Be Happy For Your Heart!

When I was 8, I was playing a tickling game with my siblings where you start on a stool on the side of a bed and run in and tickle each other till the other person couldn’t handle it anymore (I don’t quite see the point in the game, but when I was 8 years old I could probably have been entertained by a piece of lint).

The stool that I was standing on collapsed and I fell, completely supporting myself on my wrist. I was in pain and knew I broke something, but I was in a little village on an island in Croatia and the doctor only comes to the island once a week.

So, my old neighbor there decided to rub some natural soap on my arm and wrist as her idea of a natural cure. A couple days later I had 4 men pulling my arm in different directions to put it back together. The soap didn’t really work and with a broken arm I was probably better off with a couple ibuprofen, but still I admire my old neighbors ways.

I have always been a fan of finding the natural cures and remedies in life. So, when it comes to my mood and my feelings, exercise seems to be the best cure if I’m in a depressed mood or if I’m experiencing a little anxiety. Research has even shown that exercise reduced anxiety symptoms by 20% in patients with chronic illnesses.

There are also several studies that prove that exercise has a positive impact on peoples’ mood and that it is beneficial for reducing negative affect. There’s some extra motivation to get you to the gym or even just active outside. Not only are you helping your heart, but your also improving your mood and from new research we can see that these two factors may be more cyclically related than you expect.

It is a universally understood principle that exercise helps your heart, but it is a less known fact that actually being happy or just generally having a positive attitude about life can benefit your heart as well. A new study in the European Heart Journal of 1739 adults in Nova Scotia, Canada found that

increased positive affect was protective against 10-year incident CHD [coronary heart disease], suggesting that preventive strategies may be enhanced not only by reducing depressive symptoms but also by increasing positive affect.

The study notes that a successful way to increase your positive affect is to write down daily activities or hobbies that are enjoyable. They also recommend increasing the time spent doing these enjoyable activities throughout the day. So, next time you pick up a good book or spend time laughing with your friends, consider it natural medicine for your heart.

A review from 2006, Positive Affect and Health, confirmed these finding. Sheldon Cohen and Sarah D. Pressman reviewed recent research on Positive Affect and Health and they found that Positive Affect was associated with lower morbidity, decreased symptoms and pain, and increased longevity among elderly. The moral of this story would be to exercise and spend more time enjoying yourself and you will be happier and have a healthier heart. Sounds like a pretty easy fix for me.