Category: HeartMath

Simplicity is Needed!

10/15/2020

In and of itself, life is complex. There are a stream of moving parts, going in many different directions, and it can feel like herding cats to get clear and find clarity. Things are complicated.

The one word that jumped out from the feedback of my just-finished Creating Coherence with Heart: HeartMath Experience program was “simplicity”. The simplicity offered by the HeartMath tools and techniques made coming into the heart accessible. It's a non-complicated process that “really gets to the heart of the matter and cuts through the huge mess I feel sometimes”.

Isn't that what we all need right now? Uncomplicated clarity and coherence.

Coherence is a real, measurable state characterized by increased order and harmony in our physiological (bodily) and psychological (mental) processes. It’s an optimal state for health and wellbeing and for building deeper connections with others.

The simple tools and techniques we practice in Creating Coherence with Heart offer this… in a kind and gentle way…without diminishing the complexity of your life. Gratefully there's real change to the dynamic nature of the complexity, leaving you with more energy and vitality to attend life as you ultimately prefer.

If any of this sounds good to you, please check out program details HERE. The next 5 week session of Creating Coherence with Heart begins Wednesday November 4, 7:00pm via Zoom.

Initially I was going to wait until after the upcoming holiday season was over to start the next session but my gut is telling me that we need these tools now. With Covid continuing, the celebration and togetherness time that we're a custom to will be very different this year and staying in the heart in a new way can be just what we need. I hope you'll join me.

Sending you lots of Peace and Love
Shanti

0 Comments

Got Stress? Power that down with Heart

8/19/2020

0 Comments

Did you know that 90% of your physiological functions are automatic… and that what happens in the body directly impacts what happens in the brain? That's right!

Physiology drives psychology.

Just because things are automatic, though, doesn't mean you can't influence or change them. You just need the know-how.

Right now, stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and uncertainty are prevalent. The level of unknown and destabilization in the world around us, even just from Covid, is continual and unnerving… and that naturally creates underlying stress. A lot of it. At this point, it's become chronic. :(

When stress is prominent, nothing seems to come together well. You can't think straight, your body is tired and hurts, emotional eating is rampant, and the creative desire to push ahead has left the building. It doesn't feel or look pretty.

Did you also know that 90% of the signals from the heart go to the head with only 10% in the reverse direction? 90%! This means that the heart is a HUGE influencer of the brain… Really important to know as you seek to manage or remove the stress response that’s often automatic and unconscious.

Remember the heart rate variability pictures I showed a few weeks ago? Which signal would you want your brain to receive? The right is right. :)

Want the quickest ways to chill and stabilize the brain?

Breathe deep and slow to rebalance the autonomic nervous system.
Come into the heart and generate a heart-quality feeling sense… the qualities we talked about recently.

Interesting? Want to learn more and activate heart in your brain? Creating Coherence with Heart begins Sept 9. Free registration is HERE. Check it out. What stress have you got to lose?

Sending you Peace and Love
Shanti

0 Comments

March 23rd, 2020

3/23/2020

0 Comments

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

0 Comments

Where Did The Time Go?

1/9/2019

0 Comments

It’s the beginning of the new year, a time of traditional look-back at accomplishments and forward-look to set new goals. Part of that reflective process always seems to highlight time, wondering where the year has gone. In sync with one of the most popular complaints of “too much to do, not enough time” comes “If I only had more time to do everything I wanted to do.”

I’m going to wave a flag, though, and say that you (meaning all of us) actually waste a lot of time everyday. No, I’m not talking about when you’re relaxing or sleeping - those are vital to health. I’m talking about when you spend time rehashing a conversation from hours ago, worry about what hasn’t happened yet (and most likely never will), or finish something in a rush only to have to spend 3X more time re-working it later. Even the distracted or multi-tasking mind mode shortens your available time. Studies have shown you’re not fully present 47% of the time on any given day. All of these are significant time drains and can perpetuate emotional tension.

So how to get some time back without a Back To The Future moment?

Pulling in your mindfulness practice, of course, and doing a HeartMath® technique called Freeze Frame… where you’re actually freezing the frame of the situation and making adjustments, just like you would if you were the director of a movie (hint, hint - you are directing your own movie all the time). Here's how to do it:

When you notice things are going astray, pause the movie.
Slow down and stop.
Bring your attention to your heart center, slow your breath, and make a sincere effort to activate a positive feeling (ease, patience, flow, appreciation, etc.)
Breathe and stay with this feeling sense as long as you need to or have time for. Even 10 seconds can be enough.
Next, being the director, what clip would you have coming next in your movie? What would be an effective attitude or step forward right now? Most likely you’ll come up with something that creates a pleasant ending and keeps things on track.

Freeze Frame gets you to your priority center much easier and quicker, saving you lots of course-correction time and energy. It also helps you save face, keeps relationships positive, builds flow into work projects, and has you staying with what’s really important. What a time and energy saver!

More about Freeze Frame and other time and energy saving techniques in the upcoming Start With Heart course, but for now, as you head into 2019, practice “freezing the frame” throughout the day. There are so many instances where this can add lots of benefit and it’ll surely start the year off saving some time.

Sending you lots of Peace,
Shanti

0 Comments

Simplicity is Needed!

Got Stress? Power that down with Heart

March 23rd, 2020

Where Did The Time Go?

Author - Shanti Douglas

Archives

Categories