How to deeply relax in 3 steps

Have you been feeling stressed out at work for the past year?

If so, you may have just doubled your risk of having a heart attack. In a large worldwide study, people with a heart attack were two times more likely to describe chronic work-related stress over the past year than people without heart disease. Adding chronic home-related stress increased the risk slightly as well.

Although there were some problems with the study's design, it included such a large number of people (more than 24,000), that it remains a powerful argument for the effects of stress on our hearts. In fact, the impact is just as high as some traditional risk factors, such as high blood pressure.

I like this study because it focuses on measuring perceived stress at work and home. Some researchers choose only to measure external events — such as the number of divorces, or job changes a person has gone through.

The problem with this approach is that stress is subjective. As many of us have seen, one person may be knocked over by an event that another person barely notices. The question is, how can we be in the second category, rather than in the first?

Let me share with you three techniques that have been helpful for people that I see in clinic.

Take time for intentional relaxation. Most people tell me they watch TV or read to relax. But have you ever checked your breathing rate, or muscle tension, while reading or watching a TV program? Now compare that to getting a massage. Big difference, right?

In contrast to the way we usually think, deep relaxation is not passive. The best, most rejuvenating relaxation actually occurs through focus. We set our intention to relax, and keep our attention on the process.

There are many ways to do this. One is through meditation. Another is through yoga, Qigong (a practice that combines breathing and movement exercises similar to yoga), or other intentional forms of body movement. Some people use creative arts, such as music or painting. Massage also works because we set the intention that we are dedicating time to relaxing.

Exercise. Ideally, exercise at least 30 minutes, five days a week.

Do something you enjoy every day. Most of us have forgotten how to play. And yet, joy is one of the most powerful natural tools we have to offset the effects of stress. Try taking 15 minutes a day this next week simply to enjoy yourself and observe the difference!

Dr. Astrid Pujari is a Seattle M.D. with an additional degree as a medical herbalist; she practices at the Pujari Center and teaches as part of the residency programs at Virginia Mason and Swedish/Cherry Hill hospitals. Her column is a weekly feature in Sunday Northwest Life. Send questions to apujari@seattletimes.com for possible use in future columns.