National Heart Awareness Month: Improving Heart Health

 

Good Morning!

National Heart Awareness Month: Improving Heart Health

This month is National Heart Awareness Month. Throughout this month, I will be taking a look at the best ways to keep your heart healthy, strong and emotionally pliable.

Heart disease is still the number one killer of both men and women. Awareness is the first step. Know your cholesterol, blood pressure and ideal weight. Lower risk factors and prevent early disability, illness or even death from heart disease or stroke. 

Improving Heart Health

1. Maintain a Healthy Weight with Exercise Move it! The body was designed to move, so do not be stationary. Incorporate the right amount of cardiovascular aerobic exercise to get your heart pumping and a regular regimen of weight baring exercise and gentle stretching! 

2. Eat Heart Health Foods - These foods include non meat sources of protein (grains, tofu, nuts), fish, poultry, lean meat (35-60 grams per day), skim or low-fat milk, cottage cheese, margarine , non hydrogenated, that is high in vegetable oils (such as corn, cottonseed, safflower, sunflower, sesame, or soybean). Also onions, garlic, chickpeas, fresh vegetables and fruit. 

3. Check Your Cholesterol - Cholesterol is a type of fat that is an essential nutrient for your body. High levels of saturated fats can cause an excess of cholesterol to build up in the arteries. Cholesterol is considered abnormal when the Total cholesterol is 200 or higher.. HDL or "good" cholesterol level is less than 40. LDL or "bad" cholesterol is more than 160. 

4. Maintain A Normal Blood Pressure - Range Those with high blood pressure are three times more likely to have a heart attack! The upper (systolic) number represents the pressure while the heart contracts to pump blood to the body. The lower (diastolic) number represents the pressure when the heart relaxes between beats.. Blood pressure below 120 over 80 mmHg (millimeters of mercury) is considered optimal for adults. 

5. Stop Smoking Period! - No ifs, ands or butts! Smoking increases the risk of heart disease by raising blood pressure, abnormal blood clotting and hardening of the arteries or Arteriolosclerosis, not to mention lung disease.

6. Control Blood Sugar Levels - A normal fasting blood sugar is 100 or less. A fasting blood sugar of 126 or greater indicates diabetes. Overweight and too little exercise is what increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and even blindness. 

7. Maintain Lean Body Mass - According to The Cleveland Clinic, A BMI (Body Mass Index) of 40 or more indicates morbid obesity, which increases a person's risk of death from any cause by 50% to 150%. 

8. Balance Stress and Emotional Tension - The fight or flight reaction to a stressful situation is normal and important. The constant bombardment with stressful, over stimulating situations over time, causes adrenaline levels to rise, becoming chronic and abnormal. This continues pattern promotes hardening of the arteries and the formation of blood clots.. Drug use, especially the use of cocaine has been shown to cause heart attacks. Say NO to drugs. 

9. Work on Anger Management - The "Type A Personality" has been recognized as a definable risk factor. This personality type usually has higher blood pressure, higher blood cholesterol levels and both higher and lower levels of certain hormones. 

10. Know Your Family History - Although you can't help heredity, you can certainly "be aware" of any risk factors that may have been passed down through your family tree. Especially your immediate family. Below, you will find a list of family medical history questions about heart disease. 



Andrew Pacholyk MS L.Ac
http://www.peacefulmind.com/heart-health/
Therapies for healing
mind, body, spirit

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Essential Oils for the Heart

 

Good Morning!

As always prevention is the key. Maintaining the condition of our heart is important, no matter if you are working with a healthy heart, or have had a stroke, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure....aromatherapy can help! Here are a few recipes:

Heart Care Blend

-reduces stress, improves circulation, nervous system and lowers high blood pressure.

To one tablespoon of carrier oil add: 

2 drops Rosemary 

2 drops Bergamot 

-Massage in the chest and heart area, throat and neck. Always working towards the heart. 

-Pour oil blend into the bath. 

Healthy Heart Blend

To one tablespoon carrier oil add: 

1 drops Geranium 

2 drops Bergamot 

3 drops Clary Sage 

-Massage in the chest and heart area, throat and neck. Always working towards the heart. -Pour oil blend into the bath. Works as a sensual perfume. 

Circulation Stimulation Blend

To one tablespoon of carrier oil add: 

2 drops Bulgarian Rose 

2 drops Rosemary 

1 drop Pepper 

or 2 drops Ginger 

2 drops Rosemary 

1 drop Geranium 

-massage this blend into shoulders, arms, back and front of neck and chest, heart center. Always massage towards the heart. Improves and stimulates circulation, strengthens the nervous system. 

