Heart Health for Every Body: A Whole-Person Guide to Heart Health With an Important Look at Women’s Risks
February 2026
TL;DR: Heart health affects how we move, rest, manage stress, and live each day. By understanding the factors that influence cardiovascular wellness (especially the unique risks women face) we can take meaningful steps toward prevention, early detection, and long-term wellbeing through whole-person care.
This guide explores:
- how movement, nutrition, sleep, and stress influence your heart
- why small, consistent habits matter more than perfection
- how early awareness can protect long-term mobility and independence
- why women’s heart symptoms are often different and easier to miss
- how hormonal changes and caregiving roles can increase risk
- how whole-person, collaborative care supports lasting wellbeing
Our heart is working for us every second of the day. It responds to our stress, movement, sleep, nutrition, relationships, hormones, and even the environment around us. How can we show it some love back?
Six million adults are living with diagnosed heart disease, heart failure, or stroke. Heart disease is the second leading cause of death in Canada and it impacts nearly every Canadian family in some way.
Many of the conditions related to heart disease can be prevented or improved through lifestyle choices, early detection, and coordinated care.
And that is empowering!
At Holistic Physiotherapy & Wellness, we look at heart health through a whole-person lens. Your heart doesn’t operate in isolation. It responds to your physical health, your emotional state, your daily habits, and the support systems around you. When you understand the full picture, prevention becomes more accessible, more sustainable, and far more meaningful.
When we talk about heart health from a holistic perspective, we look beyond cholesterol numbers and blood pressure readings. Those metrics matter, but they’re only part of the story.
6 Factors Influencing
your heart health
1. Movement and physical activity
Movement improves circulation, supports blood pressure, strengthens the cardiovascular system, and boosts mood. Even gentle, consistent movement counts.
2. Nutrition and nourishment
Choosing foods that stabilize cholesterol, support blood sugar, and reduce inflammation helps protect the blood vessels so they can carry oxygen and nutrients throughout your body.
3. Stress levels and emotional load
Chronic stress activates the body’s “fight or flight” response, increasing blood pressure and inflammation. Many people don’t realize how often their heart is responding to their lived experience. It’s important to manage priorities and balance them out with some down time and self care.
4. Sleep quality and recovery
Interrupted or poor sleep makes the heart work harder, disrupts hormones, and raises long-term risk.
5. Hormones, life stages, and lived experiences
Menopause, pregnancy, perimenopause, and chronic stress all shift the heart's workload and how the body responds to it.
6. Environment and access to supportive care
Workplace demands, socioeconomic factors, family responsibilities, and feeling dismissed or misunderstood in healthcare settings can influence outcomes.
When we look at the whole person (body, mind, and lifestyle) we begin to see how everyday patterns shape long-term cardiovascular wellness.
5 Everyday Habits
to improve heart health
Small Steps That Make a Big Difference.
Here are some evidence-informed habits that support cardiovascular health:
1. Move Your Body in Ways That Feel Good
Research continues to show that regular physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease and supports healthier blood pressure. But movement does not have to mean high-intensity workouts.
Gentle, accessible options include:
Walking throughout the day
Low-impact strength exercises
Yoga or mobility sessions
Recreational activities you enjoy
Breaking long periods of sitting with stretch breaks
The goal is to help your body circulate blood more efficiently and improve your heart’s resilience.
2. Support Your Heart Through Nourishing Foods
Nutrition plays a large role in cholesterol levels, inflammation, and blood pressure.
A heart-supportive approach includes:
Choosing whole foods where possible
Adding fibre-rich foods (such as vegetables, oats, beans, and fruits)
Including heart-healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, seeds, fatty fish)
Reducing highly processed foods when you can
Being mindful of added sugars and sodium
Don’t focus on restriction. Focus on adding the things your body needs and balancing everything out.
3. Manage Stress With Practical, Sustainable Strategies
Stress is not something we “fix”. It’s something we learn to respond to in healthier ways.
