Four-Step Approach to Heart Health

February is Heart Month. We celebrate Valentine’s Day and as a nation we call attention to the health of our physical heart. It’s a good time to take inventory of our biological, psychological, social and spiritual heart health.

Take care of your physical heart.

The statistics are rapidly climbing for the U.S. as it relates to heart disease, high blood pressure, and other heart related issues. Doctors urge us to eat only as many calories as we use in any given day, to get 20 minutes of exercise a day, and get ample rest in order to take care of our heart and other body systems. During this month, consider getting a physical (especially if it’s been awhile) and talking to your doctor about what you need to do to keep your heart healthy.

Take care of your psychological heart.

During this time of year, many people struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which are depressive symptoms that occur during the winter months when we are stuck indoors and not able to be out and enjoying the sun and fresh air of the warmer months. If you find yourself struggling with feeling blue, hopeless, helpless, losing your appetite or eating too much, or not being able to sleep or sleeping more than usual, contact an Indianapolis therapist or doctor to talk with them about your symptoms and develop a plan to get your brain, and thereby your heart, back on track.

Take care of your social heart.

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and it’s a great time to assess your relationships. Step back and rate your satisfaction with your role in your most important relationships—spouse, children, parents, co-workers. Identify one thing you can do to improve each relationship. For those people who are single, Valentine’s Day can be extremely difficult. Assess what you’re looking for in a relationship and what you have to offer in a relationship. Are there areas you can fine tune? Are you looking in the right places for Mr. or Ms. Right? Are there things you need to work on before you’re ready to be in that “right” relationship? If so, pick one area and make the necessary changes. If not, as hard as it is, hang on. That person may be just around the corner. This year, use Valentine’s Day to do something to love yourself!

Take care of your spiritual heart.

We are all spiritual beings. We are created for connection outside of ourselves. In a ground-breaking study entitled “Hardwired to connect: The new scientific case for authoritative communities” by the Commission on Children at Risk , research revealed that our brains are geared for connection with something or someone bigger than ourselves. The study also indicates one reason for the rise in rates of mental illness among children and adolescents was that they are missing that their communities are not providing means to make this connection. So, during National Heart Month, examine your connections to something or someone bigger than yourself. Evaluate what might be missing and take a step to give your brain and heart what it needs. This four-step approach to heart health will most likely help all aspects of your heart function at peak performance.

Authoritative communities: The scientific case for nurturing the whole child. Kline, Kathleen Kovner (Ed.); pp. 3-68. New York, NY, US: Springer Science + Business Media, 2008. xxvi, 386 pp.

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