Exercising Your ‘Emotional Heart’

It’s just as important as caring for your physical heart

It’s just as important as caring for your physical heart, says social worker Janet McKinnon of the Dr. Dean Ornish Program at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “We need to give ourselves time to open up and express our feelings,” she says. Research shows that stifling feelings can negatively affect your heart—there’s a proven link between heart disease and depression or anger.

The best “treatment” is to get your worries off your chest:

Identify friends and family you can talk to, who’ll listen and not judge you. (Or, call 610-402-CARE to find a counselor.)
Set aside time with these friends to talk together. Make regular “tea time” appointments.
Open conversations with “I feel.” Talk about how you’re feeling (hurt, angry, excited, etc.) and why.
Reciprocate, allowing them to talk about their feelings. This will help their heart health, too.

Want to Know More about the Ornish program? It combines exercise, stress management, group support and a low-fat, whole-foods diet to reduce your risk for heart disease. For a program brochure, call 610-402-CARE or click here for more information.

This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM

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Lehigh Valley Hospital has campuses in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pa. and serves the Pennsylvania communities of Easton, Doylestown, Quakertown, Hazelton, Lehighton, Perkasie, Pottstown, Pottsville, Reading, Scranton, Wilkes Barre, Stroudsburg, and the Poconos and also Phillipsburg and Flemington, N.J., and western New Jersey. You don't have to travel to Philadelphia or New York for quality health care.