Practical approaches include:
Deep breathing
Mindfulness
Gentle movement
Setting boundaries
Recognizing emotional load
Speaking with a counsellor
Prioritizing moments of rest
Your heart responds to how you move through the world, not just how busy you are.
4. Get Quality Sleep to Support Your Heart’s Recovery
Sleep protects heart health by helping regulate stress hormones, blood pressure, and inflammation. Adults typically need 7–9 hours of consistent sleep.
If sleep has been challenging for you, consider:
Creating a calming bedtime routine
Limiting screen time before bed
Managing caffeine intake
Seeking support for stress, anxiety, or underlying pain that interrupts sleep
Your body does important repair work at night (especially your heart).
5. Know Your Numbers and Your Risk Factors
Knowledge is empowering, and early detection makes a measurable difference.
Helpful markers to be aware of:
Blood pressure
Cholesterol levels
Family history
Blood sugar levels
Perimenopause or menopause-related changes
Stress levels and emotional wellness
Working with your healthcare team, including your physiotherapist, dietitian, or primary care provider, can help you understand your risk and create an informed plan.
The Gaps in Women’s
heart health
Although heart disease affects all genders, women face unique challenges that influence diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes.
For decades, cardiovascular research relied mostly on male participants, creating gaps in how women’s symptoms and risk factors were understood. While progress is being made, there is still work to do, especially in recognizing how symptoms can present differently in women and ensuring early detection is not overlooked.
1. Symptoms Often Look Different in Women
Many women do not experience the “classic” chest-crushing pain portrayed in media. Instead, if a woman is having a heart attack, symptoms may include:
Nausea
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Neck, jaw, or back discomfort
Indigestion-like sensations
These symptoms are more easily dismissed or misinterpreted, so it’s important to address them if they come up for you!
2. Women’s Concerns Are More Likely to Be Overlooked
Some of the women that have come to us have reported feeling:
Rushed through appointments
Dismissed or told symptoms are “hormone-related”
Unsure how to explain sensations they’re experiencing
This can delay diagnosis and treatment.
3. Hormonal Stages Affect Heart Health
Perimenopause and menopause influence:
Blood pressure
Cholesterol
Fat distribution
Stress response
These changes may increase risk during midlife when many women are juggling career demands, caregiving roles, and emotional load.
The Invisible Weight
women carry
Women often carry invisible weight, including family schedules, emotional labour, work expectations, caregiving for aging parents, and more. These layers influence stress levels, sleep, movement patterns, and mental health, which ultimately influence the heart. A whole-person lens helps women feel heard, validated, and supported through every stage of life.
WHEN MOVEMENT BECOMES HARDER, YOUR HEART WORKS HARDER TOO.
When movement feels limited from pain, stiffness, fatigue, or chronic conditions, your heart has to work a little harder to keep up. When your heart health changes, your ability to move comfortably gets harder too.
A collaborative approach with physiotherapy, chiropractic care, massage therapy, nutrition, counselling, and lifestyle medicine can help you:
Reduce tension that affects blood pressure
Improve circulation and mobility
Understand symptoms rather than fear them
Build habits that support long-term wellness
Strengthen confidence in your body
One of the best parts about our collaborative care is that you never have to navigate a condition alone. Your providers communicate, coordinate, and look at your whole story together, so you have a whole team behind you!
What’s Next
Heart health is about awareness, prevention, and listening to your body. Pay attention when something feels different, and speak up. Making small changes that support your mind, body, and lifestyle could be the difference between future limitations and a well-lived life.
Whether you are managing stress, navigating perimenopause, supporting aging parents, training for athletic goals, or trying to add movement back into your life, your heart is part of the journey.
WHERE WELLNESS TAKES ROOT
If you’re unsure where to start, a conversation with a member of our collaborative team can help you understand what your body may be trying to communicate and what supportive, evidence-informed options are available. Or if you want to be proactive and see what habits you can change now so you can enjoy a longer, healthier and more independent life, book your free discovery call.
From all of us at,
Holistic Physiotherapy & Wellness