Jim Pauley was not a yoga guy.
He relaxed by walking 18 holes with a bag of golf clubs slung over his shoulder.
When stress started piling up on the 48-year-old Everett real estate agent, however, he found himself looking for something else.
He could feel the low-grade tension collecting in his neck and shoulders, not helpful for his golf game, not good for guiding clients through the emotional process of buying and selling property.
“It takes somebody who is relatively stress-free to help other people who work through tough times,” said Pauley, who now does yoga once a week. “It’s amazing how much stress it relieves.”
Pauley is one of many Snohomish County residents apparently safe from financial ruin, but still feeling the pressures of the economic downturn.
With 9.7 percent of county residents unemployed last month, those who remain employed are left to watch the ripple effect, wondering, “Am I next?”
“It really eats away at our sense of security and safety,” said Paul Schoenfeld, a psychologist and director of The Everett Clinic’s Center for Behavioral Health.
That increases people’s anxiety.
“We have this illusion that our lives are predictable. That is like having the rug pulled out from underneath us.”
Even in a thriving economy, Americans are a stressed-out bunch.
It’s why local health professionals, now especially, urge people to take their mental and physical health seriously.
Everett Clinic pediatrician Lelach Rave said parents should be particularly focused on managing stress, anger and depression.
Last fall, she started asking parents about their economic stability during regular checkups of their children.
“Is anyone losing a job? Is your home being foreclosed on?” Rave said she asked kids’ parents.
“Adults have a real responsibility to check in with themselves and monitor where they’re at emotionally and take care of themselves so they can then be there for their kids.”
Parents who are depressed or tense may pay less attention to their children. Daily interaction is a crucial part of parenting that shouldn’t be neglected, Rave said.
“Development can be stunted,” she said.
Focusing on health fundamentals is a good place to start for people feeling worn down, Rave said.
That means eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising.
Though it may sound simplistic or motherly, “those basics can do wonders for your physical and mental health,” Rave said.
Working toward better health is a way to take charge of the things that are within one’s control, psychologist Dan Rosen said.
Rosen is a clinical supervisor for counseling at Bastyr University’s teaching clinic in Seattle and a faculty member at Bastyr’s Kenmore campus.
“If we forget to take care of ourselves in the fundamental way, it could potentially exacerbate a difficult situation,” Rosen said.
Many Snohomish County residents are already heeding that call.
Yoga instructor Roy Holman, owner of Holman Health Connections of Everett, said his class attendance started to increase last year when the reality of the recession settled over the Northwest like so many dark days.
New students such as Pauley have been filling classes this spring.
“We have more people than ever,” said Holman, who offers classes through local YMCAs and parks and recreation programs. “Some people are clearly at class for more than just physical exercise.”
Rosen said job-loss worries trouble many people.
“Our mind tends very quickly to go to a place of catastrophizing,” Rosen said. “We begin to act as if our worst fears are going to be immediately realized.”
Getting caught up in worst-case scenarios, however, can create a destructive downward spiral, Rosen said.
“How is your panic or your worry serving you?” Rosen said. “For most people, it tends to lead us to inaction or resignation. See it as a thought, but not the truth.
“If we can relate to worries and concerns about the economic situation as normal, then suddenly they don’t trigger a state of panic.”
Sweeping fear under the rug isn’t a good idea.
“The more we’re able to acknowledge it, the better we’re able to cope with it,” Schoenfeld said. “Bad things can happen to us, but we will be able to handle those things. We want to have a more neutral, perhaps objective, approach.”
Rosen said such challenging times can provide an opportunity for serious reflection and positive change.
“The fact that a lot of people derive a sense of purpose from their careers is not a bad thing. However, it’s not the whole of you,” Rosen said.
“Folks are using the economic downturn to pursue careers that are really important to them. Maybe careers are about more than a paycheck.”
People can also use the shared experience of a sagging economy to create a sense of community, said Mary Anne Dillon, a senior regional director for YWCA Seattle-King County-Snohomish County.
Dillon, whose agency is seeing increased reports of anxiety and domestic violence, said people can be proactive and help others in need, even if they are in trouble themselves.
“How can people come together to be supportive of each other, not just monetarily?” Dillon said. “This is a time when we can be turning to our neighbors.”
Helping out at church or with a community organization, or planning a neighborhood cleanup day are free, positive activities that can be rewarding, Dillon said.
“Coming from a place of power feels better,” Dillon said. “It really feels good to know someone going through a struggle with you.”
Being surrounded by people in the same boat is part of what Pauley enjoys most about his new yoga class.
“Stress brings the community together, I think,” he said. “We’re all looking for ways to manage it, and it makes our community better.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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