What do you think of when someone says the word "Heart"? I think of love, romance, family, children, partners, friends, pets...
The heart has a long list of 'feelings' that are attributed to it: broken-hearted, light-hearted, heavy-hearted, heart-felt and heart-throb are just a few examples.
Where do these 'heart-feelings' come from? The heart? Or the brain?
William James, widely regarded as the founder of American Psychology said in 1884,
"Physiological changes are the “raw material” of emotion,
to which the brain assigns meaning, like fear, surprise, or excitement."
The exciting part of this statement is that we can control our feelings, our reactions to the world around us.
Here are some ways we can do that:
Mindfulness- being aware and living in the present moment
Meditation- visualising
Breathing deeply- calming ourselves
Being creative- expressing ourselves and practising seeing things in a different light
When you read about Heart Health, it always involves diet, exercise, weight... And while all these things are important, so much of our health can be improved using the tools above. You can do these yourself which means less time at the doctor, fewer pills and tests and more time enjoying your life.