written by Kathi Casey, ERYT, CPI  

February is American Heart month and while the stores are full of heart shaped balloons, and red candy boxes filled with chocolates, no one is talking about the number one killer of both men and women in the United States – Heart Disease. Yes, Valentines Day is the most romantic holiday of the year and I enjoy receiving flowers and dark chocolate (my weakness) as much as the next Baby Boomer Gal. My goal in this article, however is to provide some real tips for keeping your heart healthy so that you can enjoy many more Valentines Days to come!

1. First and foremost, find your funny bone! Sustained laughter has been proven to reduce blood pressure, give our immune system a boost and lower the levels of stress hormones coursing through our bodies. It’s been estimated that as children we laughed about 70% of the time, but as adults, that drops down to a mere 7%. There are many options for bringing more laughter in our lives. Comedy Central is non-stop comedy all day long. Robin Williams, Bill Cosby and other comedians have videos and CD’s that can be purchased on line or at the big chain stores, laughter clubs are springing up all over the United States and many are led by therapists trained in coping with grief through laughter – a new but innovative process that works much better than other conventional therapies. There is Laughter Yoga and my specialty – Laughing Meditation. All are good options for re-discovering your youthful laugh. I recommend laughing for at least ten minutes a day to begin with. As time goes on and you’re enjoying all those endorphins released as you laugh, you’ll just naturally find more to laugh at.

2. Chronic Stress is a big problem in today’s society and, according to Dr. Oz, can make our bodies appear 30 years older than we are. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather feel 30 years younger, not older. Fortunately, there are many simple techniques guided meditation, moderate exercise and deep breathing techniques that can help reduce the level of stress hormones coursing through our bodies. Meditation can be as simple as sitting quietly and counting your breath backward from 26. Inhale deeply and think 26, then, exhale slowly and think 26. Repeat with 25 and so on back to 0. Continue this for 10 minutes. If you’d prefer listening to a guided relaxation CD, there are plenty of good choices and most big chains will let you listen to a track or two before you purchase so that you can pick one that you .

3. “Peanuts! Get your Peanuts, here!” Remember when the vendor at the baseball game used to come around the aisles peddling his small packages of nuts – some still warm? Mmmm, nothing tasted better. Well, it turns out that nuts are good for us. Several studies have shown that choosing a handful (one ounce) of nuts a day for a mid afternoon snack can decrease your risk of heart disease between 30 and 60% – I...

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