Yoga to the Rescue!

I spent 7 hours in the emergency room at a local hospital yesterday evening and night.  I had been having some chest pain for a few days, and yesterday morning I had what you could consider heart palpitations on steroids- it literally felt like my heart was going to pound through my chest and run away from me.  Both Vinny and my boss V told me the same thing: go to the clinic, that isn't normal.  So, being the good little listener that I am mixed with the paranoid little hypochondriac girl inside of me, I made my way to the clinic, only to be told by the doctor that she had no idea why my heart and chest would be reacting in such a way- so go to the emergency room.  Thankfully, Vinny was able to slip out of work early and bring me to the hospital- I don't think I would have felt comfortable driving there by myself, and absolutely did not want to be alone while waiting.  Dr. Vinny is the best kind of doctor!

It started with an ECG (Electrocardiogram) followed by a blood test.  Funny blonde blundering moment: I was terrified of the blood test.  I felt like a little child all over again, asking Vinny to hold my hand.  When the nurse came in I told her I was very nervous about the needle.  She smiled kindly, though I'm sure what was going through her head was something like "Ok, you're 25, suck it up, honey...".  Then, she lifts my sleeve only to reveal my 1/4 sleeve tattoo.  Her reaction?  "You're afraid of a blood test when you had a needle piercing through your skin for this big tattoo?"  Funny how sometimes you just need a little outside perspective to realize how silly you're being.  Once the blood test was done (and painfree!) we waited...again...and then, the moment of truth: we are called in for the results of the testing.  Tell it to me straight, Doctor!  Heart disease?  Angina?  Pericarditis?  Coronary artery disease?  Pneumonia?  Drum roll please...my blood work was clear, my ECG showed no serious abnormalities.  The culprit for my chest pains and palpitations is that nasty little bugger we too often try to ignore and disregard, but once we do so too often, he nips us in the butt (or in my case my heart) and tells us to slow down- STRESS.  The symptoms I have been having are contractions in the muscles surrounding my heart.  The cure?  RELAX.  No pills, no liquids, no more testing...just regular old R&R.

Since I am an obedient young woman, I have taken the doctor's orders to heart.  I am at home, trying my best to relax.  First, I started off by cleaning.  I know, some of you might think I'm weird to choose cleaning as a form of relaxation, but I find it much easier to relax in a clean and tidy home.  Second, I caught up on my episodes of General Hospital- what better way to ease your mind than with a gripping storyline and a handsome hunk?  Third, and definitely most important- I did some yoga.  Now, I didn't actually go to class.  I bought a new yoga DVD this weekend, and tried it out for the first time today.  It is seperated into 5 classes: Yoga AM, Yoga PM, Yoga for Weight Loss, Yoga Peak Performance, and...Stress Relief Yoga.  Not hard to guess which one I decided to do.  As I started off the sequence in Mountain Pose, I could still feel my heart racing- it hadn't quite calmed down yet (maybe the hunky Dante from GH was too hard for my heart to handle after all?) But once I moved into the asanas, and paid close attention to my breathing, my heart began to slow down.  It began to find its natural rhythm, and the beating aligned with my breath.  Once again, it is yoga to the rescue!  So when you're feeling stressed, you don't need to worry too much about what you can do to feel better- that will only heighten the stressful worrisome feelings.  Simply roll out a mat, and let your mind, body and breath nurse you back to health.

Namaste,
Lady Lotus