When my handsome hubs told me he was feeling really tired and out of breath after walking the few blocks home from our neighborhood “L” station in Chicago, I thought something was off. After he said he also had pain in his chest, neck, and jaw, I knew we had to go to the hospital.

He resisted. I insisted.

When we got there all the tests came back fine. He didn’t have a heart attack.

His primary care doctor asked the hospital to keep him until they could do a cardiac stress test the next day.

It’s a good thing they did, because he had critical blockages in 2 out of 4 arteries in his heart that could have caused a massive heart attack within weeks.

Everyone was stunned. He was way too young to have a heart problem, practiced hot yoga 5 times a week, walked a lot, went salsa dancing relatively regularly, and did all kinds of sports off and on throughout his life.

I’ll never forget what his cardiologist said. He told us that my hubby’s family history of high cholesterol and high blood pressure probably would have caused a problem eventually, but…

…the extreme stress he was experiencing at work likely caused the blockages to happen so early.

When he went out on medical leave during his recovery, they had to bring in three—yes, 1, 2, 3—people to fill his shoes. In addition to the overworking, his job involved toxic, entitled people yelling at him because they didn’t like the message he had to give them, and a boss who wouldn’t stand up to anyone.

Never underestimate the effect that stress can have on your health, especially your heart health.

Even when it seems like you’re doing the “right” physical things to stay healthy, it might not be enough if you’re not actively pursuing ways to reduce and manage the stress that arises in your life.

Although it was widely accepted that stress played a role in cardiovascular disease (CVD), recent studies are starting to uncover more explicitly the different ways that stress impacts cardiovascular health.

For example, a 2020 study in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging found that “chronic stress is a pervasive, under appreciated CVD risk factor,” and their research helped delineate the neurobiological pathways of how it happens. [1]

Stress even changes the way our blood clots at a molecular level, according to a 2020 International Journal of Molecular Science round up of research on the effect of acute and chronic stress on blood clotting in healthy individuals and cardiovascular disease patients. The article suggests stress is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. [2]

Both reports call for more research, with the goal of identifying possible treatments, and recommend that clinical practices consider chronic stress during patient evaluation and adopt psychological prevention and management strategies.

Stress, along with other risk factors, might be just enough to tip the scales from health risk to criticality, or from a pesky little problem to a long-term life-altering one.

I’m not sharing this story to scare you. That fear would only create more stress.

I’m telling you because:

It’s National Heart Month here in the U.S., and I don’t want you to experience a physical health crisis to wake up to the need to do something about managing the stress in your life. Poor health itself can cause even more tension, sending you into a self-feeding stress loop.
I want you to know that yoga offers so much more than the postures, which you've already heard can help you relieve tension. When you decide to live a more yogic lifestyle, you’ll learn several tools to help you prevent and release life’s pressures.
In fact, the very first step along the yogic path is Ahimsa (Non-Violence or Peace), and by definition requires that you start to examine how you’re living your day-to-day life. If you’re engaged in activities that cause you stress, chances are you’re more likely to respond to others with impatience, intolerance, and anger, or to shut down and ignore your own needs, which is an act of violence towards yourself.
It’s not wrong to feel angry about something. It’s what we do with that anger that matters. If you can use it as a wake-up call to something not working in your life, you can then work to make changes to reduce and manage your stress, feel more peaceful, and live more purposefully.
I love helping you find your ideal ways to take better care of yourself and reduce your stress. Sometimes understanding the potential impact of the problem is the first step to doing something about it.
The pain that comes from feeling stuck in a stressful situation and from not living your purpose is a common experience for all of my coaching clients. It looks different for everyone, and developing good self-care is a critical part of each coaching journey.
Whether you engage in a tailored coaching program to identify what works best for you, see a therapist, change jobs, get out of a toxic relationship, find relief through relaxing in restorative yoga, release tension with breath work, lighten the mind with meditation, maintain a more balanced lifestyle, or engage in some other stress reduction activity, doing something is a key part of your overall health and could make a difference in your heart health as well.

Speak Your Truth

Have you experienced a stress-related illness? Have you tried all the right physical things but still have a niggling health problem and suspect stress is the culprit? Let me know below in the comments.

Here’s the thing.

Your stress affects way more than your own health. You know that when a loved one is stressed out, it affects everyone around them.

Before my husband got sick that day several years ago I felt so helpless, because I could see that he was suffering. I was worried about him. I’m not blaming him for worrying me. I take full responsibility for my feelings.

When he went back to work after his procedure, with healthy work boundaries in place to reduce the pressure on him, my stress decreased as well, which then has a positive impact around me, and so forth.

The point is you taking care of you has the potential to heal you AND others, my friend. Think of the impact we could have with enough of us living happier, healthier, more inspired lives.

It's time.

In wellness, joy, and inspiration,

Tami

[1] Osborne M, Shin L, Mehta N, Pitman R, Fayad Z, and Tawakol A. Disentangling the Links Between Psychosocial Stress and Cardiovascular Disease. Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. 2020; 13(8):e010931. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.120.010931

[2] Sandrini L, Ieraci A, Amadio P, Zarà M, Barbieri SS. Impact of Acute and Chronic Stress on Thrombosis in Healthy Individuals and Cardiovascular Disease Patients. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020; 21(21):7818. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21217818