Gentle exercise can cut the danger of early heart disease, Britain’s biggest killer, according to reports of a scientific study.

As little as half an hour of aerobic exercise such as walking, rowing or jogging three times a week can make patients 60 per cent less likely to die, the research found.

The results of the study, carried out by the Department of Cardiology in New Orleans, Louisiana and reported in the American Journal of Medicine, have be welcomed by the British Heart Foundation.

More than 200,000 die each year from conditions related to circulation, including strokes and heart attacks.

One in five men and one in seven women die from heart disease in the UK.

The American study offered patients 12 weeks of exercise classes of 30 or 40 minutes of walking, rowing or jogging and were given advice on diet and lifestyle improvements.

A follow-up with the patients over six years found those who got fitter through the exercise regime were 60 per cent less likely to have died.

Exercise also helped to reduce levels of stress, according to a report of the study in the Daily Express.

The British Heart Foundation told the newspaper: “This study proves once again that exercise has both psychological and physical benefits for patients with heart disease.”
Many British patients with heart problems are put on drugs to lower cholesterol and reduce blood pressure.

Gentle forms of exercises which have grow popular have changed the way we think about exercise. Gentle forms of exercise come without shocks and impacts to the body and are accessible to all (the elderly, tired, unfit and stressed!). They are based on a global approach to the body that involves honing your body, making you flexibe and improving your posture, and because they’re so low impact it’s difficult to hurt yourself.

Here are the activities at the top of the list.

Pilates
- Pilates wes created by a German nurse who was looking for a form of exercise to stay in good shape and good health with limited space and means.
- The exercises (there are more than 500 in total) revolve around 8 key points: breathing (through the thorax, not the abdomen), concentration (thoughout the movements, from the centre of the body), control, alignment (straight and relaxed positions), flow (fluid, slow movements), centering (working the abs), order (sequences of precise movements) and relaxation.
- Although most exercises are done without aids, some exercises can be done with exercise bands, balls, weights, hoops, foam cushions or a Wunda chair.

Qi Gong
- Literally ‘energy work’, this discipline is a thousand-year-old Chinese tradition whose philosophy is that man should live in harmony with his environment, interior and exterior.
- Qi Gong is a real art of postures in sequence that root the body to the ground and open it to the world through wide, flowing movements.
- Often copying the attitudes of animals, requiring concentration, breathing and flexibility, it activates the flow of energy in the body.

Yoga
- This discipline originates from India and has existed for more than 500 years. It’s more of a global approach to health than a simple form of exercise.
- Several forms of yoga exist, but all bring fulfillment, self-knowledge, physical and mental wellbeing and serenity.
- The majority of yoga classes concentrate on the physical dimension of yoga, which is called hatha yoga. It is based on postures (of which there are over 1000 static and moving postures), breathing exercises (inseparable from the postures), and relaxation (the last phase of the session involves relaxation and breathing in a sitting or lying position).

Tai-Chi-Chuan
- A cross between a martial art and a sport, this discipline has existed for 500 years. It would have been used by Chinese warriors in training to develop the qualities necessary for combat (concentration, calm and balance).
- Tai-Chi combines precise movements (hundreds of sways, rotations and stretches to anticipate, push, pull and shoot) with breathing control. It is done slowly, with control. The exercises are organsied into sequences that can be long and complex.
- This art involves work on internal energy rather than on external muscle strength. The movements come from the centre of the body, the seat of vital energy, and are carried out with the feet deeply rooted to the ground, the body pulled upwards and a straight head and neck. Relaxation is essential to carry out the movements correctly.

Stretching
- Methods of stretching the muscles mix traditional practices such as gymnastics, classical dance and yoga.
- Stretching can be an exercise in itself (eg Body Stretch) or incorporated into other workouts (running, jogging, hiking etc.) either as part of the warm-up or cool-down, or both.
- It consists of stretching the muscles of the body one by one slowly. The stretches may look simple, but are actually quite complex, requiring concentration and control. You need to remain immobile, concentrate on the position and breathe deeply, trying to hold your breath a little longer each time. Your breathing dictates the movements by releasing tension to take you further into the stretch each time.

A little bit of stress is good for the body, but when it builds up we need to learn how to deal with it, so take a deep breath and get working for a better mental health.

First : Identify the problem
Try to view stress as a warning that some aspects of your life might need changing. In order to beat stress, you’ll need to work out what these aspects are. OK, it sounds simple, but often we are unaware of just how much stress a relationship/job/lifestyle is causing us. Try and think about the causes of your stress and make a mental note of them. Once you have identified the causes you need to tackle them.

