Your heart is the thing that keeps you ticking along, so it needs to be as strong as it can be. And you want it to be as strong as it can be, right? Well, if so then you should be partaking in exercises that are going to ensure that this the case, shouldn’t you? And, when it comes to choosing what particular exercises you are going to be partaking in, let them be ones that push the mind and the body to their absolute peak. Seriously, you’ll reap the benefits of doing so if you do! Some of the best mind-body exercises to strengthen the old ticker can be found below.
Yoga
Yoga is, without a doubt, the best mind-body exercise out there that helps to contribute towards good heart health, and it is so for a number of reasons. One, it promotes an inner peacefulness that is pivotal for keeping stress levels down and heart health up. Two, it creates strong parasympathetic control which in turn allows for heart rate to be controlled easier. And three, it makes heart rate variability much more likely and much more common. So, get your yoga mat out and partake in a spot of yoga! But, when you do just make sure that you choose a type of yoga that works for you and interests you to a point where you do not mind, and in fact enjoy, incorporating it into your everyday life. This could be Body and Brain Yoga, for instance, which is developed by the much respected mind-body exercise educator Ilchi Lee and is an especially good form of yoga to partake in if you want to strengthen your heart and lead yourself a healthier, happier life.
Pilates
Pilates is perfect for those who want to strengthen their heart and give other areas of their body a good old strengthening as they do so. When it comes to the heart pilates does such a good job because of how intense a cardiovascular workout it is — it really puts the ticker through its paces. What’s more, as this is a form of exercise that is linked so heavily to the correlation between movement and breathing, stress is reduced as an outcome and therefore heart rate is lowered healthily too. And, some of the other areas of the body that benefit from pilates at the same time include the lower-back (pilates alleviates lower-back pain like nothing else) and the spine (specifically its posture). So, when you turn to the mind-body exercise that is pilates you really can do no wrong in regards to your ticker and the rest of your body too.
Tai Chi
Tai Chi, sometimes known as moving meditation is an exercise that combines movement and the mind like little else. It challenges the body to achieve things it has never done before and it helps the mind’s eye to flow cleanly even when it is a whirlwind of stress. And, when these two things happen simultaneously, the heart is the biggest beneficiary. So, get Tai Chi’ing today and reap the hearty benefits of doing so tomorrow.