Cardiac coherence, sports and love… Three tips to take care of your heart

Europe 1 8:04 p.m., June 20, 2022

It's the most efficient automatic pump that exists, but how does it work?

Guests of

, Emmanuelle Berthelot, cardiologist and author of the book

, published by Editions du Rocher and Stéphanie, Noncent, founder of Optimind, a personal development company, and author of

, published by Eyrolles, help us take better care of our hearts.

The first heartbeat occurs around three weeks of fetal life, when the baby is in its mother's womb.

The heart will beat from birth about three billion times, which corresponds to the age of 80, explains Emmanuelle Berthelot at the microphone of Europe 1.

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Practice heart coherence 

The function of the heart is the pump.

It feeds the blood organs which contain the nutrients and oxygen necessary for the functioning of the body.

It also brings back waste, carbon dioxide and toxins, getting purified in different other organs.

The heart also plays an important role in the transcription of our emotions: "The heart is also an organ which is connected to the autonomic nervous system, to a sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system which will put the heart into action by beating more or less quickly according to emotions", explains the cardiologist on Europe 1.

In order to calm your heart during emotional moments, solutions exist.

Stéphanie Noncent advises cardiac coherence which serves to "modify the rhythms of the heart".

To do this, you have to control your breathing: "When the heart changes in a very precise way, it will enter a physiological state called coherence. It is a state of balance, of perfect homeostasis. whose heart is the conductor", she describes.

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Cardiac coherence: how to modify the rhythm of your heart for more well-being

When the heart enters a state of coherence, it will have an impact on the other physiological data of the body, "in particular on blood pressure, blood pressure, the regulation of hormones, the regulation of our immune system", adds- she.

"We are going to play with our breathing. There is a physiological mechanism that takes place when we inhale, the heart speeds up and when we exhale, the heart slows down. For cardiac coherence, we will inhale over five seconds and we will exhale over five seconds without blocking the air, neither up nor down to make it flow. There is no pause between inhaling and exhaling."

It is necessary to operate with ventral breathing to reach this state of cardiac coherence.

"When we inhale, the belly swells, when we exhale, the belly deflates", also declares Stéphanie Noncent.

For guaranteed effects, the specialist recommends three cardiac coherence sessions for five minutes.

She advises to be seated during the sessions.

According to Stéphanie Noncent, the benefits of cardiac coherence are as follows: "Five minutes of cardiac coherence, we will have the effects in our body for an hour. We feel soothed emotionally."

Play sports

It's no secret that regular physical activity is good for your health.

“The heart benefits from physical activity to increase blood circulation and other mechanisms that are absolutely essential for every human being,” reports Emmanuelle Berthelot.

Circulating blood helps fight inflammation and remove toxins.

“It's a bit like washing the inside of your body!”, explains the doctor.

"Taking care of your heart is first and foremost about making it work."

Even for the less adept at sports, it is possible to get your heart working without too much effort.

Emmanuelle Berthelot recommends physical activity for 30 minutes a day.

"It can be walking, cycling, swimming or even gardening," she says.

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What are the benefits of sport?

To take care of your heart, you must also be attentive to the noises that this organ makes.

"In the rhythm of the heart, there is the regularity of the heart rate. It is important to have a frequency that is not too high. People who have a regular and low rate live longer."

The sound of the heart is the sound of blood passing through the valves.

"The good noise is a slightly dull noise. The abnormal noise is a breath noise. The latter corresponds to a dysfunction of the heart valves", analyzes the cardiologist.

Make love !

Making love is also a good way to keep your heart healthy!

Contrary to popular belief, it is not dangerous to have sex when you have a weak heart.

"Sexual activity is quite good for the heart. Cuddling helps create discharges of several hormones which are very beneficial such as oxytocin which is a relaxing hormone."

Moreover, people in couples tend to develop fewer pathologies!