A Healthy Heart
There is a strong link between the mind and heart in yoga. A vital heart and stable mind is a primary goal in therapeutic yoga practice. It’s the vital energetic center and holds the space for compassion, love and giving and receiving. These acknowledgments and awareness contribute to our overall health. A closed heart limits one of an engaged, open connectedness with your environment and oneself.
This muscular organ has the most extraordinary job of pumping blood 6o-100 times per minute, distributing nutrients and oxygen throughout our whole body. Its an involuntarily mechanism that keeps us alive whilst we get on with our day. I think its worthy of our care and attention.
The function of the heart is silent, we sometimes hear it after exercise or when stressed, therefore, it’s difficult to know if there is something underlying unless we have testing, like blood pressure checks. Lifestyle plays a big role in heart health. Good nutrition, good sleep, stress management and exercises are the key pillars to maintaining a healthy heart. Yoga views the body as 5 dimensional layers that are interconnected-body, mind, breath, personality and emotions, one layer effecting the other. When all of these dimensions are in harmony our health is positively impacted.
The emotional dimension can impact heart health. Grief, despair and sadness for long periods or from an emotional crisis or physical stress can affect the health of our heart. A broken heart is a temporary heart condition called Takotsubo cardiomyopathy. Mimicking the sensation of a heart attack, some people will go to emergency to seek medical help. Our emotional stability isn’t always at the forefront of healthcare. My experience working with clients, proves the effects of disturbed emotions, for a period of time, can adversely affect all 5 dimensions of ourself. The daily practice of yoga, maintains a healthy level of mental clarity and emotional stability. They way we feel overall is addressed so we can determine if in fact its our emotions that are leading to patterns of emotional eating, smoking and drinking, patterns that temporarily reduce emotional pain. Long term, these coping mechanisms lead to poor health and heart disease.
In terms of lifestyle, how does yoga play a key role in maintaining good heart health? Firstly, yoga has been proven to lower blood pressure and reducing stress. These key factors are supported in my video libraries Healthy Heart mind-body practices. Secondly, smoking, excessive alcohol, overeating and poor nutrition aren’t always easy patterns to change. Yoga practice over time helps us to withdraw from the senses. Unknowingly our senses, controlled by the mind, if not kept in check can keep us in an unhealthily cycle and sometimes can lead to addictive behavior. Saying to yourself “I’m going to change’ and follow through is too difficult for most people. There requires a substitute or at least something put in place to progressively make positive changes. Becoming aware of what doesn’t serve you is the first step.
More than a stretch: Yoga's benefits may extend to the heart
Harvard Health
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