Simply put, overworking is bad working. Separate estimates suggest that stress costs American business $300B per year, with sleep deprivation alone costing $63.2B in lost productivity. If you’re working for yourself, it may be tougher to make that decision to slow down – but you will feel the benefits more acutely.

Health-wise, researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered that people who practice relaxation methods such as yoga have far more active ‘disease-fighting genes’. Other approaches to relaxing such as meditation or deep breathing can help you to enjoy lower blood pressure, better immunity, and healthier hormone levels.

Clearly this is beneficial to you, to those you care about, and to your working life.

Getting into the habit of mini-relaxations

If you’re a workaholic or you find yourself in a difficult period, it can be difficult to set the time aside for such pursuits. In fact, it may be more effective both now and in the long run to create a subtle shift in your lifestyle rather than try to lever in hefty new commitments.

It can also work out cheaper to make wiser decisions in your daily routine, instead of investing in expensive solutions that may be short-lived if you find they don’t suit you.

So let’s take a little look at a few such changes you can easily make.

Breakfast time relaxation techniques

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it’s not just about what you eat – it’s about your whole attitude.

Tumble out of bed on the third ‘snooze’? Grab a jam-sodden toast from the kitchen as you rush out of the house? These are the kind of habits that will set you in motion for more of the same.

Quick fix gets piled upon quick fix until it all comes tumbling down.

Getting up earlier than is absolutely necessary takes some practice, but after a few weeks you’ll swear by it. It means you can take the time to do some stretches, which will get your metabolism going and those happy-hormones flowing.

Making breakfast should be a ritual, a craft. Make yourself a proper filter coffee, and sniff it deeply before you drink. Eat some fruit and oats for some proper morning fuel. Do something nice for someone you live with.

See Also: 8 Positive Morning Routines to Transform your Day

Tips to help you relax on your lunch break

After a hard morning’s work, you may find your shoulders have risen up around your ears, your palms are sweating and your brain is throbbing. What’s worse, you still have a ton of work left to do in the afternoon. The solution that four out of five of us default to is to work through lunch.

Bad idea.

It is difficult to be creative when you’re staring at the same computer screen all day long. Give yourself a break: Take a walk to help you digest your lunch and to get some more of those exercise-induced endorphins pumping.

Doing something different each lunch break can help to stop the week feeling like one meaningless blob. Instead, you have “that day I went to the museum” or “that day I had a coffee with an old friend.”

If you’re stuck for ideas, follow your local art gallery or library on Facebook – they will advertise free events that are taking place in your town. It could be a lunchtime concert or a pop-up book sale: the important thing is to get some fresh air and sunlight.

And if you really can’t get away, at least take five minutes to tidy up your desk – which can be an effective reboot for the mind.

Relax after work and into the night

Home-time.

While you should make sure to leave your desk promptly, don’t be in such a rush to get back indoors. Walking home slowly can be a great opportunity to catch up on some exercise and to clear your head of the day’s thoughts before you rejoin your loved ones at home.

If it’s too far to walk, take public transport rather than driving. Okay, the train can be a pain, but so is getting stuck in traffic – and at least when you hand the driving duties over to someone else, your hands are free to read a book or call a friend.

Once you’re home, there are plenty of ways to relax. A bite of chocolate is scientifically proven to help you de-stress, and eating a good meal that you take care to prepare for your family can also help you to re-engage with the real world.

See Also: 8 Ways to Make Family Meal Times More Fun

Listening to classical music can improve your sleep, immune system and stress levels – as well as marking out your home as a safe refuge from the hustle and bustle of the office, be it a commute away or next door in your study.

It can be simple and cheap to make these little adjustments to your everyday life, from morning until night – and if reading up on stress-busting feels a bit too much like hard work, have a read at this infographic, which shows at a glance how this can be done and offers 50 ways to incorporate mini-relaxations into your day.

 

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Why would your dear old faithful heart get a heart disease, right? I feel as immortal as you do, trust me. But, my daily patients and recent statistics published by the American Heart Association, the CDC, and the NIH show that heart diseases represent the leading cause of death in the United States.

With a death toll of 375,000 people a year in the U.S. and causing 17.3 million deaths per year on a global level, heart disease is a problem which shouldn’t be taken lightly. Cardiovascular diseases don’t discriminate based on age, gender, or race and researchers all over the world are making incommensurable efforts to minimize their incidence. But there are at least 10 behaviors we can change to silence this merciless enemy.

According to medical specialists in the field, the best way to lower the risks of developing heart disease is getting the right information and implementing preventative lifestyle changes. Adults and children are vulnerable alike to coronary issues.

Therefore, we will further discuss the ten personal habits that can prevent heart disease for all age groups.

1. Quitting Smoking and Exposure to Second-Hand Smoking

Smoking and exposure to second-hand smoking represent health issues medical experts all over the world are trying to deal with. There is an enormous amount of research data linking smoking and second-hand exposure to coronary diseases and stroke, cancer and chronic lung and respiratory problems.

According to the NIH, quitting smoking and avoiding exposure to second-hand smoking can lower the risk of developing coronary heart disease and stroke in just a few years.

