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Stress is a major cause of heart disease; the problem is life gets more stressful as we age and gain more responsibility.

In fact, 70% of North Americans say they feel consistent stress and anxiety on a daily basis.

Luckily there are steps you can take to make your everyday life less stressful. Here are our top ten ways to relieve stress and anxiety from your life other than exercising and eating healthy.

 

  1. Decease your caffeine intake

If you haven’t noticed caffeine makes you jittery and awake, it is technically a drug.

Large quantities of caffeine can increase stress and anxiety. The amount that is considered a high quality can significantly differ.

The average North American drinks 3.2 cups (28.8 Oz) of coffee a day.

By eliminating or moderating your caffeine intake you are limiting the amount of anxiety your body and mind put upon itself. 

  1. Write About What’s Stressing You Out

Recording your thoughts and emotions is an excellent way to identify the core of your issues. Once you understand the context of what is stressing you out it is easier for the brain to put these stressful events into a macro perspective. 

  1. Think About The Bigger Picture

When confronted with a stressful dilemma, ask yourself, “will this affect you in one year?” If not, understand it is not the most important element to your well being and deal with the problem. There is no reason to get anxious because someone bumped into you in the streets and didn’t apologize, it only adds to your stress levels when you feel stress occur from micro-meaningless instances. 

4: Take your personal energy to another level

Focus on your physical, emotional and mental energy to increase the well being of your life even if you feel broken down. Meditation and deep breathing is a practice not many put into action which can benefit you significantly. You can read more about how to recharge yourself through meditation and deep breathing through Australian Business Coach’s article Realising the Power of Personal Energy.

  1. Understand what you are in control of

Some aspects of your life you can not control. Make sure that you do everything you can to put yourself in a favourable position, but do not create any preconceived notions. If your preconceived notions do not transpire you’ll feel lost when your plans do not go accordingly. 

  1. Make Sure To Laugh!

Similar to how smiling uses fewer muscles in your face than frowning, laughing is known to relieve stress and relax your muscles.

  1. Say No

Yes, people tend to be more stressed than people who have learned to say “no” to tasks.  Sometimes you do not have the luxury of saying “NO”, but when you do have that option best to take advantage of it if your schedule does not allow you. If you consistently agree to do activities you may not want to do; you will end up with many deadlines that don’t leave a positive effect you’re well being.

Saying “NO” is a way to stay in control of your stressors.

  1. Make Time for Breaks

Build time for leisure into your busy schedule. People usually do activities they are passionate about during their downtime, hence making them feel better mentally. When a person is level headed and feeling good, they perform better at their professional gig.

  1. Express Gratitude

“Studies show that cultivating a sense of gratitude can help you maintain a more positive mood in daily life and contribute to the greater emotional well-being and bring social benefits as well.” Understanding what you are thankful for and helping others out relieve stress in its strongest of forms, because instead of focusing on negative aspects of life, you are focused on the positives. We are all wired to look at negative points of view, but you can rewire your brain to sustain a more positive outlook.

     10. Crank up the tunes

Music can have a direct effect on both your emotions and the body. Faster music makes you feel more alert, and soothing music calms you down (unr.edu). Either listening to natural sounds, soothing music or singing to the top of your lungs to your favourite song will help you reduce stress. The reduction in stress comes from the fact that “listening to music seems to be able to change brain functioning to the same extent as medication.” 

These ten techniques are relatively easy to implement in your day to day life to reduce your stress levels and improve your overall well being. 

We want to thank everyone that braved the rain to join us at the Walk of Life on May 25th, 2019. Team Mikey was more than 300 strong and despite the weather everyone had a great time!

The Walk of Life is our most important fundraiser of the year and helps us continue our mission to create public awareness and provide education about heart-healthy lifestyles, and place as many MIKEYs (AEDs) in as many places as possible. 

Click on the gallery below to enjoy some pictures from our Facebook page and if you haven’t “liked”us over there yet, please give that thumb a click. (You can view the photos even if you’re not logged into Facebook).

Walk of Life 2019 Photo Gallery

If you haven’t had a chance to donate to the Walk of Life yet, there is still time! 

Thanks again, Team Mikey. See you there next year!

 

Daughter and Father boating on a mountain lake

Being inside all day under fluorescent lights is not a human’s natural environment, yet the North American lifestyle is as inactive as ever.

According to the American Heart Association: sedentary jobs have increased 83 percent since 1950. Physically active jobs now make up less than 20 percent of the U.S. workforce, down from roughly half of jobs in 1960.

“Sitting for long periods was associated with terrible health outcomes including heart disease, Type 2 diabetesand cancer.”

 

What Can People Do About This?

There is evidence that working out daily for a minimum of 30 minutes can counter these effects but for additional benefits go outside.

When you’re moving, your body, heart, lungs, and muscles, don’t know or care whether you are inside or outside, but your mind does. Your mental status and stress levels play a substantial role in health & heart issues.

 

The Benefits of Being Outside Include:

  • Improves short term memory
  • Reduces inflammation
  • Reduces Fatigue
  • Fights depression,  anxiety, and stress
  • Lowers blood pressure
  • Improves your ability to focus
  • Enhances creativity

Take time out of your day and prioritize getting outside. Even a short walk around the block can have positive effects.

Elderly people being active, biking around nature

Take Action!

The most common excuse is “ I don’t have time.“ Everyone has time: if you work eight hours a day and sleep another eight, that gives you eight more hours every day that are unoccupied. So instead of watching the next Netflix episode, maybe go outside. You’ll be glad you did.

Be sure to join the Walk Of Life on May 25th! Register Now

Eating Well, is a great source that informs you on ways that you can eat well on a daily basis. They have shared their top 10 super-foods that anyone can eat on a daily basis!

1.Berries:

Berries are a great source of fiber. Essentially, fiber keeps your digestive system and heart healthy.

2. Eggs:

Eggs are very nutritious. Not only do they have protein and give you the energy you need, but they also keep your eyes healthy.

3. Sweet Potatoes:

Yum! Sweet Potatoes keep your eyes, bones, and immune system healthy.

4. Broccoli:

Broccoli is packed with vitamins. It helps with bone health and stimulates your body’s detoxifying enzymes.

To check-out the rest of the Superfoods by Eating well, go to: http://www.eatingwell.com/article/290550/10-everyday-superfoods/

There are plenty of Superfoods that you can eat everyday, to protect your heart-health and overall health. It only takes a few minutes to prepare for a lifetime of good health.

 

 

 

 

Healthline is a great website that has a list of interesting facts on all kinds of subjects. Of course, we think the most interesting list is the Heart Facts. Here’s just a sample of the cool things we’ve learned:

  1. The average heart is the size of a fist in an adult.
  2. Your heart will beat about 115,000 times each day.
  3. Your heart pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood every day.
  4. An electrical system controls the rhythm of your heart. It’s called the cardiac conduction system.
  5. The heart can continue beating even when it’s disconnected from the body.
  6. The giraffe has a lopsided heart, with their left ventricle being thicker than the right. This is because the left side has to get blood up the giraffe’s long neck to reach their brain.
  7. A woman’s heart beats slightly faster than a man’s heart.
  8. Death from a broken heart, or broken heart syndrome, is possible but extremely rare.
  9. The fairy fly, which is a kind of wasp, has the smallest heart of any living creature
  10. If you were to stretch out your blood vessel system, it would extend over 60,000 miles.

Visit https://www.healthline.com/health/fun-facts-about-the-heart#2 for more interesting heart facts!