The Nasty Habit of Worry

Stress. It’s an epidemic. The word alone makes me bristle. News outlets and wellness periodicals warn us repeatedly that stress is ruining our lives. It is the precursor to 80% of the health issues in our society, all of which accelerate the dying process.

And yet we worry, wring our hands, and wait for the next shoe to drop. What we did and didn’t do or say is on an endless loop running in our heads. We’re told to stay in the present. Yet there’s this continual nagging thought that either something is fundamentally wrong or it’s about to be.

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” – Leo F. Buscaglia

This white noise of fear is drummed into our beings from every direction. But imagine for a moment, if this white noise were to disappear…. Let that feeling sink in. Close your eyes for five seconds and give yourself a glimpse of complete inner silence.

While a lethal dose of white noise comes from our environment, let’s face it… there’s a whole lot happening inside our mind that feels beyond our control as well. You know that achieving moments of inner silence, finding balance, and releasing yourself from the chatter is possible. The research is unequivocal. If you want to reduce the harmful effects of stress, practice meditation.

Yes, practice meditation. I promise it is not as hard as you think. You are already doing step one. You’re breathing. All I suggest is that you take a minute and notice it. I’m inviting you to focus on your breath, that miraculous, delicious, ever-present, methodical machine operated by your subconscious.

With some simple focusing techniques, you will be able to access a state of ease that’s called a lot of things: coherence, the zone, feeling centered, at peace.... Call it what you will, the point is we all want to get there.

My meditation practice has grown steadily over the years, but it skyrocketed when I started my HeartMath Coach and Mentor training. I have two decades of yoga under my belt, so I thought I knew how to breathe. But a subtle shift of focus opened me up to a new level of expansion that I’m only beginning to explore.

I completed my HeartMath Coach and Mentor training in March 2019, along with 33 other students from across the globe. In our eighth and final session, our instructor asked us to share what we have more of in our life. We responded: Confidence, patience, compassion, awareness, tolerance, intuition, more organized and efficient, more observant and understanding, a greater capacity to be in the moment, connected, and being a better listener were some of the answers.

In response to our instructor’s next question, what do we have less of in our life, we replied: Judgment, distraction, overwhelm, frustration, worry, and anxiety.

This gives me such hope. Our habit of worry is not our natural state. We have access to a completely different way of being and doing. HeartMath offers a system of science-based, coherence building skills designed to help you bring your physical, mental, and emotional systems into balanced alignment with your heart’s intuitive guidance. This is the path to a regenerative state of being, versus a depleting state of worry.

The HeartMath® System is used by hospitals and health professionals, police, fire and corrections, professional athletes and Olympic teams, military and special forces, schools, universities, non-profits, business, and families. It benefits are validated.

The key to the effectiveness of the techniques is their simplicity. Easy breathing and focus techniques kick-start a physiological process that increases coherence and reduces the intensity of our knee-jerk emotional reactions.

A little bit of HeartMath goes a long way. If you’re interested in learning more, schedule your 4-week training package with me now.