The unsettling awareness of your own heartbeat, becoming conscious of this usually automatic process that keeps you alive. It can create anxiety about mortality and the fragility of life.
From 'rubato,' a musical term meaning flexible tempo, combined with the Greek suffix '-osis' indicating a condition. The connection suggests how becoming aware of your heartbeat disrupts the natural, unconscious rhythm of living.
Rubatosis often emerges during anxiety or meditation, when our attention turns inward and we become hyperaware of bodily processes. It's fascinating how something as essential as our heartbeat can become disturbing when we focus on it - revealing how much of wellness depends on unconscious functioning.
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