Choose Happiness. That is the bumper sticker I saw the other day while driving my daughter to ballet class. Happiness is not only good for the soul, it’s good for the body. Any Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner can tell you that being happy helps the heart stay healthy and strong. Not surprisingly, several recent studies by major universities show that being happy decreases heart disease. Also, if you’re happy, you’re not as stressed, depressed, sad or anxious. Whilst all those emotions are inevitable during our lifetime, happiness seems to be the best emotion for health and longevity.
Here are 5 ways you can help yourself achieve happiness and simultaneously boost your heart health from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective.
1. Wear red. Red is the color associated with the heart and can spark your heart’s impulses!
2. Eat red foods, especially tomatoes, Montgomery tart cherries, red bell peppers and red grapes. The lycopene in these foods help increase protection from heart disease
3. Meditate on happiness. I like to think of a scenario that makes me happy and then take that feeling and mentally “rub” it over my whole body from head to toe. I do this every night in bed before I go to sleep!
4. Take schizandra berries or goji berries
5. Balance work, family, and community.
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