CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- PURPOSE: Managing the stress around you for the good of your heart. Emotional stress occurs when people consider situations difficult or unable to manage and the body has a physical reaction to these triggers. What one person perceives as stressful another may not. Brief periods of stress are usually of little or no consequence. Chronic bouts of stress - one event followed by another and another - can wreak havoc with your health. In fact, health professionals consider stress a risk factor for heart disease. High levels of stress make risk factors such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure worse and expose your body to unhealthy, persistently elevated levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. Studies also link stress to changes in the way blood clots, which increases the risk of heart attack.

GOAL: Coping with the inevitable stressors we encounter. Finding ways to control and to reduce tension that occurs in stressful situations by making emotional and physical adjustments is a significant part of better health. Stress undermines your immune system. The degree and frequency of stress and the desire to make the changes will determine the extent to which your body is physically affected. Studies show that voluntary physical activity may prevent stress-induced suppression of the immune system, thereby reducing the increased susceptibility and severity of infectious disease caused by stress.

Target area: The mind-body connection

FREQUENCY

Spend 30 minutes a day exercising and 10 minutes in purposeful relaxation. Stressors will rear their ugly heads daily, but you don't have to respond to them in negative ways. Adopt a daily practice to exercise and de-stress with "alone time" to alleviate the pressures of life.

DE-STRESS EXERCISE

All physical activity will help reduce tension. Get your body moving, and you will release endorphins (anti-stress hormones). The following are great examples that are conducive to the management of stress: swimming - it's quiet and allows you to go inside yourself; walking - can be solitary in any pleasant setting you choose; yoga - focuses on relaxation, deep breathing and connection of the mind and body; karate - a practice dedicated to self-control; massage - a licensed massage therapist can help to relieve muscular stress throughout your body. It is one of the oldest, simplest forms of physical therapy that helps the body heal itself and increases a feeling of well being.

TOOLS

Physical activity can defuse stressors. However, when exercise is not enough, there are professionals, such as licensed social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists, who can offer help. Schedule time with one of these professionals to learn stress management strategies, including relaxation techniques. They can connect you with groups that can provide important social support.

NEVER MANAGING STRESS

Emotional stress is one of the most significant causes of all chronic health challenges. Because your body cannot defend itself against the damage that emotional stress quietly creates over time, your body pays a heavy physiological price for every moment that you feel anxious, tense, frustrated and angry. By-products in your system, such as cortisol, can be removed from your body through regular exercise. Clearly we cannot prevent every episode of anxiety, tension, frustration or anger, and we shouldn't expect to because all serve a purpose when they first arise. But stress takes a physical toll on us when these emotions arise on a chronic basis and are never managed.

OTHER HEALTHY HABITS FOR A HEALTHY HEART

Move your body every day and consume a healthy diet. Go for a walk, spend time in nature, read a good book, journal your thoughts, soak in a warm bath, play with a pet, work in the garden, spend time with people with positive attitudes, avoid people with negative attitudes, enlist friends or family members who are supportive in stressful situations, listen to music, watch a great movie, reduce sugar, alcohol and caffeine consumption, get eight hours of rest each night.

BENEFITS

In addition to making you feel wonderful, stress-reduction exercise aids in relaxation, improves circulation, improves posture, lowers blood pressure, manages pain, relaxes muscles, improves flexibility and breathing, relieves tension headaches, decreases depression and strengthens your immune system.

Defining fitness

Find meanings of these fitness terms at www.cindysays.com and www.ymcawv.org: adrenaline, cortisol, chronic stress, depression, relaxation, stress, stressors, support groups, tension.

Cindy Boggs, fitness presenter, author and Activate America director, has been an ACE-certified coordinator/instructor since 1989.

Send your questions about fitness, training or health to YMCA of Kanawha Valley, 100 YMCA Drive, Charleston, WV 25311, or e-mail cindys...@aol.com.

Look for Cindy's fitness advice book, "CindySays ... You Can Find Health in Your Hectic World" on her Web site www.cindysays.com or contact the YMCA at 340-3527.