Heart Health
Happiness makes a heart beat longer. The latest medical research vindicates popular sentiment. Happiness, or profound contentment that we feel and know in our heart, has been proven to be the most accurate predictor of physical health, and of longevity.
While we all know that our hearts beat a particular number of times each minute, as measured by our pulse, what may come as a surprise to learn is that the interval between heartbeats is not fixed. The heart quickens and slows. Some heartbeats follow more closely together, some are further apart.
It is this ability of the heart to quicken and slow that allows the body to respond to a changing environment. When we are resting the heart slows more, when demanding physical activity is required the heart quickens more. If the heart beat at fixed intervals only, then it would not be able to respond to the varying situations we find ourselves in.
A healthy heart quickens and slows in a regular pattern. The “Heart Rate Variability” (HRV) of a healthy heart is described as “coherent”. When the heart rate varies in a coherent pattern, it has been shown to have a positive influence on mental and physiological activity in the body. In other words, the body is healthy and our thinking is clear. We perform at our best. Our thoughts and actions are consistent with our feelings and intuition. It is a state of being that we can appreciate intuitively, but may only experience in rare moments.
In contrast a stressed - or distressed - heart does not show the same regular pattern of heart rate variability. The heart quickens and slows in an irregular pattern described as lacking coherence, or chaotic. The body's physiology and mental clarity suffer. We lack focus. Our thoughts and feelings are confused. We become prone to chronic ill health, shortening and diminishing the quality of our lives.
Popular sentiment has always placed emphasis on the role of the heart in our emotional wellbeing – as expressed in words such as warm-hearted, soft-hearted, cold-hearted, hard-hearted, light-hearted, heavy heart, wholeheartedly, heartbreak, etc. Now, improved understanding of the body's physiology reaffirms the role of the heart in our physiological and mental health.
Happiness, or profound contentment that we feel and know in our heart, has been shown to be the most accurate predictor of physical health. We can strengthen our hearts and enjoy better health by paying more attention to the quality of our emotional lives, in combination with physical activity, good nutrition and rest.
We can learn to feel the presence of the heart physically in our bodies and to nurture its good health, not necessarily 100% of the time but sufficiently to gain a benefit.
A computer programme is available to monitor heart rate variability and demonstrate coherence. With practice, users learn to induce a coherent heart rhythm for themselves, in the process exerting a positive influence on their own heart and overall health.
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