Inner Healing: Regaining Balance in an Unbalanced Life

We live in what is considered a psuedo attention deficient disorder society. What does that mean?

It means that all of the things that we thought would help us out in life are overloading our circuits. It's the continuous emails, Internet, cell phones, computer and texting that are literally driving us crazy. When our brains, specifically our frontal lobes, get over worked, the result is that we function from the old brain, or the flight or freeze center located in the back of the head. This center is also referred to the amphibian brain that we unconsciously rely on when our life is in danger.

Though mastodons are no longer chasing us, our flight/freeze center is still being activated by the continuous stimulation and inundation of everyday life. At times it can be difficult to shut off all the residual stimulus, and as a result many suffer from sleep issues, pervasive anxiety, irritability and stress.

When in continual overdrive our systems take a toll. The cortisol levels, produced by our adrenals and known as the "stress hormone", becomes elevated and depresses the secretion of DHEA, which is the anti-aging hormone. When this happens over a period of time, folks can look older than their years and experience high levels of stress related conditions. Over a prolonged period of time this causes diseases such as heart attacks, stroke, and anxiety disorders. Not only are our hormones and immune system affected, it also affects our heart and all the other organs. Specifically, our heart is affected because it is in continuous communication with the old brain.

Years of research at the HeartMath Institute have found that the heart has a brain that communicates with the different parts of our brain in our head. This is referred to as the ANS or autonomic nervous system and it functions without us even being aware of it! Which has its benefits and setbacks. The benefits are that we don't need to consciously think of taking in a breath or telling our adrenals to give us a shot of cortisol. The downside of it is that we can condition ourselves to have a very reactive system, which can keep us out of balance.

The key is to learn to retrain our autonomic nervous system so that we can slow ourselves down to rest, and get ourselves going again to do the tasks at hand. It's a delicate dance of balance.

So how do we bring balance back into our bodies and our lives? We literally can retrain our bodies on how to deal with everyday stressors of life. The process is easy and if one is committed, will see results within a few weeks.

To begin this process, it is important to recognize that you are stressed out. When one begins to realize that they are experiencing stress then they can take steps to interrupt the cycle. When we slow down enough to notice that we are running on adrenaline that is when a shift can happen. We can then become proactive rather than reactive. And it is just a breath away. Literally right under our noses. Begin to notice your breath throughout the day. One way to increase this awareness is to set your watch or computer to give you a reminder to take time to notice your breathing. This can either be done as a gentle alarm or perhaps relaxing music. The point is to begin to notice when you are or are not breathing. Many folks go throughout their day with shallow breathing. When you get your subtle reminder - simply watch your breath and begin to deepen it into your belly. Notice how you feel when you fill yourself up with oxygen. Often there is a renewed sense of "waking up". You literally fill your cells with oxygen. If possible, go outside and take in a few deep breaths of Mother Nature.

On another level, much of stress is about perception. How we view the events in our life. It's interesting to note that every event is benign. That is it's neutral. It's neither here nor there. It just is. It's the meaning that we put around the event that creates stress. For instance, how is it that one person may experience being stuck in traffic as a gift - a way to take some time out and relax? While someone else experiencing the same traffic jam, will get annoyed and anxious? How can 2 folks experience such different reactions? It's how they interpret the situation. When someone is very stressed out, it's as if they are emotionally flooded. One seemingly insignificant event can trigger a catastrophic response. So by becoming aware of the different stressors in your life, one can begin to take control of their reaction. It's when we can slow ourselves down enough that we notice we have options. If there isn't this slowing down, it's easy to be reactive and impulsive. Interestingly, it is not the big events that cause us stress; it's the million broken shoelaces.

So give yourself a break and BREATHE in deeply and exhale slowly. As you do this, focus your attention around the area of your heart. Breathe in gratitude, appreciation and love for someone, something or a memory. If you commit yourself to doing this consistently, you will find that over time, you will begin to notice that you are not sweating the small stuff as much…and noticing that it is all small stuff…when we take the time to breath.

Catherine VanWetter, MSW is a Holistic Family Healing Practitioner trained in a variety of techniques that help people come to a place of peace within themselves. She offers Inner healing Circles, Inner Family Healing Workshops and Deep Healing Retreats. Her newest book and meditation CD, "The Soul of the Heart", offers inspiration, deep healing and hope. Catherine invites you to listen to her Morning Meditation, Welcoming A New Day, Free at http://www.ToTheHeartOfTheMatter.com.

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