What do you do to take care of your mental and emotional health in an ‘emergency’, when you find yourself triggered, upset, anxious, stressed and generally out-of-sorts? 

It’s important in these moments to have an Emergency Tool Kit at your disposal to bring you back into your heart, back into balance so that you can breathe again.

And this brings me to my first ‘go-to’ when we feel anxious or stressed, and that’s breath work.  Breath work is so easy and natural to do.  We need to breathe in order to live, so why not use the moment to begin to heal and let go of what’s not working for us with breath work?

When we are upset, anxious, afraid, etc. we usually start breathing in a very shallow manner. We may even unwittingly hold our breath.  As we do this, we tell our body, we send the message that our life is in danger and we need to go into fight or flight mode, which is not helpful.

Step one is breath work and here’s three breathing techniques I recommend:

#1 Breathe in and out of your nose with the out breath longer than the in breath.  Repeat 10 times.  When our out breath is longer, we are physiologically telling ourselves that it’s okay to rest and relax; it’s okay to let go of what’s happened and come back into balance.

#2 Breathe in through the nose and hold, then breathe out through the mouth with an ‘Ahhh’ sound and hold.  Repeat 10 times.  This breath work is a great way to release any stress we are still experiencing.  It’s the mind-body’s second signal to unwind and let go.

#3 Breathe in through the nose and out through the nose with no pause through between the in breath and the out breath, also known as Conscious Connected Breathing.  This helps us to align to love and center in our hearts.  It helps us to connect back into the essence of Who we are.  It helps to affirm that I am more than just a body-mind.  I am a Soul having a human experience and I’m so grateful for all my experiences!

Step two is grounding, to be fully present in the body here and now. 

We can do this by visualizing huge roots of light coming out of our feet and anchoring deep into the core of the planet.  It’s like being a strong, sturdy tree that’s able to withstand all manner of wind and storms, where it feels like someone or something trying to knock us over would be an impossible feat. 

We can test this out with someone we feel comfortable working with.  First, stand in a relaxed and see how easy it is for someone to push us off balance using a finger. Next, visualize and feel those roots of light grounding into the core of the planet and have them try again. Notice the difference in that experience and then reverse roles.

Step three is ‘cutting cords’. 

When we are triggered by someone, a group of people or even a country, we establish energetic connections with that person, group or country. Unless we cut cords, we will feel everything they are feeling. 

Whenever one, some or all of them have a ‘bad hair day’, we feel their reactions and their feelings as if they’re our own.  The only thing we can clear or let go of and replace with love is our own feelings.  That’s why cord cutting is so important.

One way to cut cords is to visualize a golden cylinder down coming around our body and cutting all energetic connections that are not about love, just gently cutting them and healing where they were with golden healing light. 

You may need to cut cords every day or several times a day. Anytime we interact with or think about this person, group or country, cords are reestablished; and the same applies when they think about or interact with us. 

To keep unwanted thoughts and feelings that are not ours out of our bodies and systems, we need to constantly aware and diligent.

It’s important to work with our Emergency Tool Kit when we feel okay, when we feel calm and balanced.

And it’s important that we practice a lot.  Any world class athletic or musician has practiced more than we can imagine for years and years until their craft becomes second nature to them and they don’t have to think about it. It just flows naturally from and through them because it’s become a part of them.

If we want to have a new experience when faced with stress, challenges, obstacles, and unpleasant events we need to practice, practice, practice. Practice makes permanent. I love this affirmation: Practice makes permanent.  How cool is that?

Remember, also, that mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow. 

Anytime we forget to engage with our Emergency Tool Kit, it's simply an opportunity to learn and grow. It's counterproductive to beat ourselves up or engage in negative self talk. 

When we make a mistake, we can ask ourselves, “How can I learn and grow from this mistake?  When I face the same or a similar situation again what could I do differently? How could I act? What would I say?  How would it feel? What would support this new, more loving way of being?  And then visualize and feel that! 

Our Emergency Tool Kit is an amazing gift, and mine is just a suggestion.

What works for you?  How do you bring yourself back to center, back into balance and into your heart when ‘life happens’? How can you best support yourself to experience more love and less fear?

Our bodies weren’t meant to eat frozen dinners, canned spaghetti or processed cheese.  We are filling ourselves with inflammatory food-like products that make us sick, fat and depressed.