Heart Spirit Blend

To 4 oz. of carrier oil (almond, sunflower, safflower...) add: 

10 drops Bulgarian Rose oil 

4 drop Rose hips 

2 drop Rosemary 

Add 4-5 Rose petals to the blend. 

-Massage this oil blend into the wrists, ankles, neck and anywhere else that seems appropriate! 

Andrew Pacholyk, MS, L.Ac

http://www.peacefulmind.com/herbs-and-teas/essential-oils

Therapies for healing

mind, body, spirit

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Full Moon Lunar Eclipse and Change

 

Good Morning!

Full Moon Lunar Eclipse and Change

February 11 is a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through the Earth's partial shadow, or penumbra. The eclipse occurs when the earth comes between the moon and the Sun, cutting off the light of the Sun from the moon. A lunar eclipse is always on a full moon and represents an ending or culmination points. During this type of eclipse the Moon will darken slightly but not completely. The eclipse will be visible throughout most of eastern South America, eastern Canada, the Atlantic Ocean, Europe, Africa, and western Asia.

Emotionally and metaphysically, this represents the bringing up of memories, reoccurring dreams and powerful emotions. A lunar eclipse of the moon can help us to anticipate major changes that are forthcoming in our own lives.

It is a moment when the effects of the full moon are very much amplified, while the South Node of the moon is getting enlightened by the Sun, and the North Node, brings forth our deepest aspirations and intuitions toward our spiritual meaning in this life.

An eclipse of the moon in our dreams has to do with the mentalities and should only be interpreted in context with the rest of the dream; it could also be your souls way of telling you to keep your head in tense situations.  This energy brings issues and situations into clarity and brings forth sudden endings… all for our greatest good.

Often eclipse energy instigates pushes us forward and gives us warnings of what is ahead. Eclipses can be challenging energy to navigate but they also reveal truths to us which forces us to grow and become more conscious, as we move forward in areas where we have been stuck. Eclipses are a dramatic and effective tool that Universe uses to create change.

Change is inevitable.

Our lives are made up of the building blocks of change. Change creates the person we must grow to be. Change happens for a reason. That reason is to allow us possibilities we may not have seen in the first place. This can be traumatic or it can be less so.

The single most important point you can make about change is that in most cases it's not what faces you that's the problem, it's how you react to it.

How you react is determined by how you perceive a particular change. The Chinese word for crisis is "weiji". Two characters that separately mean danger and opportunity. Every problem we encounter in life can be viewed that way. It is a chance to show that we can handle it. Changing the way you think, can change a life of stress and discomfort to a life of challenge and excitement.

It is important to embrace the transition!  Struggling, kicking and screaming and dragging your heals will only prolong trying to control the uncontrollable. Learn to recognize strengths you may have overlooked. Embrace optimism and reform your old belief system. Honor the new you, which you are transforming into. Here are some ways to embrace change:

1. Be Flexible. You have a rigid, mind set about work, relationships, kids or lifestyle. Learn a lesson from the willow tree and its ability to bend in the great wind. Where as, when we are rigid like the old oak tree, we can easily break apart under the stress of change. Learn to relax and follow the path unfolding before you..

2. Take Everything one day at a time. Sometimes situations can become overwhelming when looking at the big picture. Again, take your quiet time to observe the moment. Allow yourself to take all the time, take the space that you need to grasp the change.

3. Breath. Deep breathing allows us to open our chest and expand. It clears our minds and bodies of toxins and should be used as a tool for change. Allow the breathe to cleanse you and make room for change. Make room for something different.

4. Support. We are always put at ease when we have support behind us. In these vulnerable moments, we can find strength in others. If you have a good friend, a family member, a loved one or a community group that you can turn to, do so. Be sure that this support comes from a positive, unbiased source. Otherwise, it can be more damaging than good. Rest assure, there have been others who have gone through what you are experiencing right now. See if you can take away with you some of their positive pearls of wisdom.

5. Love Yourself. You are the true source to your own happiness. You have to live within yourself. You have to be at peace within yourself. Only you can do that. Only you can make that happen. We each have our own way of being with ourselves, but there is only one way to be at ease with your soul. That is to love yourself, always.

6. Our Belief System is one of the major factors that can get us through situations or can cause our life to crumble around us! I do believe that there is a lot of innate goodness and balancing our minds do subconsciously to get us through hard times. The other portion of this is how we "program" ourselves to deal with any given situation.

7. Let go of Ego. Embracing peace of mind, optimism, the ability to forgive, and a sense of humor are all good ways to allow the ego to step aside and make room for some humble pie.

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