Heart Toe Heart
The surprising connection between flexibility and heart health
February was American Heart Month. I originally planned on publishing this piece last week, when it was still February, but I got sidetracked by
Office Hours challenge and decided to post The best way to use chakras in everyday life instead.Now it’s March—happy Women’s History Month! Just because some commemorative month transitions into another doesn’t mean our beating hearts stop deserving our attention, love, and care.
What your heart health has to do with your toes
I’ll never forget learning about a writer friend of mine who collapsed one day in her kitchen and died of a massive heart attack. Though I didn’t know her well, it seemed to come out of nowhere. One day she was writing her books and the next day she was gone. Heart disease is the leading cause of death amongst women in the US and is often considered a “silent killer” because the symptoms aren’t always obvious. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, women may experience the following symptoms when suffering a heart attack, in addition to or instead of, chest pain: nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, sleep problems, tiredness, and lack of energy. Unfortunately, many of those symptoms are also experienced in other illnesses, or even in the course of daily life as a woman, making it harder to suspect a heart issue and more likely that care gets delayed1.
In addition to physical exercise, a healthy diet, and reduction in stress, a 2009 study published in the journal Heart and Circulatory Physiology found that flexibility may be an additional indicator of heart health. Study participants were asked to sit on the ground with their legs straight out in front of them and touch their toes without bending their knees. The study found a clear correlation between people older than forty who could touch their toes and the flexibility of their arteries. Less flexible arteries appeared to tax the heart more, possibly increasing the chance of developing heart disease. Though researches haven’t been able to confirm why this is, they propose that since the tissues in arterial walls are similar to muscle tissue, muscle flexibility and arterial flexibility are likely related. Another study designed to test the relationship between arterial stiffness and weight lifting accidentally found that the control group increased arterial flexibility just by stretching for 13 weeks.2
What better practice than yoga to help you build flexibility, reduce stress, and keep you moving? That touch-your-toes test for arterial flexibility happens to also be a yoga pose called Paschimottanasana or Seated Forward Bend. Despite the traumatic memories you may have of trying to do this stretch in gym class for the Presidential Physical Fitness Awards, general flexibility is always a good idea for overall health and well-being. Because yoga considers the whole person, I also want to offer you a few additional practices to consider when optimizing your lifestyle for a healthy heart beyond this stretch test (and exercise, healthy eating, and stress reduction). And don’t forget to check out the yoga practice at the end of this post to help you touch your toes!
Four ways to nourish your heart
Breathe
The English word rhythm has associations with the Sanskrit words rtam, meaning rhythm, and hrdayam, which describes the “cave of the heart” where the soul lives in the body. Heart rhythm, measured by heart rate variability, is an important indicator of resilience. A higher heart rate variability means the heart responds to stressors and then quickly returns to its baseline. Vagal tone has a direct impact on heart rate variability and breathing practices affect vagal tone3. In addition to stretching, add breathing practices to your toolbox to increase vagal tone, heart rate variability, resilience, and overall health.
Cultivate compassion and gratitude
Yogic texts including the Yoga Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita encourage you to get to know your mind through your heart. For many people, working with the mind is challenging—the dreaded monkey mind often prevents peace and quiet. Instead of suffering through a meditation practice that doesn’t help you, work with your heart instead. Cultivate compassion and gratitude for yourself and others and watch your heart soften and your mind settle4.
Volunteer
Cultivating compassion and gratitude is one thing, but expressing it has benefits too. Karma Yoga is a path of practice that involves engaging in selfless service. Karma translates to action. When you lend a helping hand in your community, you feel better. I can’t remember anymore in what yoga training I heard this story but I will never forget it. A well respected Ayurvedic doctor and yoga guru came to a village in India. All the village people lined up to receive care from this yoga master. One man waited for hours in the heat. He watched as the men and women in front of him left the yoga master with small bags of bark or medicinal teas and detailed instructions for how to prepare their individualized concoctions. When it was finally this man’s turn to see the yoga master, he explained all his health ailments and waited expectantly for his cure. He anticipated he too would receive some medicinal protocol with a rare herb. Instead, the yoga master gave him these instructions: Go play with some kids. Furious, the man quickly left the yoga guru’s hut. It was several weeks before he decided to try the prescription. He found a school seeking volunteers and started helping out a couple times a week playing with the kids. After several months, many of his ailments were resolved. He reluctantly admitted that most of his health issues came from taking life too seriously!
For you skeptics out there, this story is not myth. Research shows volunteering can help you feel better and improve overall health outcomes5. The key to helping is to practice selflessness. It’s not about you, but about helping those who truly need it. Is there a service project you can volunteer for in your community that will benefit those in need? Consider helping out to build a stronger heart physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually.
Visualize
Developing awareness of your subtle body can have many positive benefits for your mood and emotions. Many visualization practices use light as imagery to help you feel energy in your body. Even if it sounds silly, take a moment to close your eyes (well, after the next two sentences). Visualize a golden ray of light glowing around your heart. Breathe for a few moments as this light nourishes your heart space. How do you feel? As with anything, the more you practice, the more you’ll be able to tap into an actual sense of lightness that can boost your mood and energy. That boosted mood and energy may be just the extra motivation you need to go workout or prepare a healthy meal. It’s all connected!
The Touch Your Toes Yoga Practice
As lovely as it can be to discuss the esoteric (just me?), for most people, the easiest point of access to a healthy heart is simply taking this simple test. Can you touch your toes? Sit on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you. Lengthen through your spine so you’re not hunching over in your low back. Hinge forward from your hips and see if you can touch your toes without bending your knees. Be gentle with yourself!
The yoga practice below focuses on building flexibility in the lower body to help you touch your toes and gets you moving in all directions to keep your heart healthy and light.
Enjoy!
Upgrade to paid for bonus yoga practices
In addition to online monthly live practices honoring the Full Moon and seasonal transitions, I also offer bonus practices throughout the month to help you integrate the information I provide in these posts. If you want to improve your flexibility (and heart health), release stress, and feel more connected to your True Self, your creativity, and Mother Nature, please upgrade to a paid subscription for access to these bonus practices.
Let’s Discuss in the Comments
Can you touch your toes?
What’s your favorite heart-healthy practice?
What other health issues would you like to know how to prevent?