Here’s a simple list of what to avoid and delicious substitutions that you will enjoy. Some items like highly processed oils are in many things. Read the labels or simply eat whole foods.

These changes can make a huge difference in how we look and feel. It’s easier to be our ideal weight when we eat right. Good eating habits invite good health.

Addendum:

Besides what I've shared above and below: I recommend 1) intermittent fasting 2) carnivore, and/or 3) food combining principles that work with digestion principles for weight loss or maintaining weight.  

I also recommend "know thyself". For example, if you start eating sugar (for example, honey) and that leads to binge sugar consumption, perhaps sugar and/or honey is not for you. 

There are general principles to leading a healthy life, and part of that is honoring what works best for a healthy digestive tract.  What is good for a friend or colleague, might not be good for you.

Step one is discard most products you purchase from the shelves of our grocery stores or are sold in 'fast food' establishments. Read the labels.

The color, additives, preservatives and combinations of ingredients can, in many instances, cause obesity, digestive distress and more. 

My cat is old.  Hobbes came into our lives when my son was a sophomore in high school. Now my son is a father with his own cat and Hobbes is seventy-two in human years.

I love Hobbes. He’s affectionate and lets you know exactly how he feels. The first time I traveled to Australia and back, he peed in my open suitcase, which I had left open by the washing machine upon returning home. He was ‘pissed off’ that I had left him.

Hobbes is a lover. He sleeps on my husband’s chest when I’m out of town, just because my husband misses me; and he meets me at the door every time I come home.

Hobbes used to be an excellent jumper. He was de-clawed by his prior owner, who in the twilight years of her life moved across the country to be with her family. But Hobbes doesn’t see himself as ‘handicapped’ or different. He managed to get to places in the house where I marveled at his flexibility, strength, and agility.

Hobbes can’t do that anymore. He’s lucky to get on the kitchen countertop with the help of a nearby chair. It breaks my heart when I see him jump and miss. Just like Hobbes, I can’t jump as far or run as fast as I used to.

Hobbes is on special food for his digestion and teeth and pukes every time I let him eat too much grass. Just like me, he must watch what he puts in his mouth.

For Hobbes, it is just how it is. He is completely in the moment of being a cat and enjoying his cat life. It’s amazing what wonderful reflections, mirrors and companions our pets can be. They add such richness and joy to our lives.

Here is to you Hobbes. Thanks for gracing us with your presence. I’m glad to be one of the humans in your life.

I am balanced and centered in the midst of 'life happening'

Much has been written and shared about meditation and mindfulness. They are the 'catch words' of our generation.  Speaking about quieting the mind and being centered is not the same as living it.

Why is meditation important?   Mediation is important to calmly focus on what needs to be done and enjoy the process.  Meditation is vital to creativity, inspiration, and innovation.

Meditation is many things.  It's not necessarily sitting with our legs crossed on the floor and repeating a mantra (positive words or phrases). We can meditate while running, walking, washing dishes, eating lunch, listening to music, dancing and so on. 

Meditation can be a way of life, a way of being fully present in everything we do. It's not about worrying about what's 'on our plate', what's going on in the lives of friends and family or what's happening in the world.  It's not about being anxious about the future or romanticizing or being remorseful about the past.

Meditation is about breathing deeply so that our flight-or-fight response drops away.  It's about learning to respond with calm assurance to whatever crises or deadline presents.  Meditation is not about allowing someone else's fears to become our own.  Meditation is about learning how to be that still, calm space known as 'the eye of the storm' and to live a life of gratitude, wonder and joy.

Meditation and mindfulness are close friends. Mindfulness is about being fully present here now in each moment.  Meditation helps us to be mindful.

We may think we are being present but often we are not.  Being fully present is about listening without thinking about what we are going to say next.  Being fully present is about enjoying the moment we are experiencing, and not getting caught up in emotional dramas or mental commentary.   

Mindfulness is about appreciating life, not living for our next holiday or wanting to be anyone else. It is about accepting who we are and where we are at. 

Meditation and mindfulness help us to be grateful and appreciate what we already have.  Gratitude and appreciation are the foundation for positive transition and change.  Meditation and mindfulness provide us with the tools for being calm and clear in the face of adversity, conflict, and stress. Meditation and mindfulness help us to create the change we wish to see in business, life, and the world.