Global Good News: Excellence in Action

The hormones associated with love flood our body, affecting the nervous system—and, tangentially, our heart—in a positive way. Our warm and fuzzy feelings ramp up our parasympathetic nervous system, helping us to relax. Relaxation reduces stress, anxiety and depression, all of which are risk factors for heart disease.

Feelings of love also settle the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the fight or flight reaction. When we’re relaxed, our blood vessels dilate a bit so blood pressure can be reduced. These are some of the reasons, physiologically speaking, that women who have healthy, loving relationships have better heart health.

In women, the nourishing tendency is natural, innate. As women, we tangibly support the heart health of those we love—because receiving social support seems to improve their immune system and lower their risk of inflammation, which can be detrimental to the heart.

So loving and loving relationships are not just emotionally fulfilling but are truly important to our physical health. What can we do to expand our capacity to love and to create happy relationships?

First—give someone a good hug. Hugging a friend or family member boosts levels of oxytocin, the feel-good hormone that helps us relax. Studies have shown that hugs can buffer us against heart disease, possibly by lowering blood pressure and heart rates.

Then contact a local certified TM teacher to schedule instruction in TM. Published studies show that the Transcendental Meditation technique reduces family problems and improves personal and work relationships. It relaxes you, reducing stress and anxiety—which not only can cause heart disease directly, but which also inhibit the flow of love. It increases inner happiness and self-esteem, giving you a platform for sharing, listening and loving.

If you’ve already learned TM, keep regular in the practice. And recommend that your friends and family learn—relationships thrive most when everyone has the ability to flow with love.

"The potential of every student is infinite. The time of student life should serve to unfold that infinite potential so that every individual becomes a vibrant centre of Total Knowledge."—Maharishi