Have you ever been wound up so tightly – that even slightly relaxing – was found to be impossible?
That feeling. if you let go just a little bit. you may go SPLAT against the wall of life?
Somehow the stressors in life have so overwhelmed you, it was all you could do to keep it together?
Like you are going to splat if you don’t relax – but if you do, which isvirtually impossible – your world without your hyper-vigilance was going to splat anyway?
Very unhealthy.
Face plant.
Been there. Done that.
My nerves were so tight and my emotions were so bottled up that, as I lay on the adjusting table in the chiropractor’s office being treated for (of all things) pulled muscles, any adjustment was impossible. The chiropractor asked me to relax my back. Ha!
“I can’t do it,” I whimpered.
Then the tears started to flow, and I eventually relaxed enough.
That was a few years ago; but recently, a friend of mine was facing a similar situation. Muscles tight, heart racing, and stressful thinking seemingly trying to take her over. Definitely a SPLAT in the making.
Feeling that helpless and hopeless feeling in her text, I called her on the phone, and I instructed my Alexa to “play meditation music.”.Before she could get even more wound up telling me what the matter was, I instructed her to lie down and listen to the music.
Across the miles, she spent several minutes listening to this amazing, calming, gentle music with melodies that evolve into other ones – never disappointing or ending too soon – until calm, peace, and even a comforting sense of trust develops in the listener’s mind and body.
She was amazed when her heart had began to slow down.
Then we talked about breathing.
It’s not a lot of phooey, readers. Just breathe. Listen to the air coming in through your nose. Feel it swirl around in your sinuses and down into your lungs. Feel your chest and belly rise and then fall as you exhale.
It’s call mindfulness. Meditation. Breathing. Whatever you call it, it works. Just be mindful only of your breathing and let the music caress you. If your thoughts stray to something else, that’s fine, just gently guide them back to your breathing and the music.
If you find yourself ready to SPLAT, it’s quite likely a mental/spiritual/physical emergency! Before your symptoms take you out, stop and do the mindful breathing and music, if possible.
Stress kills.
After our call ended, my friend used her phone’s Siri app to find meditation music and she continued her therapy. A short time later, her heart rate was normal and she could face the day.
Our minds are so powerful. We cannot take the stress out of our lives, but we must have and use the tools available to us to respond to and handle that stress in more healthful ways.
That’s why I’ve named my business Toolkits for Health. In my blog, books, and seminars, the goal is to give readers and participants the tools they need to improve their lives through mind/body/spirit health approaches that are easy to do.
Click on the link below to learn more about what I am offering through Toolkits for Health on my new website called DeidreEdwards.com!
Your stress management needs may also call for counseling from an experienced professional. Please do not hesitate to contact a pastor, counselor, doctor, or other health professional for help. Help is there. Even free help. You are not alone.
Since New Year’s Eve, I have been plagued with a blocked and slow draining gland on the upper eyelid of one eye. The treatment – short of surgery – has been twice daily wet, hot eye compresses for four months, and nightly compresses since then. I’ve combined listening to meditation music in a dimly lit room for 10 minutes right before bed as a way to making the compress routine enjoyable.
Guess who is relaxed before bed? Sometimes I ask Alexa to “stop playing in one hour,” so I can sail off to sleep with gentle music.
Mindful breathing can be worked into any routine. Make it work for you. Maybe a session of breathing and meditation music can start your day as well.
To finish the start of my friend’s now calmer morning, I suggested she stand and raise her arms up into the air to silently thank her Creator for the new day, her new calm, and to receive strength, power, and wisdom to live her day in confidence.
Works for me. Worked for her. Tap into these calming and strengthening tools to not only avoid splatting but to face each day with peace.
In health-
Deidre
some of the happiest times of the year: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, and New Year’s Day – to name a few. Maybe a birthday or an anniversary will be added to the mix. Some of us, however, may be caught up in the poignancy of All Saints’ Day Memorials – remembering those who have passed away in the last 
year – or in Veterans’ Day tributes to those who have given their all for us in battles of war.
may have resulted in the physical and emotional rugs being jerked out from under us, many of us are just trying to suck in all of our emotions.
But is that the right approach?
produce about 10 ounces of tears a day and 30 gallons a year. Toddlers probably exceed that.
such as dust, wind, or onions.
Tears release toxins from the body – The tears we release when crying actually wash away the chemicals that raise the stress hormone (cortisol) inside of us. Other chemicals found in our emotional tears include the “feel good” hormones, called endorphins, that help to decrease pain.
have been shown to help kill anthrax.
