Turn Off Your Worries

(Source: http://realage.typepad.com/youdocsdaily/2008/10/turn-off-your-worries.html)

Whatever you're stressing about probably won't kill you, but worrying about it can. When you cultivate a "this too shall pass" attitude, you boost your health in more than one way:

• It keeps your arteries younger than Beaujolais nouveau. Anxiety is so hard on your heart: Highly anxious people with heart disease are twice as likely as their more mellow-minded peers to suffer a heart attack or die. Give your body anxiety and it snaps into "Uh, oh, is that python going to be my dinner, or do I need to start running now?" kind of thinking. This fight-or-flight response comes complete with a racing heart, shallow breathing, dilated pupils, and increased blood flow to your extremities. Handy when facing the python, not so much when facing the CEO. Over time, this high-alert state causes needless aging of your blood vessels.

• Your memory stays more agile than a 10-year-old gymnast. Obsessive worriers have more than double the risk of cognitive decline compared with their more carefree peers, a problem linked to that artery wear and tear.

Here are some ways to keep yourself younger:

• Knock out your concerns by writing them down (along with potential solutions).

• Talk them out with people you love. Work on decisive plans of action for worries that won't go away.

• Settle your mind with activities like walking or lifting weights. It won't take long -- recent research suggests that as little as 8 weeks of yoga can drop your anxiety level.

• Bonus: Kicking worries to the curb drives up your motivation and concentration, too.