February is Heart Health Month. While a heart-healthy diet like the Ornish Diet and daily exercise are the most important steps we can take to support cardiovascular health, adopting a daily meditation practice has also been shown to be very helpful. When a healthy lifestyle is suggested, we usually think of watching what we eat and becoming more active, but we tend to think that there is not much we can do to reduce our daily stress levels.

Excess stress may promote a heightened inflammatory response, which could in turn negatively affect the cardiovascular system. We all know that high-stress situations can cause an increase in blood pressure. Compounding a not-so-great diet with heightened stress levels may eventually lead to a chronic condition.

Removing the stressors sounds like the easiest and most effective plan of attack, but many of our daily stressors are things that are not so easy to remove. Over time, the little things can add up, like running late to work, being behind schedule on a task or helping the kids with their homework. Before we know it, we are worked up and stressed out and sometimes may not even remember why. Many doctors recommend stress-reducing techniques and many are suggesting a daily meditation.

A daily meditation practice for as little as five to 10 minutes can be a great way to take a step back from our stressors and racing thoughts. Many people think that meditation is an impossible task of stopping our thoughts or trying not to think. That is not the case. Trying to clear the mind can actually lead to more stress when we get frustrated that we can't do it. I think of meditation as stepping back and watching our thoughts. With time, we can develop a tiny amount of time between our thoughts to decide if or how we react.

Try this. Sit down and get comfortable. Now count every in and out breath until you get to 10, then start back at one. If you get distracted by a thought, no big deal. Start back at one. If you make it to 10 without getting distracted by a thought, good job. Now start back at 10. Using this practice for five to 10 minutes once or twice a day may just be the way to change how you relate to stressors and help you keep your stress levels in check.

Travis Lemon is a certified herbalist at Healthy Life Market who has worked in the natural health and wellness industry for more than 12 years. He can be contacted at travislemonmh@gmail.com.

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Travis Lemon: Calm your heart with meditation | Features ... - Huntington Herald Dispatch