See Also: 4 Surprising Ways Tobacco Use Is Harming More than Your Health

2. Managing High Blood Pressure

Hypertension (known as High Blood Pressure) is considered a “silent killer” affecting over one billion people worldwide and around 33% of American adults. Unfortunately, the underlying causes of hypertension cannot be fully determined, and its symptoms are so discrete that they are overlooked by 14% of American adults. Measuring your blood pressure at home is one of the first steps you can take to prevent a coronary heart disease, because the higher the BP, the greater the health risks.

You need to take into account a pressure threshold of 115/70 mmHg to start worrying. The risk of developing heart disease, such as Dysmetabolic Syndrome X, doubles for each ten mmHg increase in systolic (the large number) and five mmHg increase in the diastolic (the small number). Investing in a high-quality arm BP measuring kit and learning to read it at home is a healthy and wise decision, especially if you have a family history of heart diseases or advanced age.

3. Keeping a Balanced Diet

A heart-healthy diet lowers your risks of developing coronary heart diseases, directly influencing your cholesterol levels (one of the most dangerous known associates of heart disease) and your blood pressure. A balanced diet for adults and children alike should focus on fruits and vegetables, whole grains rich in fiber, fish and fish oil, nuts, and seeds.

Of course, saturated fats, trans fats, and sodium should be avoided. Meat eaters should be careful to choose the leanest cuts possible, and all group ages should lower their sugar intake. If you have no idea where to start, here’s a marvelous suggestion.

4. Regular Physical Exercise

A sedentary lifestyle is one of the risk factors of heart diseases. Therefore, regular physical exercise should become a part of your daily lifestyle. Researchers recommend at least 2 ½ hours of moderate-intensity exercise in adults or at least 1 ½ hours of intense workout every week. If you cannot follow this schedule, then 30 minutes of low-to-moderate physical activity and muscle strengthening exercises a day should keep you in shape. Children should benefit from at least 1 hour of physical activity every day.

5. Cholesterol Control

We all know we deal with good cholesterol and bad cholesterol (LDL) – the latter being responsible for clogging our arteries and leading to heart disease and stroke. Cholesterol control is usually achievable through diet and exercise, but they are not always enough.

A cholesterol screening is recommended for children and adults alike. If your blood tests positive for high LDL, you may need to follow a medication therapy to lower those levels. Ask your doctor to regularly perform a cholesterol screening and prescribe you the proper medication if necessary, but I highly recommend these nine wonderful ways to reduce those pestilent levels of stress.

6. Weight Maintenance

Given the fact that 69% of adults are either overweight or obese, weight control should be taken seriously especially since it is associated with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, respiratory problems and sleep disorders. To clinically lower the risk of heart disease, keep an eye on your Body Mass Index. The higher the BMI is, the higher the risks of developing one or more associated illnesses.

According to the AHA, maintaining a weight loss of 3-5% of your total body weight can significantly decrease your risk of high BP, type-2 diabetes, and high cholesterol.

7. Lowering Sugar Intake

Introducing fruits and vegetables in your diet is not enough to prevent heart diseases. Lowering your sugar intake, however, adds up to all the other preventative measures that make a healthy lifestyle. If you understand that the heart disease death rate in adults with diabetes are two to four times higher than in adults without diabetes, then you will understand that sugar intake is an issue that cannot be overlooked.

A sensible and smart diet, exercise, and weight loss are the first steps to take to prevent diabetes. However, diabetes tests and screening are mandatory – your doctor can catch early the diseases’ onset and help you keep it under control with the proper medication.

8. Keeping Stress at Bay

A few decades ago people considered stress to be a special type of illness. Today, it is a constant part of our lives and represents one of the many causes which lead to heart diseases in young people (30’ to 40’). Long-term stress usually translates into heart rate increases, BP increases, sleep and eating problems – which in turn may damage your artery walls.

Keeping stress at bay is not easy, but specialists recommend you master stress relieving methods (breathing exercises, meditation, self-development therapy) and engage on a daily basis in activities which make you feel good. Stress has devastating consequences on our bodies, minds and quality of life, so keeping it in control is the smartest lifestyle choice one can make.

9. Keeping Your Sleep Disorders in Check

Adults and children alike suffer from sleep apnea – a condition described commonly by snoring and choking during sleep. The pauses in breathing that occur in sleep apnea can contribute to high blood pressure, irregular heart rate, stroke and heart diseases.

Don’t take your snoring complaints from your family lightly and go see a doctor to help you manage sleep disorders, especially if you are past 35 years of age.

10. Staying Informed About Heart Disease

Ignorance and misinformation probably killed more people than all types of cancer in the world. To preserve your heart health, keep yourself updated with reliable medical information offered by specialists in the field. Ask for a family anamnesis to understand your heritage and your risks, get annual blood tests and screenings and don’t disregard any health issues you might experience.

Understanding the prevalence of heart disease, knowing its signs and contributing factors and embracing a healthy, happy, tolerant lifestyle are some of the most important measures to take against the cruelest killer in the world.

So smile as often as you can, embrace the differences in others, keep curious, do a good deed, surprise someone today with a shower of generosity, make this second, this hour, this day count! Regret, worrying, holding on to the past and those heavy-on-your-heart regrets, don’t do a thing for you or your loved ones. Move on, learn from your mistakes, pick a healthy habit now and show strength by sticking to it. It’s not easy, but nothing important ever is in the beginning!

Good health and good luck, my friend!

 

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