Angina Pectoris

It begins with a pressure behind the sternum. Not sharp, not cutting — more like a fist slowly closing around your heart. The tightness radiates outward: into the left arm, into the jaw, sometimes into the back. Breathing grows shallower. Movement becomes harder. Everything inside you contracts — as if someone had shrunk the space around your heart by half.

Medically, angina pectoris is a temporary disruption of blood flow through the coronary arteries — the heart doesn't receive enough oxygen for a moment. The vessels narrow, the muscle protests, the pain forces you to stop. From a psychosomatic perspective, a different question arises: What is constricting itself in your inner life so severely that your heart literally no longer has enough room to beat?