COLUMBIA, Md. — Linda Penkala knows about living life in the fast lane.
From the late 1970s to early 80s, she worked as a horse jockey on racetracks in Maryland, around the country and around the world.
"I was one of the leading female riders here [in Maryland]. I was the leading female rider," she said.
Penkala said she set several records, including becoming the first woman to make the program at Laurel racetrack, which means she was in the top 10 of jockeys. She traveled to Japan to compete with other women in the Ladies Cup in 1982.
"Thank God I’m alive. It’s a very dangerous way to make a living."
When Penkala started a family, she traded the high-risk job of jockey for a more zen career in massage therapy.
"The only other thing I ever liked to do was use my hands. I already have strong hands and use my hands to help other people."
Her goal is to create balance for her clients, but more than a decade ago, Penkala's life was thrown off balance when she her heart began beating irregularly. Her doctor said she had atrial fibrillation, or an irregular heart beat.
"I asked all the questions, how did this happen, what went wrong so I don’t do this again. He said Linda, all of your numbers are normal. Your blood is good, everything is normal, everything is good. Sometimes we just don’t know why this happens and I said that’s not good enough for me."
She went on a journey to find the answers and shares what she found in her book "The Pause to Relax".
"Stress was a good component of it. Dehydration was a part of it and paying attention to alcohol is part of it. Paying attention to how you’re dealing with sleep is part of it," she said.
In the book, Penkala talks about the symptoms of heart disease, the factors that cause it and what women can do to prevent it.
"I really had to offer women how they could kick it up a notch even more, because there’s a clarity and call that we’re dying even more, than all the cancers combined and we’re dying more than men."
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of women, causing one in every three deaths a year.
Penkala talks about the importance of women having strong friendships and social interactions, saying it helps to activate the oxytocin in our brain, or the "happy hormone".
"We need more friends, we need more community, we need more people. And we don't need to be isolated from one another," she said.
In the book, Penkala also weaves in stories about her days on the track and the dangers of living life in the fast lane.
"How fast horses go and how fast women go and how we have to pause and stop and take inventory, if you will, and have moments to stop."
Penkala's book "The Pause to Relax" can be purchased through her website or on Amazon.
