Paying attention can decrease anxiety, what?

Mindfulness and quieting down the mind can help you calm down.

You might be thinking, how can mindfulness help me when I’m going a mile a minute? That is a good question. Well, I can spiritualize mindfulness and geek out with you about it, but plain and simple mindfulness means paying attention. Paying attention and quieting the mind is a scary experience when we’re in the midst of shame. Dr. Brené Brown dedicated her academic career to really study shame. I love her work! And she defines shame as if the physiological response that includes sweaty palms wanting to hide wanting to rage against something, wanting to put the blame, and feelings of anger. So all of this is unconscious, meaning it’s going on the radar. It’s like breathing; when we breathe, we don’t think that we’re breathing because we live, so it’s an automatic process. So these negative stories are unconscious. We think we’re rocking and rolling.

We’re good, but this underlying script that can’t let us quiet down is running the show. So when coming to therapy or seeking out additional help, many women who are very active in their work and their businesses and are running many things describe this fear of slowing down. Because when we slow down, we can pay more attention, and then the things that we stuff down slowly come out and kind of say hello, I’ve been in the dark for a long time, and I’d like to see some attention to me. 

They’re not always so nice; these voices can dig into the fiber of who we are and attack our hearts and soul. I remember moving from Berkeley, California, to Wisconsin, and I literally describe the experience of going through with drawls. The quiet made me want to crawl out of my skin. Even though I really wanted to have this life where I have more space in my day to connect with my partner and to really nurture creative passions, I couldn’t, so I filled it up with a lot of other things. And is this journey with sitting with yourself that I can really help you with. Helping in a kind, empathic manner to help you find ways to quiet down and pay attention to how you’re really feeling. 

Please take good care of your heart!

Sincerely,