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Take a Moment for Calm and Ease

3/25/2020

I'm sending you and all of your loves ones many blessings for continued health and safety. I'm here for you and what you may need. Just reach out by replying to this message and let's talk. I have SO many tools to support you in reducing, managing, and even thriving with stress. Let me be a resource!

Every day you're facing new and unknown challenges from a variety of different sources and directions. With all of the changes, it's easy to feel disheveled and anxious. Navigating those emotions, and the effects they create, takes diligence and practice. In the beginning, it can take the strength of heart to stay in the heart.

As such, I thought you might enjoy a peaceful pause with this Come to Calm & Easy ocean meditation. The visual is from Jenness Beach in Rye this past weekend. It was very calming and peaceful to take in the negative ions from the ocean, to look out over the expanse and feel Oneness, and to gaze upon the beautiful and amazing blue sky that is bright and fresh. Enjoy!... and please share.
I'm also sending along a Ted Talk from Amy Cuddy. She shares the research around the Power Pose and how we can shift from a position of weakness to strength simply by standing in Superwoman or Superman pose for two minutes. It decreases our cortisol level and increases testosterone, offering a sense of empowerment, control, and strength to do what's right and needed. Enjoy this as well.

Peace and Love to you!
Shanti

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March 23rd, 2020

3/23/2020

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If you’re like most folks right now, you're feeling a bit overwhelmed by what's known and unknown with the COVID-19 virus, about the best approach to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy, and how to support the larger society. We are, for sure, in this together, making it important for each one of us to get back to what we can control and how we can contribute in a positive way.

On that note, I’m not going to talk about safety precautions and sanitation. Please check out https://www.cdc.gov for expert advice on that.

What I would like to offer, though, is some expert stress relief. Uncertainty, even under normal circumstances, doesn’t feel good and can have us reacting in ways that are atypical to our practical and proven stress reduction habits. Right now, you might be experiencing sleepless nights, excessive worry, agitated response to others in neutral situations, or a sense of confusion, frustration, or anxiety.

Calming the autonomic nervous system is one of the best things you can do - both in the moment and long term - to help reduce the stress response. It helps rebalance and re-harmonize all of your body and mind systems, allowing you to be more fully present and insightful to what is needed. Uniting body and mind into more a coherent state allows you to calmly respond to your child’s questions, reschedule your day for priorities when working at home, sleep soundly, have natural energy without artificial additives, and regain a silver-lining perspective (there are many appreciations to be had).

To rebalance and re-harmonize, you’ll need to:

Pause and find a comfortable place to sit (you can also stand). You don’t need to close your eyes (perfect for when you’re in conversation) but you can if you’d like (not when driving, please).
Bring your attention to the area of your heart, the center of your chest.
Start to take some deep, slow breaths, in and out of your nose. Slow the breath down to a perceptual level, perhaps to the count of 4 or 5. Take your time.Breathing might feel more hurried at the start but soon the gentle connection with the slower and deeper breaths will work its peaceful magic.
Keep breathing like this for a few minutes or as long as it takes to feel more grounded and calm. Don’t worry about the busy mind… just keep a focus on the breath and body. It’s also nice to let your body relax every time you exhale… it’s a natural letting go.
When you feel complete and balanced, begin to integrate back to your surroundings, asking yourself What’s Important Now (remember WIN from a few weeks back?)
Do this several times as day and keep the practice going.

And if you could use additional support, please reach out. I’m here and available for a connected conversation, two ears and a big heart to listen, and specific tools that will support your specific needs. Don’t shy away and try to hold it all on your own. This virus requires a community to eradicate it so please reach out.

Sending you lots of Peace,
Shanti

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Take a Moment for Calm and Ease

March 23rd, 2020

Author - Shanti Douglas

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