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What is this small little thing?

This small little thing is put to work, a few months earlier than day1. Even before one is declared born. Its start is a ray of immense hope, happiness & a lot of dreams of good times. It’s the beginning of a new life. People wish & bless it to be functional for 100+ years, without a blip or a blink or a boost.

It’s the seat of every possible emotion. It makes you feel joy, happiness, sorrow, anger, and distress. It fires to fight, and fuels flight (run away). This small thing, at times, feels heavy, sometimes lite, at times broken, and other times strong. And yet a cute baby fills your heart, which you never knew was empty to fill anything more. So, it’s a thing that can never be declared as full or empty.

It always can make space for a new love, at any time, at any age. The more love you spread, this little thing expands and makes space for even more love. Contrarily, it can shut the space permanently for few connections, experiences & emotions, especially with persons with whom you don’t feel connected anymore.

When you want to pace up, it fastens. And when it calms down, you feel relieved. It makes you sweat, it makes you feel the breeze. If your first speech on stage left you gasping for breath and made you run away from the stage, it was because of this little thing. If you felt at ease, seeing your loved ones, it was again because of this little thing.

And when it rests, it’s the end of life. The rest of the world becomes irrelevant. How can this one little poor thing, hold so much for us, and that too without a millisecond break in its lifetime! And yet we fail to acknowledge it and offer the required care.

 

Such is the stature of this small little thing. And yet this little thing doesn’t get the required attention, aid and amazement.

Have you thought about it? This little thing is nothing but yet another muscle in our body. Yes, it is our heart.

This heart is the first organ that develops in the embryo contributing to the vital role of transporting nutrients and waste throughout the growing embryo.

Why do we take this little thing for granted, even when it’s the sole reason for our existence?

 

1. 32% of all global deaths in 2019, were due to heart health issues. Of these, 85% were merely due to heart attack and stroke.
2. One person dies every 34 seconds due to heart issues.
3. In men, the risk for heart attack increases significantly after the age of 45. In women, heart attacks are more likely to occur after the age of 50.
4. China had the highest number of heart disease deaths last year, followed by India, Russia, the United States and Indonesia.
5. Most heart attacks happen on a Monday (as per the study done by AHA research- https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circresaha.109.213652)

Getting over-hyped, stressed out, and increased blood pressure is leading to an uptick in heart health issues & strokes. It’s only because we are exerting unnecessary pressure on this poor little thing.

 

The prime factor deteriorating heart health

Heart issues are majorly due to Chronic stress & anxiety. Anxiety is a kind of restlessness, an intense worry mostly filled with nervousness & panic.

It’s the kind of stress that could be due to ongoing situations like nagging relations or difficult jobs or things going out of control or too much of varied emotions etc. One may also feel anxious when stuck in traffic, pressured at work, or worrying about family matters and finances.

Anxiety increases heart rate and shallow breathing. It in turn causes hypertension, thus putting an additional load on our heart.  Hypertension has been identified as the leading cause & prime factor for negatively impacting heart health, leading to mortality. Thus, leaving their family, dependents, friends & others is absolute despair & void.

Scientists predict, that by 2025, adults with hypertension will rise to 1.56 billion worldwide. So, it’s high time to get our attention & focus, on our heart health.

 

7 simple tips to take care of your heart health

Remedies to better heart health primarily include controlling anxiety. It can be by lifestyle changes, regular exercise, mental relaxation, and eating habits.

Give required attention to your lifeline, so that your life is in line.

Below are some tips to control anxiety, and better heart health. These are from my own practical experiences, and I breathe through them. They have helped me control my anxiety, and better handle adverse situations.

1. Schedule your blank-times

Each day put aside some time for yourself. Sit comfortably, somewhere in peace, relax, and let everything free. Strictly no gadgets, and no distractions. Not even talking to anyone.

This is the time NOT to think about anything – neither success nor failure, neither positive nor negative, neither the past nor the future, neither friends nor foes, neither life nor death, neither good nor bad. Let your heart & mind wander wherever they want, without any compulsion. As you practice it for a few days & months, your mind ally starts becoming blank, without any thoughts during this blank-time. That’s an ideal state. This brings down the anxiety, relaxes the pulses & improves heart health.

2. Let go of the things, which are out of your control.

Always remember, you are JUST one of the small contributors in the overall MASTER PLAN, driven by the supreme almighty. All of your wins & losses are part of his game. So, at any point in time, if you feel things are going out of your control, or you are losing or you are getting stuck, just relax. Don’t stress out. Let go of the things, which are out of your control, and things will start falling into fresh perspective again. This could be with your work, your relations, your situations, etc.

3. Express gratitude

Every morning, set aside at least 5 mins of quiet reflection time to thank the universe for giving you yet another morning, for who you are, what you have, and the many supportive people in your life. This activity will calm down your mind, soul & body, and in turn, eases the pressure off your heart.

4. Write the negative, atrocious feelings & Flush them

Negative feelings & thoughts drain out a lot of positive energy and hence increase anxiety. Write those feelings on paper. This way your mind becomes free, and it doesn’t have to constantly make an effort to remember the uncomfortable situations & feelings all the time. The moment they are out of mind, your heart too gets out of the mess, as there is nothing to feel. This, in turn, reduces anxiety and improves heart health.

5. Read simple books

Read simple, easy books. NOT to understand or strain yourself to remember something. NOT to get motivated, and inspired. NOT to get ready, to become a millionaire or to wage a war. But, just to run through the motions & emotions of the author, with a blank mind. This calms down the nerves & anxiety.

6. Do Physical exercises / Play a sport

There is nothing better than to feel your heart pumping in the healthiest of ways. Cardiovascular work is the epitome of cleansing and strengthening your muscles. And physically, the heart is a muscle too.

Playing sports has an immense effect on well-being & heart health. To further understand the benefits of sports and their impact, read the full article at https://wowmanagers.com/top-4-leadership-social-fitness-via-sports/.

 

7. Have good balanced healthy food, do deep breathing, and laugh from within

Laughing is good for heart health. It reduces stress and gives a boost to your immune system. Its scientifically proven that, Eating dark chocolate regularly and maintaining a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle can reduce the risk of heart disease by one-third.

 

Takeaway

Your heart is a wonderful creation, with a huge responsibility. It’s a busy, restless organ. It affects every part of your body. It’s a direct replica of your feelings & emotions & current state.

Robert Valett describes the heart as “It feels things the eyes cannot see, and knows what the mind cannot understand”. As one of the very famous quotes by Helen Keller – “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart”, is the essence of its importance.

By its very nature, the heart is designed to work for an average of 60-70 years, without even a split-second break. This little thing is not just for your lifetime, but it can run for another 10-20 years for someone else. Yes, it’s via heart transplant.

So, it’s high time for us to get the focus & attention, to better hearth health. In any tense situation, when you start getting into stress or anxiety, think of this poor little thing, who would also get rubbed off, for no fault of its.

No one else, but you hold the key to your heart health. Follow above mentioned simple tips. Try not to overreact to any situation, and control anxiety. And an implicit by-product of this activity is a well-informed, thought-over decision, rather than a hasty decision taken in a brisk of the moment.

So, in life, if you ever choose to take care of at least one small little thing in this entire universe, it should be nothing but YOUR OWN HEART. Do protect your lifeline for your life to be in line.