10 habits to improve your life

Discover the habits to improve your life. If you apply them often, you will have better days and even your physical health will improve.

Habits

#10 Laugh

According to the Spanish Heart Foundation (FEC), laughter not only improves our mind, but also helps prevent heart disease. The institution’s experts affirm that this process serves as a vasodilator of the cardiovascular system. When you laugh, the endothelium, which is the bottom layer of blood vessels, relaxes, allowing blood to circulate better and lowering blood pressure. Additionally, the behavior reduces the level of stress-associated hormones, which are vasoconstrictive. That is why nervousness is usually associated with heart attacks.

#9 Volunteer

Taking care of the heart does not only cover the organic aspect. Seeking personal rewards in helping others also adds up. Martin Seligman, writer of “Authentic Happiness,” states that there are three ways to achieve well-being: one is to be related to what is pleasant; another is the so-called “good life” associated with comfort and the last, or most important, is a meaningful life, which is what would grant more complete gratification. Feeling useful helps your cardiovascular health, since this way you get out of a passive attitude and negative thoughts, which are harmful.

#8 Be optimistic

Negative ideas make people who have them more susceptible to heart attacks, since they tend to always think that the worst is yet to come and live worried. Therefore, in order to keep your heart healthy, you must try to think positively. This doesn’t just mean hoping for the best in life, but also wanting the benefit of everyone else and putting aside cynicism. How to achieve it? Try to make good affirmations every day, love yourself and visualize a better panorama of things.

#7 Connect with music

Being in contact with beautiful melodies produces happiness. According to a study from the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands, listening to happy music increases the feeling of joy and also increases the ability to perceive happy faces around you. Leaving worries aside for a moment and giving way to well-being relaxes, which helps blood circulate better and thus, keep your heart healthy.

#6 Be active

Inactivity can be a symptom of ongoing depression. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIHM) in the United States, this mood disorder affects the entire body and is even related to heart problems. Therefore, it is important to focus on having projects and carrying out small tasks step by step. But you should not confuse keeping moving with demanding more from yourself, as this can lead to stress and affect the health of your heart.

#5 Practice yoga, meditation and visualization

According to a study published in the prestigious medical journal “The Lancet”, the Savasana posture (deep conscious relaxation) reduces blood pressure in hypertensive patients. In turn, Dr. Thimoty Mc Call, a specialist in Internal Medicine and Therapeutic Yoga, maintains that respiratory exercises can improve cardiovascular conditions, since they lower the heartbeat at rest and increase its oxygen supply potential during exercise. On the other hand, visualizing an emerald green light that is directed towards the chest offers the sensation of healing.

#4 Have hobbies

Entertaining yourself through a hobby helps maintain well-being. The so-called hobbies motivate, take them away from the daily routine and thus reduce the effects of stress, sedentary lifestyle and isolation, all disorders that affect heart health. These activities, which range from playing an instrument to dancing, are important to maintain emotional stability. Some studies even mention that gardening-related hobbies help reduce blood pressure levels.

#3 Spend time with friends

Humans need close, deep relationships to keep the brain and body healthy. People who feel lonely even when surrounded by people are more likely to suffer from depression, addictions and eating disorders, all pathologies related to heart health. In that sense, experts maintain that loved ones are the best allies of well-being, since they make you laugh, contain and bring great moments to life.

#2 Avoid being perfectionists

Pushing yourself too hard is associated with cortisol, the stress hormone. Not forgiving oneself for mistakes can cause frustration and later lead to a mood disorder such as depression, which, according to psychologists, is closely linked to cardiovascular diseases. To avoid these states, do not seek to be the best at something, but as good as you can be. And remember that you learn from mistakes.

#1 Express emotions

There are psychologists who talk about a therapy called “emotional ventilation,” aimed at loosening chest tightness caused by not saying certain things. Experts say that this sensation produces a decrease in health, including that of the heart. Practicing this method requires choosing a person you trust to share negative feelings and thus get rid of them. This interlocutor can be a friend or a specialist.