciting to stretch the heartbeat feeling to 24 pulse flow, as a rhythmical statement, with opportunity for fun improvisation.
If curious to know the deeper, science details about how the Heart makes its drummy sounds, check out this from Khan Academy (10-minute mini-lesson).
Lansing Day 