Tears relieve stress – Stress activates our Sympathetic Nervous System or our fight-or-flight response. Tears counter that by activating our calming system called the Parasympathetic System. Again, our tears cause the stress hormones and toxins to wash away, thereby reducing tension. As one article pointed out, tears are certainly a healthier option to punching a brick wall and cause no physical injury, no headaches, and do not contribute to higher blood pressures.
moments and can put an emphasis on the emotional component of a verbal exchange.
If you aren’t going to be home for Christmas; if your family does not look like a Norman Rockwell painting; if you are going to spend the first holidays without a special someone; chances are, a good cry may come your way.
others in similar circumstances (or worse) and be a light in the darkness for them. Call others on a whim. Surprise an acquaintance with a small gift or flower, or physically be there for someone in need.
box of Kleenex. You may need to see the doctor. Be alert for signs of depression in yourself or others which will also include some, or all, of the following indicators:
Depression will not be fixed by a good cry. Depression is not fixed by “pulling up your own boot straps.” If you see yourself in the list above, please make contacting a physician a priority. You do not have to feel like that. There is help!
The whole back-to-school atmosphere of late August makes me think of fresh yellow No. 2 pencils and a brand-new box of Crayola’s.
After taking 28 days of vacation out of town to reconnect and refresh – my physical and emotional fatigue, grief, and jet lag have taken a toll. Spending 15 minutes with my new watercolor brush pens takes me away from those blue electronic screens, and completely relaxes my mind and body in preparation for a restful night.
those crayons, pens, pencils, or brushes to help disconnect and calm yourself for sleep.
As regular readers already know, it’s been two or three years since I’ve had any kind of time off. It was pure bliss to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen for forty years in Sacramento, California. Then I flew to the Big Island of Hawaii where I basked in paradise at my daughter’s home. I hope you have had some type of time away from your normal schedule. It’s so healing to just walk away from it all – even for just a few days.
stopped there for me except for playing Uno with the grandkids.
to reset myself. Other than the obvious changes that come with grief and widowhood, my body is clamoring for some attention. Too many good habits have gone by the wayside as caregiver stress mounted for over two years.
Like the classroom instruction starting up all around us, we would do well to remember how learning happens. Teachers guide young minds to learn one concept at a time. When that concept is mastered through practice and application, the next concept is introduced. Children put all of those concepts together to create a bigger whole. Learn the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes. Put those letters together to form words and then sentences. Eventually, books are read.
my public 
Everything that has been shared about journaling for goals is true. The effect is immediate. The desire to improve is fleshed out in action through this simple accountability tool. Grab a piece of paper and write down your daily progress for a personal goal.
periodically with an update as to your progress or share some difficulties. We’re in this together to help and cheer each other on to success!
drop of water floating along…sometimes at a lazy trickle over pebbles … sometimes on top of a leaf scurrying along a fast stream …sometimes rushing along in the swift currents of a raging river. We ride alongside other drops in an ever-
changing scene. Some drops are carried away from us at a faster pace, but with the ebb and flow of currents we may once again float along with them as neighbors.
Bone health is a topic foremost on my mind as I will share my efforts to move that bone density scan from osteopenia/osteoarthritis to normal bone density. Hint: There’s a lot more exercise happening and collagen consumption going on.
This fall, I will also be writing the last chapters of my next book, Toolkit for Caregivers. It is a project I hope to share with others on a grand scale. There will be presentations nationwide for caregivers who need tips, hints, and practical how-to ideas for taking
care of someone who is confined to a hospital bed at home. The need for this supportive and encouraging information is great, and I feel “called” to help others walking that path.
you at the end of summer and early fall. Until then, I am listening to my body, mind, and soul and am entering into a period not of inactivity but of calm. My transition into flying solo has actually been full of activity but has lacked nature’s touch.
Ocean waves beckon. Stargazing beckons. Quiet forests beckon. I need to heed the call of nature and the deep desire to spend time with family.
world turn while watching the clouds above float by.
forests of Northern California was a holy experience. Quietly stepping into the ancient tabernacle of giant redwoods was life-changing! I return to that experience often to relive the awe and wonder of it. Presently, extended slow walks to the mailbox and some time spent on the back porch swing have to satisfy that deep need for now.
boat on the river or time sitting on one of our beautiful beaches satisfies many. Time to unplug from the rat race and reconnect to the REAL WORLD of nature.
The best indicator of longevity turned out to be the number of daily face-to-face connections we had. Smiling at people. Striking up brief conversations with strangers. Laughing about the human condition with someone while in line at the bank. Lamenting about the price of tomatoes with a fellow shopper. Little connections. With humans. Face-to-face.
Yours truly won one of the main door prizes! I had never heard of a Dash Caddie before, so the young inventor and his wife had to show and demonstrate it to me.
Caddie, which is a portable box that can mount into almost any golf cart or suction-cupped onto the dash of an RV or boat with ease.