Today is the day to pull out your red clothing, red shoes, red wig,your garnet and ruby jewellry, red power suit...it is time to GO RED! for women and to help save lives-including your own. Here in San Jose, the American Heart Association and its heart ambassadors, including San Jose's Community Doula, Doula Angelita, will be going red to spread the word about heart health and how to keep your heart happy and working well.

Your heart pumps blood ceaselessy throughout the body. All organs are nourished as well as the happy fact that the blood carries oxygen so that your lungs can fill with air. The heart is hard-working and uncomplaining, pumping, adjusting, finding a way to keep the flow going even when it suffers damages. One of the most important facts about the heart is that it takes a licking and keeps on ticking long after parts of it have died due to disease.

With the Go Red! initiative, the American Heart Association has a whole series of videos, on-line tools and outreach opportunities to keep your heart alive and well. Most of the advice is well-known: healthy diet, daily exercise, positive outlook, and getting adequate rest are all important ways to keep your heart healthy and happy. Additionally, there are recipes, opportunities to connect with others looking to improve their heart health, and ways to spread the word on heart health throughout the community.

To keep your heart healthy, the simplest point of reference is the ABC of Heart Health. This involves avoiding tobacco, become more active, and choose good nutrition. This message is simple, portable and fits in perfectly with the GO RED! philosophy. GO RED! is the slogan to signal the wake-up call to action for each one of us. GO RED! is not for one day only, it is a life-long committment. GO RED! for women is a way to women to think about taking good care of ourselves so that we can continue to care for the others who enrich our lives.

Doula Angelita, as a proud heart ambassador, will sponsor a series of Go Red! forums online every Friday in February. This Friday's forum will talk about the GO RED! system for maintaining heart health. She will also take questions from the general San Jose community regarding heart health. To connect with her or with the San Jose Heart Association, send an email to: sanjosecommunitydoula@gmail.com.