Joyfull Living – February 2015
Seeing all the hearts around this month can be a great reminder to check in with your emotional heart and evaluate how you feel about your life. As I am writing this article, I just heard on the news that studies show that a happy heart is more likely to be a healthy heart. It’s amazing the number of people, physically fit and healthy in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, who are having heart problems. Of course there is the genetic factor, but only working out at the gym is not a guaranteed cure. We all need to create more balance in our life to feel good inside and out.

People who are usually happy and enthusiastic are less likely to develop heart disease than those who tend to be glum, scientists say…and boosting positive emotions could help cut heart health risks, reported EMEA Health and Science Correspondent Kate Kelland.

Karina Davidson, PhD of Columbia University Medical Center led this research. Her findings suggested it might be possible to help prevent and decrease the risk of heart disease by enhancing people’s positive emotions. “Participants with no positive affect were at a 22 percent higher risk of…heart attack or angina…” Davidson wrote in the European Heart Journal.

Over a 10-year period, Davidson and her team followed 1,739 men and women who were taking part in a large health survey in Canada. “Trained nurses assessed the participants’ heart disease risk and measured negative emotions like depression, hostility and anxiety, as well as positive emotions like joy, happiness, excitement, enthusiasm and contentment; collectively known as a “positive effect,” she explained. Those with “positive effect” had lowered their risk by 22%.

One of the reasons for this is that positive emotions help lower stress levels. Stress is one of the major causes of heart disease. I share in my stress management book “Yoga on the Go” that practicing positive thinking with affirmations such as “Every day in every way I am better and better” in combination with self-care routines like yoga (breathing), walking and meditation, help keep your mind, body and heart both happy and healthy.

Most people are so busy, so wrapped up with the external demands of their life, they become insensitive to the needs of their own inner well-being until they experience a health crisis, often relying on food, alcohol or medication to escape the stress of life, instead of looking at the root of the emotional issues. In our fast-paced world it is so easy to get swept up with getting things done. Being “too busy” with work, or somebody else’s problems are great ways to avoid getting in touch with your feelings and deal with what is going on in your emotional heart. There is nothing wrong with being busy and getting a lot done, but you need to have balance and make time to nurture your spirit and tend to your emotional well-being on a daily basis to experience true health and happiness.

The rhythm of running and chasing, hiding and protecting, compromises your state of presence and creates imbalance. Take a moment now: breathe into your belly and as you exhale, relax your shoulders. Choose to be absolutely connected to the flow of your breath coming in and out slowly for a few more breaths. Feel yourself being present. Let the peace in your heart embrace you. The quality of presence you allow yourself to experience, moment by moment, will be reflected in the health of your physical and emotional heart. Improving your quality of life is enormously simple and equally difficult. It requires your presence and participation on a daily basis.

In an effort to support you creating more balance in your life, I am offering you my stress management e-book and webinar Yoga on the Go: Strategies to alleviate stress and anxiety in everyday life FREE if you register by Feb. 15, 2015. Email us at info@louiselavergne.com for more information or www.joyfull-yoga.com.

Remember to take time to breathe in gratitude, to live in Joy.