Care For Your Heart: Ways To Be More Mindful Of Your Heart

If you have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease, it can be daunting to think about the steps you need to take to improve your heart health. However, being mindful of your heart and taking care of your heart is essential to reduce the risk of further cardiovascular events and improving your overall quality of life.

So, if you’re ready to care for your heart and improve your cardiovascular health, let’s dive in!

How is the heart connected to our mind

• 68% reported their heart illness had a mental, emotional, or psychological impact on them.
• Anxiety was reported as the most prevalent symptom by 77% of individuals who claimed that their cardiac issue had impacted their mental wellness.
• Nearly half, 51% reported feeling gloomy, depressed, or crying, and 47% reported feeling terrified.
• Individuals with depression and CHD are considered to be 1.5 to 2 times more likely to have negative cardiovascular outcomes.
• Anxiety and CHD are associated with a 36% higher risk of poor cardiac outcomes.
• The prevalence of major depression in patients after MI has been estimated to be around 20% and anxiety about 30% to 40%.

Thus, we cannot separate our hearts from our minds. In this blog, we’ll explore some key practices that can help you take better care for your heart and be more mindful towards it to manage your cardiovascular condition effectively.

Meditation

Meditation is sitting comfortably with your eyes closed and concentrating on your breathing, a mental image, or just the repetition of a single positive word or phrase. The objective is to keep your mind on the present moment and away from stressful or distracting thoughts.

Benefits of meditation for cardiovascular health

• Meditation has been demonstrated by studies to improve heart rate variability (HRV). HRV is a measure of fluctuation between heartbeats.
• This means HRV measures how quickly your heart responds to tiny changes in the time interval between each beat.
• If the time interval between heartbeats is longer, the heart is healthier. Thus, the higher the HRV level, the healthier your heart is.
• You might know the adverse effects of smoking on heart health. Meditation reduces 60% of smoking cravings in smokers.
• Meditation over a long period reduces cardiovascular events by 48 %.
• Regular meditation practice has been shown to help lower high blood pressure in the long run.
• Meditation decreases systolic blood pressure by 4.7 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure by 3.2 mm Hg, these are great numbers for BP reductions! This correlates to the reduction of stroke mortality by 8% and coronary heart disease (CHD) by 5%.

Seeking counselling

• Major depression affects 20-40% of patients with chronic heart failure (HF)
• 1-2 out of 5 people suffer from depression with CHF
• 32% of people with heart failure experience increased anxiety
• Depression was discovered to be an independent risk factor for HF mortality

Benefits of counselling for cardiovascular health

· Seeking counseling to deal with depression and anxiety levels should be of top priority for cardiovascular patients as according to studies cognitive behavioral therapy (a type of counseling) proved to be an effective treatment for reducing depression and anxiety in patients with CVD.

· Psychological therapies for patients and partners increase health-related quality of life. A healthy mental state can extend its effects on healthy blood pressure, overall positive mood, and patient satisfaction.

Vacation

We all know what it’s like to feel relaxed and happy after a vacation. Well, we now have research to back this up.

• Vacation resulted in a 44% drop in stress reduction across the study group.
• People who took a vacation felt more content, happy, calm, and refreshed after the holiday.
• The average relaxation increase was 32% - 35% in the group with a significant increase in sleep quality
• A 23.6% increase in percentage for satisfaction, happiness, relaxation, and sleep quality was observed in the group after vacation.

These benefit the mind, which has a significant effect on your heart health. So, book your flight or train tickets right away and spend some quality time with your loved ones.

Music

We all love music and most of us have the plugs on during traveling, it makes the journey more relaxing and fun. It is a powerful and universal form of expression that can connect people across cultures and languages and enrich our lives in countless ways.

Benefits of music for cardiovascular health

Music helps heart health by limiting heart-affecting factors such as Blood pressure, stress, anxiety, and sleep quality.

1. Music reduced cortisol levels

Those who listened to both personal and neutral music selections at home or work had considerably lower ‘cortisol levels’. Cortisol is a stress hormone known to increase blood pressure. As music helps maintain cortisol levels, thus music helps to keep your blood pressure in check.

2. Benefits in mental health treatments

Music benefits mental health treatments for diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression, with 68.5% of music-based therapies yielding favorable effects.

3. Reduced burnout

A month of having access to 30-minute music listening sessions at work, employees reported lower stress levels and less emotional tiredness.

4. Helps you fall asleep

62% of respondents use music (of various genres) to help them go to sleep, mostly because it relaxes and distracts them, and distracts them from daily stressors.

Reduction in BP and HR serves to relax patients both physiologically and mentally, leading to or representing, an anxiety reduction, thus overall helpful for heart health. So, make sure to rock on for at least 30 min.

Art

Any form of art, be it painting, sketching, drawing, etc. can yield a positive effect on your heart health.

• 81.1 % of studies demonstrated a significant reduction in stress levels.
• 91.7% of studies found that creative art therapy significantly reduces stress.
• According to the research of 60 undergraduate students, when given the task of coloring or drawing a design or drawing to communicate negative sentiments, the student’s anxiety and heart rates decreased.

So don’t shy away from getting crafty and relax your mind!

Journal writing or expressive writing

Expressive writing or journal writing is a technique that involves writing about one’s thoughts and feelings in a free-form, unstructured way. It can be a powerful tool for promoting relaxation and mental well-being.

Here are some ways that expressive writing can be helpful:

• It can help to process and release emotions.
• It can provide a sense of clarity and perspective.
• It can be a form of creative outlet.
• Journaling can help you keep a tab on your emotions and understand your thoughts better.
• Studies have revealed that expressive writing demonstrated a significant effect on reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress.
• Try to write regularly for at least 20 minutes every day.

Conclusion

Showing the right care for your heart and being mindful towards it is particularly important for those who have been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease.

By making conscious choices and adopting healthy lifestyle habits, indulging in activities such as art, meditation music, etc. you can reduce the risk of further complications and improve your overall well-being.

It’s also important to work closely with your healthcare team and stay up to date with regular check-ups and monitoring of your cardiovascular health markers, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels.

Remember that every small step you take towards showing care for your heart can have a significant impact on your overall health and well-being.

By committing to a heart-healthy lifestyle, you can manage your condition, prevent further complications, and enjoy a fulfilling and active life.