Second : Think positive
“Everything’s getting on top of me”, “I can’t cope”, “My life feels out of control”. Most of us find ourselves having thoughts like this from time to time, but it is possible to take control of these negative tendencies. Just a bit of positive thinking can turn you back onto the path of happiness and healthiness. Clearly, negative thinking can make you sick. Tests have shown that people who focused on bad times had weaker immune systems and also displayed increased activity in the part of the brain associated with mental problems such as depression.

My best advice here is to use NLP on yourself.
If you think you’re not good enough on something -> Repeat yourself you’re the best. Litteraly, just tell yourself ‘I’m the best’ and keep going. Yes you gotta keep going and repeat this to yourself day and night for weeks, then months until this becomes second nature. This just works

Third : Relax
There are endless ways to relax your body and mind; it can be as simple as closing the door to the world and having half an hour on your own with a book, but introducing some formal relaxation into your life will really pay off too. Here are a few suggestions:

Breathing: OK, so we do it all the time, but very few of us do it properly. Re-train your breathing patterns and you’ll soon see an improvement in anxiety and tension levels as well as your state of mind. Mental health charity Mind can suggest some simple breathing techniques.

Massage: Use this hands-on remedy and feel an instant improvement to your body’s built-up tension. Try to find a masseur, it’s usually 30 pounds an hour outside London. Really well worth it. If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, ask a partner or friend to work on your body tensions instead.

Exercise: Choose the right exercise and you’ll feel both energised and relaxed. As a general rule, yoga and Tai Chi are excellent for reinstalling calm by focusing on breathing and centring the mind, but any physical exercise will reduce stress by using up adrenalin and other hormones that the body produces under stress, as well as relaxing the muscles. If you’re skin just watch some Youtube Yoga video and copy the moves

Orgasm: Unlikely to be prescribed by your GP, but the powers of letting off steam in the bedroom can work wonders. Can you honestly think of a time that you’re more relaxed than those post-coital moments curled up in bed? Thought not.

Other stress-busters:
Eat a healthy diet: Processed foods, too much salt, sugar, alcohol and caffeine can all drain energy and often leave you with that ‘wired’ feeling.

Get enough sleep: The best way to do this is to regulate your sleeping hours by going to bed and waking up within a time slot of 1-2 hours.

De-clutter your life: Take anything you don’t use to a charity shop, recycle old magazines and clear away the pizza boxes from under your bed. Then go to work/college on Monday and give your desk the once over. This is the quick-fix of all de-stressers.

Just say “no”: To demanding colleagues/friends/family. You know how much you can cope with, so pick out the important stuff and delegate the rest. Prioritising lists can often help you decide what really needs to be done – and what can wait.

Try to set aside at least 30 minutes each day to switch off from the world, unwind and focus on what has stressed you during the day.

Laugh: Of course laughing works, it does improve our mood, it also relieves stress and improves our immune system. The next time you find yourself with a frown on your face, consider this: four-year-old children laugh on average 400 times a day, whereas adults only laugh 14 times. So go on, get those funny videos out and invite your friends over for some serious cheering up.

Okay i have done Yoga myself and i can guarantee that Yoga does help with back pain.

Recently Dr Kimberly Williams concluded years of research studying people with chronic lower back problems. she found that those who did Iyengar Yoga were better at overcoming pain and depression than those who followed conventional treatments for lower back pain.

The three-year study showed that the group that did yoga had lifted mood, less pain and improved function compared to the control group that received standard medical therapy.

Proponents of yoga have often described how it helps back pain, but not everyone was convinced so Williams and colleagues conducted this research, which they say is the biggest and most rigorous evaluation ever done.

Williams told the media that: “Yoga improves functional disability, pain intensity, and depression in adults with CLBP [chronic low-back pain].”

“There was also a clinically important trend for the yoga group to reduce their pain medication usage compared to the control group,” she added.

Iyengar Yoga emphasizes postures and breathing that promote strength, flexibility and balance.

Almost all types of Yoga will help. Don’t get stuck on a name. But if you intend to do Yoga, have a chat with your teacher and ask him to make you work on your back posture. Some Yoga positions are dedicated to strenghen your back.

Dr Kimberly Williams is a research assistant professor in the Department of Community Medicine at West Virginia University in Morgantown. Her study can be read online in the 1st  September issue of the journal Spine. [no link as you have to pay for that journal, but if you're ready to pay it's here]