The Meditative Heart
This week is the start of a four part series on the matters of the heart. Why this focus you may wonder. Allow me to share why I have chosen to focus on this topic in depth. I read an alarming statistic this week: 75 million Americans currently suffer from heart disease. (1)
75 million! That works out to be close to 25% of us. Of that number, 600,000 people die every year from heart disease. It is the number one cause of death in our country. (2) My own father was one of them. Two of my uncles and both of my grandfathers also died from heart disease.
I believe that we can do more than most of us do to prevent this disease and from experiencing an untimely death.
What is one of the most important things we can do to support our heart's health? Meditation. The American Heart Association recommends it. Over the past 10 years many scientific studies have been conducted which provide us with evidence that meditation indeed is good for our hearts. We may be apt to dismiss this advice if we only have a vague notion of why this is so. And we may tend to push meditation aside if our lives get too busy. However, if this has been true for you up until now I hope that the information I present to you in this column will help you to rethink your priorities and put this powerful practice into your life.
What Meditation Does
Dr. Herbert Benson, cardiologist and founder of the Mind/Body Institute at Harvard informs us that meditation helps to decrease metabolism, lower blood pressure, and improve heart rate, breathing, and brain waves. Persons with high blood pressure are at greater risk for heart disease so having a practice that is known to improve this vital statistic is a significant step to improving one's health.
Meditation has also been found to reduce stress and hear attack risk. In a 2012 study conducted in Fairfield Iowa, persons with heart disease who meditated regularly reduced their risk of heart attack by up to 50%. (3)
Meditation is not difficult to learn. It simply requires a commitment to practice. Over time it will be easier for you to slip into a calm and deeply relaxed state.
So now it is up to you. Begin your practice today. Don't put it off.
Keep it simple.
1) Find a quiet place to begin.
2) Sit down.
3) Focus on your breathing.
4) Begin by slowing your breath down by inhaling for a count of 7, holding for 4, and exhaling for a count of 8.
5) Then repeat.
Maintain this quiet time for a minimum of 10 minutes, breathing slowly and focusing upon it. Pay attention to how you feel after your practice.
Just do it.
Take care of your heart through meditation this week.
(1) Heart surgeon declares on what really causes heart illness