Heart-Smart Cool-Down

By Karen Asp

Fight off cardiovascular disease with our smart way to slow down your heart. You'll reduce tension, build strength—and feel great.

Calm Down

When you think "heart-healthy workout," heavy-duty exercise regimens naturally come to mind. But fitness that boosts the heart isn't just about getting it to pound faster. It also involves slowing it down. Chronic emotional stress can wreak havoc on its rhythm, functioning, and blood flow, says Dr. Roy Ziegelstein, professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. Reducing stress with the help of strategies like yoga, meditation, and controlled slow breathing, he says, "is crucial to developing and maintaining a healthy heart." The following plan will nourish and strengthen your ticker, not just by making it work harder, but by reducing tension, too—something you can definitely take to heart.

Achieving and sustaining a positive emotional state is critical to overall heart health as well, explains Rollin McCraty, Ph.D., director of research for the HeartMath Research Center in Boulder Creek, California. “When you’re feeling appreciative, for example, you feel good, the heart’s communication with the brain is enhanced, and you’re more likely to enjoy good health,” he says. To that end, we’ve listed below some yoga moves that help release tension and increase blood flow. “Yoga counters stress in the body by decreasing sympathetic arousal and activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms the body and lowers blood pressure,” says M. Mala Cunningham, Ph.D., president of Positive Health Solutions in Charlottesville, Virginia. Undo the day’s stresses—and treat your heart—with a few rejuvenating poses and a big dose of calm.

STANDING FORWARD BEND

What It Does: Increases circulation and strengthens the heart while stretching the lower back and hamstrings. Activates the pineal and pituitary glands, and releases serotonin.

How to Do It: Stand tall with feet shoulder-width apart. Exhale and bend forward from the hips, stretching the top of the head toward the floor. Put your palms on the floor or rest them on your shins or ankles. Press feet into the floor and feel the stretch in the back of the legs and lower back. Hold for 3 to 5 breaths. Place hands on hips or walk hands up the legs as you slowly roll up to a standing position. Repeat 2 times.

BRIDGE POSE

What It Does: Helps counter your daily forward hunch, stretches the muscles around the heart, and improves lung capacity. Also strengthens abdominals and quads while increasing spinal mobility. Calms and balances mind and body.

How to Do It: Lie on your back, feet flat on the floor and hip-width apart, and arms by your sides, palms down. As you inhale, lift the hips and your back off the floor, creating one long line with the hips, knees, and shoulders. Hold for 30 seconds or 6 to 8 deep breaths. Gently lower the spine back down. Repeat 2 to 3 times.