What this heart patient wants for Christmas is NOT in a gift box. . .”

December 17, 2023December 28, 2023 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 14 Comments

My family tells me I’m “impossible” when it comes to picking out a gift for me. I am rarely able to offer them even a single helpful hint. Instead, I plead with Santa every year not to bring me “more stuff”. I don’t want stuff. One only has to visit the average yard sale to witness the inevitable future graveyard of all that stuff. Aside from absolute necessities of life (like groceries or my paper crafting supplies), there are few things I now need or even want.

Well, there are some things that I do need and want, but none come from a store or a gift box. I’ve been focused mainly on one such wish list item these days: feeling safe. (Are you listening, Santa?) Continue reading “What this heart patient wants for Christmas is NOT in a gift box. . .”” →

How runaway stress hurts your heart – and your brain

April 25, 2012July 9, 2012 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

There are few life events more stressful, in my considered opinion, than surviving a heart attack. Not only is the actual cardiac event a traumatic and overwhelming experience in itself, but what very few cardiologists tell us before they boot us out the hospital door is how debilitating the day-to-day angst about every little subsequent bubble and squeak can actually be. I can recall, for example, feeling virtually paralyzed with fear over unexpected chest pains following my heart attack (symptoms, I later learned from my cardiac nurse, that are often called “stretching pain” – common in recently stented coronary arteries). These symptoms turned out to be relatively benign – NOT the massive second heart attack I feared they signaled at the time.

David Ropeik teaches at Harvard and is the author of Risk! A Practical Guide for Deciding What’s Really Safe and What’s Really Dangerous in the World Around You. His observations about worry and chronic stress – such as living with heart disease – may ring true for you.

He recently asked his Big Think column readers:

“Want something else to worry about? Worry about worrying too much. The evidence is building that chronically elevated stress shrinks your brain.” Continue reading “How runaway stress hurts your heart – and your brain” →

“Stress creep”: are you like the frog in the pot of boiling water?

November 22, 2010December 10, 2018 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

Guest post, originally broadcast on WBFO Radio by Dr. Elvira Aletta:

“I’m sure you’ve heard that if you boil a pot of water and throw in a live frog, that frog will hop right out, saving his life to croak another day. If, on the other hand, you place a frog in a pot of cold water and turn the heat up slowly, that frog will stay in the pot. The frog will not jump out.

“Instead, he will slowly get used to the increasingly hot water until it boils to death. Truth or urban legend? To prove it, I’d have to cook a live frog – and that’s not going to happen! It sounds true, so it should be because of what it teaches us. Continue reading ““Stress creep”: are you like the frog in the pot of boiling water?” →

Got a minute? Try this mini-relaxation exercise for your heart health

December 2, 2009September 22, 2023 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters

You’re waiting nervously in the dentist’s chair, or white-knuckling a bout of aircraft turbulence, or getting ready to deliver that big presentation at work – or even just wondering how you’ll remain sane given all you need to do between now and Christmas! – and you can already feel the stress tightening its death grip on your whole body, thus increasing the levels of stress hormones that are now coursing through your bloodstream. Not good for your heart!

Instead of tensing up, practise three mini-relaxation techniques, courtesy of Harvard University Medical School’s newsletter Healthbeat, so that you’ll be ready to try them even when time is tight.

When you have only 1 minute:

Place your hand just beneath your navel so you can feel the gentle rise and fall of your belly as you breathe. Breathe in slowly. Pause for a count of three. Breathe out. Pause for a count of three. Continue to breathe deeply for one minute, pausing for a count of three after each inhalation and exhalation.

When you have only 2 minutes:

Count down slowly from 10 to zero. With each number, take one complete breath, inhaling and exhaling. For example, breathe in deeply saying “10” to yourself. Breathe out slowly. On your next breath, say “nine,” and so on. If you feel lightheaded, count down more slowly to space your breaths further apart. When you reach zero, you should feel more relaxed. If not, go through the exercise again.

When you have only 3 minutes:

While sitting down, take a break from whatever you’re doing and check your body for tension. Relax your facial muscles and allow your jaw to fall open slightly. Let your shoulders drop. Let your arms fall to your sides. Allow your hands to loosen so that there are spaces between your fingers. Uncross your legs or ankles. Feel your thighs sink into your chair, letting your legs fall comfortably apart. Feel your shins and calves become heavier and your feet grow roots into the floor. Now breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly. Each time you breathe out, try to relax even more.

See also: McGill University’s Centre for Studies on Human Stress for several tools to help cope with chronic stress.

♥

NOTE from CAROLYN: I wrote more about how chronic stress affects your heart in my book, A Woman’s Guide to Living with Heart Disease. You can ask for it at your local library or bookshop, or order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon – or order it directly from my publisher, Johns Hopkins University Press (use their code HTWN to save 30% off the list price).