Is Doing Yoga Enough to Keep Our Heart Healthy?
This question came up during a class and I thought it was worth exploring. It is common belief here in the West that we must do cardio exercise in order to strengthen and keep the heart healthy.
I think we have all heard it is best to get our heart rate up at least a few times a week with some form of vigorous exercise. To learn more, I have been reading up on why we want to do this. What I found was very interesting.
Most of the research points to weight loss and lowering cholesterol levels as the main benefits of participating in exercise that raises your heart rate. Many articles I read also talked about the benefits of improving the immune system, mental health and regulating blood sugar.
There is no dispute: moving our bodies is good for us for more than one reason.
But through all the reading I did it seems to be basic common sense that keeps us healthy. We may be overthinking all this cardio and making health seem like something we have to train for and something that has to hurt.
The basic premise for keeping ourselves healthy is to move the body everyday. Take it for a walk or swim, or do an afternoon of gardening or housework. Don’t sit for long periods of time. Each hour be sure to move for a minimum of five minutes.
Get outside. Breath fresh air.
Besides moving our bodies and staying active, the other important aspect to keeping our heart healthy is what we eat.
If you want to avoid a build up of plaque in your arterial walls it is important to cut down on or avoid when possible trans fat, saturated fat and dietary cholesterol.
This means choosing fresh food over processed food. This means cutting down on how much meat we eat. This means easing out of junk food and fast food. Avoid products that contain partially hydrogenated oils. Look at ingredients and buy products that support your health.
What we eat has much more to do with our health than how many miles we run. Heart health has as much to do with our overall lifestyle that the number of steps we track.
Your heart health is affected by stress and sleep and food as much as it is by exercise. I am not saying not to move. We should. We need to stay active. Get outside. Engage in life. But you don’t have to run a marathon to keep your heart healthy.
As far as Yoga goes, YES it counts! Moving on our mats helps improve circulation. Better circulation helps our heart. Deep breathing helps our heart. And inversions help our heart.
We don't have to overthink what it take to keep us healthy. We don’t need fitbits to count our steps. We don’t need to count calories. We don’t need to push ourselves to run to exhaustion, or until our knees are worn out.
Keeping our heart healthy is achieved by living a healthy lifestyle. This means we care for our mind, body and soul consistently. We find balance in our lives. We work and play. We move and rest. We spend time with friends and also give ourselves quiet time alone to reflect. We eat enough, and not too much.
We do not have to track or push ourselves to get the heart pumping. Just get out there. Move. Live a full and active life. Choose real food. Make it yourself. Invest in your health on the daily by using your common sense. Don’t make it complicated.
Just commit. Daily activity. Not too much sitting around. Fresh food and low stress.
Our natural state is health. The things that get in the way are trash food, sedentary lifestyles and stress.
Want to try Yoga? Reach out. I teach online Mondays to Fridays. You can try a class for free if you want to get started. Send me an email!
