With plenty of different ways to take care of your heart, it’s important to remember that one of them involves taking care of your mind. In other words, how you look at the world, the joy and gratitude you find, and how you handle your mental health can all affect the health of your heart. You don’t want to let your brain health get in the way of a happy and fulfilling life or let it cause problems with your heart that could have been avoided. Fortunately, there are options for you to consider.
The Combination of Heart and Brain Health
According to Ian Weisberg, good heart health and good brain health can be closely tied together. When you focus on compassion, happiness, and being kind to yourself and others around you, your brain makes more of the “feel good” chemicals it produces during good times. Those chemicals aren’t only good for your brain, though, because they travel in the bloodstream to other parts of your body. That includes your heart, where it can reduce your heart rate and blood pressure.
Your entire circulatory system benefits from these chemicals, as they also help relax your blood vessels and keep them more flexible. You want your vessels to be able to expand and contract the way they need to during changes in pressure, so the pressure on them doesn’t become too much. You can help protect your heart and circulatory system by encouraging your brain to make more happy chemicals, and those are produced by living a joyful life and doing things for others.
Small Changes Add Up to Big Things
You don’t have to do big things to have a big impact, says Dr. Ian Weisberg. The little things in life also add up, and they can bring about important changes in how your brain and heart respond to things. As you take care of your brain, including working through trauma and treating any mental health conditions, your heart will follow along by experiencing more relaxation.
While it’s not always easy to change your mindset to reflect more gratitude and experience more joy, working toward those things can definitely be worth the effort. Not only will it help your heart, but you’ll also get additional support for your brain and everything it processes about the world around it. The more support you provide for your mental health, the more support you’ll get for your heart health, as well. It’s a great combination of value for a happy life and the potential for increased longevity.