Fighting anxiety and overwhelm with heart...

Episode 22

Fighting anxiety and overwhelm with heart…

I have always struggled with anxiety and overwhelm. Although in my younger years, I did not know what it was called. I just knew I felt panicked and out of control. It felt as if the people or circumstances around me were the cause these internal uncontrollable feelings and sensations. My goal became to get or maintain control of everything in my life… exhausting! Yes, it was exhausting, but until I became a parent, it was still manageable. I knew how to please people. I knew how to study hard and make good grades. I knew how to avoid situations that would leave me feeling powerless.

But, when my first two boys were about 2 and 4 years old, things really began to spiral for me. They were not responding they way the books said they would. They did not always sleep when they were supposed to, or walk when I said “walk”. They talked incessantly and were rarely still. I felt like a failure and I was constantly overwhelmed. I tried medication as that was the solution given to me by my doctor, but after only a brief period of time, I knew that was not going to be my answer, there was something more. I was just unsure as to what it was. Looking back, these very challenging years for me were actually the birthplace of an entire new way of seeing myself and the world around me.

Since then I have been on a journey to discover what is at the root of my anxiety and how can I learn to navigate and learn from it. I have found many principles and tools that have been helpful. I know the power of trusting God, someone bigger and greater than myself. I believe in honesty and vulnerability with my family and community. I know the power meditating on scriptures or other meaningful affirmations. I practice a healthy lifestyle with my food and exercise. All of those things are so important, but when you add the breath, they become unbelievably powerful. I am learning that my head can think it’s in charge, but my body runs the show. It is my breath that brings me all together to function from my most authentic self. The way God created me to function. The Heart Math institute calls this coherence.

The HeartMath institute has developed “a system of effective, scientifically based tools and technologies to bridge the intuitive connection between heart and mind and deepen our connection with the hearts of others. The HeartMath system empowers people to self-regulate their emotions and behaviors to reduce stress, increase resilience, and unlock their natural intuitive guidance for making more effective choices.” https://www.heartmath.com/about/

This week Laura Ciampa, Health coach and Heart Math trainer, shares with us the value of bringing our bodies into coherence which helps us to create and build resilience. Resilience allows us to recover quickly from the day to day challenges of our lives. We all experience stress in our daily lives and parenting brings that stress to a whole new level, especially when we are raising children who have come from chaotic backgrounds. Their stress and trauma can quickly become our stress and trauma. As we focus on building our own heart coherence, we help to create an environment for tremendous healing for all.

In today’s episode, Laura shares valuable information about heart coherent breathing as well as demonstrates a quick, only three minutes required, technique to bring calm to the chaos that we all experience throughout the day.

So Sit down, relax and take a moment to breathe…