Synopses & Reviews
If you are one of the millions of women who has been diagnosed with heart disease or are at risk for developing it, you might be surprised to learn that simple life changes will profoundly affect your health. According to a revolutionary study by Harvard-trained cardiologist Malissa Wood, true cardiovascular health must address the whole heart--its physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects.
Dr. Wood’s findings form the basis of Smart at Heart, a breakthrough mind-body approach to preventing and healing heart disease by strengthening the ten “bridges” that create total heart health. By exploring these ten key areas of your life, you can fight heart disease. For example, while exercise and nutrition are known to improve cardiac health (and make up two of the bridges), Dr. Wood’s study also shows how small changes to your environment, the way you communicate, or how you handle stress has a big effect on your heart. So something as commonplace as clearing out the clutter from your home can positively change not only your emotions, but also your physical well-being.
Heart disease is a serious diagnosis and if you are at risk, there’s a lot you can do to improve your own health. Smart at Heart empowers you with the solutions you need--backed up by science--to create a healthy, whole heart.
Synopsis
A breakthrough mind-body program to build a strong, healthy, and happy heart, for women at risk for or diagnosed with heart disease, from the Harvard-trained cardiologist behind the Women’s Heart Health Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.Heart disease is the number-one killer of American women, and prevention and healing require integrative approaches to address the whole heart—physical, emotional, and spiritual. Smart at Heart’s holistic program includes strategies to improve heart health by addressing ten bridges that link the physical and emotional hearts, including the mental health, relationship, and communication bridges. This book guides readers through evaluating their current state of physical and emotional health and then empowers them with solutions to strengthen each bridge to create a healthy, whole heart.
About the Author
Malissa Wood, MD, is the co-director of the Corrigan Women’s Heart Health Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She sits on the board of the Northeast affiliate of the American Heart Association, and she has appeared on the
Today show for a national Go Red public service announcement.
Dimity McDowell, a health and fitness writer, has been a contributing editor at Shape, Sports Illustrated Women, and Women’s Health. Her writing has appeared in Real Simple, the New York Times, and O: The Oprah Magazine, among others.
Table of Contents
Introduction . . . . . 1
chapter one
Smart at Heart . . . . . 9
chapter two
The Physical Health Bridge . . . . . 33
chapter three
The Emotional Health Bridge . . . . . 71
chapter four
The Stress Management Bridge . . . . . 89
chapter five
The Exercise Bridge . . . . . 115
chapter six
The Nutrition Bridge . . . . . 137
chapter seven
The Relationship Bridge . . . . . 163
chapter eight
The Communication Bridge . . . . . 189
chapter nine
The Environment Bridge . . . . . 207
chapter ten
The Mindfulness Bridge . . . . . 225
chapter eleven
The Modification Bridge . . . . . 241
Postscript: Staying Smart at Heart . . . . . 253
Notes . . . . . 257
About the Authors . . . . . 275
Index . . . . . 276