Preserve Your Heart

How do you preserve your heart? And why do we need to preserve our hearts?

To PRESERVE, according to Webster means

: to keep (something) in its original state or in good condition
: to keep (something) safe from harm or loss
: to prevent from decaying

Foolish Beat of My Heart

Do you remember Debbie Gibson’s song in the eighties titled, “Foolish Beat of my Heart”

Well, I feel my heart is doing the same thing to me. Literally.

For several weeks now, I’ve had heart palpitations. What’s that?

Normally, you don’t feel your heart beating right? Mine is beating so strong that it feels like I have a drum in my chest where my heart is and then all of a sudden it’ll stop beating for a second.

Sometimes it returns to normal all by itself but oftentimes, I have to cough to make it return to normal.

So it is a foolish beat, huh?

i had an ECG or electrocardiogram to check my heart’s electrical impulse and it told me what I knew all along:

I have premature ventricular contractions or PVC’s. It’s an abnormal beating of the heart.

Next post, I’ll share with you in detail what it is.

Thankfully, in normal, healthy persons, it’s nothing to worry about.

The Warning

On a serious note, I think it’s a warning.

I’m sure God is using it to remind me of one thing:

Preserve your heart with all watchfulness for life proceeds from this. (Proverbs 4:22 CPDV)

Admittedly, I have not been preserving my heart…

Spiritually, I have not been communing with God as I need to, Him being the Strength of our hearts.

Physically, i have not been exercising and have gained so much extra weight.

My foolish beat is kind of my wake up call to take care of my heart before it’s too late.

The Lord seemed to confirm it when I read this blog in Chi Running.com that I surfed this morning.

I’d like to share it with you:

http://www.chirunning.com/blog/entry/strengthen-this-one-muscle-to-improve-your-running-and-your-life

Strengthen This One Muscle To Improve Your Running and Your Life

Posted by Katherine Dreyer on Wed Feb 11th, 2015, 12 comments

Strengthen this one muscle to improve your running and your life.

“Even at rest, the muscles of the heart work hard—twice as hard as the leg muscles of a person sprinting” – PBS, Amazing Heart Facts

Your heart is, of course, the most important muscle in your body. Beating an average of 100,000 times a day and over 36 million times a year, it is by far the hardest working muscle you have. When you run or walk, you are getting lots of cardiovascular benefits which make future exercise easier and more enjoyable.

So, the more you exercise, the easier it becomes. You can then run longer or faster because you’ve the strengthened the main muscle that allows both to happen.

The cardiovascular benefits of exercise include:

Strengthening your heart and cardiovascular system
Improving your circulation and helping your body use oxygen better
Lowering blood pressure
Improving cholesterol numbers
Shortening your recovery time

The health of your heart involves much more than just the physical health of your heart. Your heart truly responds to your emotional well-being, as many scientific tests and studies have shown.

Stress, sadness or other emotional trauma have been shown to be physically detrimental to the heart. On the other hand, love, connection, and happiness contribute very positively to your heart’s and your whole body’s health and well-being.

To strengthen your heart’s emotional health you can start by simply listening more closely to it’s longings and desires.

I love this section of Paulo Coelho’s book The Alchemist:

“Why do we have to listen to our hearts?” the boy asked, when they had made camp that day.
“Because, wherever your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”
“But my heart is agitated,” the boy said. “It has its dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the desert. It asks things of me…”
“Well, that’s good. Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Running and walking provide the perfect opportunity to listen to your heart. When you first start moving you can feel it beating faster. Then, as your heart settles into that higher beat and rhythm, you can continue to listen to what it has to say.

With practice, you will be able to distinguish between the voice of your heart and the voice of your mind. The voice of your mind is concerned with details like speed, distance and goals. The voice of the heart can be more tender, and often has some longing in it. Your heart’s voice is the one that feels connected to the natural world around you and is touched by the beauty of it. When you hear that voice, shift your attention to it, and listen carefully to what it has to say. Allow yourself to be filled up with what the heart loves and enjoys.

You do not always have to follow your heart’s desires, but it is important to at least listen to them; to hear and acknowledge that those desires are there and sometimes crying out to be heard.

“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So, it’s better to listen to what it has to say.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

When you use your runs and walks to listen to your heart, exercise will no longer be a chore or something to fit into your schedule. It will become a part of your day that enriches your whole life.

– See more at: http://www.chirunning.com/blog/entry/strengthen-this-one-muscle-to-improve-your-running-and-your-life#.dpuf

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So, let’s take care and preserve our hearts shall we?