What Makes Your Heart Sing? – Strategies for Healing and Vibrancy

Some people heal better than others. While one person may recover quickly from illness or trauma, another may struggle for months, years or even a lifetime. Some people know how to even thrive in the midst of adversity like living with a chronic condition or facing ongoing emotional challenges. The difference is not explained by the severity of a condition or situation, but depends on deeper factors like mindset, stress resilience, social support – and most importantly, on the ability to connect with oneself and others, and to find meaning in life.

When it comes to health and healing, many focus on lifestyle choices like healthy foods, smoothies and supplements, exercise, weight training, and good sleep routines. These are essential, and yet experience shows that a vibrant, fulfilling life is supported not just by health practices, but by how we choose to live.

Dr. Gladys McGarey: ‘Finding Your Juice’ for Healing and Well-Being

Dr. Gladys practiced medicine for over 70 years in the US. To her, good health and a vibrant life flowed from the energy that moves through us, the inner spark that motivates us to engage, contribute, and love. She championed a holistic approach to health, integrating mind, body, and spirit. In her book The Well-Lived Life, she shared six essential keys to vitality, one of which is:

“Find your juice. That thing that lights you up inside, gives your life meaning, and pulls you forward — even when things are hard.”

To Dr. Gladys McGarey, ‘lives filled with juice become lives filled with purpose.’ She believed that having a purpose, something that gives your life meaning and direction, is essential to true healing and well-being. Healing begins when people reconnect with their inner vitality allowing life to start flowing again. Even patients facing chronic illness or emotional pain often experience transformation when they rediscover what excites or fulfills them. The wisdom of this remarkable woman who lived over a century aligns with some of the most respected research on longevity and well-being. Insights from the Blue Zones, identified by Dan Buettner, and findings from the Harvard Study of Adult Development point to the same conclusion: Having a sense of purpose is not a luxury, but a vital part of a long and healthy life.

Dan Buettner’s Blue Zones: Purpose Adds Years to Your Life

Dan Buettner, a National Geographic explorer, spent years identifying and studying the world’s healthiest, longest-living populations. He found five ‘Blue Zones’, places where people regularly live past 90 or 100 years with vibrant health and vitality. In all five Blue Zones, people share a deep sense of purpose. For instance, in Okinawa, Japan, it is called ikigai, your reason to get up in the morning. In Nicoya, Costa Rica, it is plan de vida, your life plan. Buettner’s research shows that having a strong sense of purpose can add up to seven extra years to your life expectancy. Moreover, purpose seems to be a protective force to help reduce stress, encourage healthier habits, and reinforce strong social bonds. People with purpose not only live longer: they live better.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development: Meaningful Lives Mean Healthier Lives

The Blue Zones show us what purpose looks like across cultures while the Harvard Study of Adult Development reveals how it unfolds over a lifetime. Launched in 1938, this ongoing study has tracked hundreds of men (and later their families) over more than 85 years to understand what factors lead to health and happiness. Beyond income, career status, or even health status, the biggest predictors of thriving in old age were: having strong relationships and living with a sense of purpose.

A Sense Purpose is Key to a Healthy Lifestyle.

In this Havard study, people who maintained a sense of direction whether through work, caregiving, creativity, or community were significantly healthier, happier, and more resilient in the face of aging, loss, and illness. Having purpose strengthens mental health by lowering the risk of depression and anxiety, reduces stress (which supports heart health and immune function), encourages healthier habits, such as moving more and eating better, and increases stress resilience. These findings invite us to focus not only on physical health practices, but also on cultivating meaning and connection in the pursuit of a good, healthy and vibrant life.

Strategies to Find Meaning and Purpose

Often, we have known all along what brings us joy, what engages us deeply and makes us feel alive. Over time that spark may have gotten buried under layers of responsibility, routine, or the expectations of others. We lose touch with the things that once lit us up. Reconnecting with those sources of energy and inspiration may bring new direction and meaning to your life. Think back to your childhood: What activities made me feel most alive? What brought me joy? What was I naturally drawn to? Or ask yourself about your current life: What activities make me feel truly connected to myself? What makes me feel calm, clear and centered? When do I feel most at peace?

What Makes Your Heart Sing?

Some people are fortunate to find fulfillment and meaning in their work. Others discover it through big passions like dancing Tango, rock climbing or creating art. Still others find purpose in human rights activism, community service or volunteer work. However, for many it is the smaller things that matter most – the little moments, simple pleasures and everyday rituals that gently bring us back to ourselves. Often, we don’t need a major life change, but rather reclaim what is deeply meaningful to us: revisiting a hobby, having a heartfelt conversation, cuddling a pet, planting the garden, journalling, connecting with loved ones, enjoying Nature or simply slowing down.

Body-Based Practices: Alexander Technique and Reflexology

Developing body awareness plays a key role on the path to healing and purpose. Alexander Technique (AT) and Reflexology both support cultivating a stronger sense of self by helping us become more attuned to our bodies. AT teaches you how to move with greater ease. It helps release tension, change habitual posture and movement, and enhance balance, presence, and clarity – leading to a deeper connection to yourself. Reflexology is a hands-on healing practice to balance the nervous, immune and hormonal systems, supporting overall body regulation, as well as a stronger body-mind connection. Both practices improve responsiveness to the body’s needs, an essential part of healing. They invite us to slow down, become more grounded in what matters most, helping us to find meaning in life and connect more deeply to what makes our heart sing!