When stress kills

Think your everyday stress isn't harming your body? Think you have it under control?

Yesterday's webmd.com article shows us exactly what we're doing to our hearts with each bout of stress we incur. Stress can be as little as running to late for work in the morning, or as big as the death of a loved one. It can cause acute damage like a heart attack, or slowly damage your heart over time.
Oh yea -- think you're safe because you're the quiet type who doesn't yell? SORRY... Here's what the article says about you:

People with type D personalities (characterized by pessimistic emotions and inability to share emotions with others) and type A personalities (characterized by anxiety directed outward as aggressive, irritable, or hostile behaviors) are more likely than others to suffer heart attacks.

So ladies (and the gentlemen who read this blog) -- the GAL creed already talked about managing your stress, now's the time to really get it under control. The kids are back in school, traffic has worsened, there's less sun shining on all of us. Don't let stress consume you. Go for walks, avoid negative people, make changes in your life, hey - try yoga (see earlier post)!

Whatever you do, protect your hearts.

I don't wanna see you in my hospital 20 years from now, can't walk upstairs or have fluid in your lungs because your heart has pooped out.

For more GAL blogging, check out http://www.getalifecampaign.com/blogger.html.

So I tried yoga for the first time...

...and liked it.

Recently, I've been feeling a little out of wack and unsettled toward everything. I'm snapping left and right, I have no control over my emotions, and just always have this anxious feeling like I forgot to do something, or something bad is about to happen. My worse came last week, when extended family issues got the better of me, and I wasn't even focused on my certification exam the next day. So, I decided to work on re-centering.
I'm sick of letting everyone else's drama (co-workers, patients, family, friends, random people on the street) suck me dry and ruin my life. That's my mantra this week.

I decided to fast along with Ramadan (no, I'm not Muslim) from a few hours before sunrise until sundown, in an effort to reach some spiritual calm (anyone who has ever fasted for a spiritual reason can attest that eventually it works).

It's funny, because the first day, I made it through (at work) just fine without having a hypoglycemic outburst. I broke fast at 7-ish, but only ate some of my really yummy food because I wanted to finish seeing patients. When I came back to eat though, my food had been thrown away (why, man? WHY?)! With how volatile I've been the last few weeks, I would have yelled at someone or even cried (lol), but I was surprisingly calm. I also had some moments of super-great luck that day, so I figured I'd continue.

Since I was out of town for yesterday's book signing, I brushed off my Bally's membership card and went to yoga today. I figured that if I just O.D. on spiritually calming stuff, SOMEthing has to work right?
It was really nice. Lights off, instrumental music, some stretching and strengthening... Having been a dancer in a previous life, I was concerned that it would be too basic for my body to feel an effect. I actually did leave feeling lighter and calmer. FINALLY!

So, during the 2-hour drive home, I turned my phone off and blasted my best feel-good albums (some from 5-10 years ago), singing as loudly as I could. And I still feel good.

Let's hope I can hang on to this once I actually speak to another human being :-).

Kudos for yoga, man.