Calm the Nervous System with This One Simple Practice

During times of chaos or stress, our nervous systems are programmed to go into overdrive. This reaction to stress first began thousands of years ago when humans needed to anticipate threats in order to survive in harsh environments.

In today’s world, stress, and its effects on the nervous system, can cause a host of health problems including high blood pressure, tense muscles, a weakened immune system, anxiety, and addictive behaviors—unless we are able to incorporate regular practices that keep us calm, even during difficult times.

Below is a three-step simple process that can be performed anywhere and anytime. This practice is easy to remember, easy to implement, and has fabulous results:

Step 1: Recognize when you are becoming overwhelmed or stressed. Physical symptoms can be a rapid heartbeat, a cold sweat, irritability, or eye twitching.

Step 2: Once you are aware that you need to calm your nervous system, close your eyes and imagine yourself floating in a pool on your back. You can hear the world around you, but it is muffled like when your ears fill with water. Breathe deeply, in through your nostrils and out through your mouth. Do this 10 times while still imagining yourself floating in a pool.

Step 3: Imagine the best possible outcome to the current situation you’re facing. Now repeat to yourself three times, “I will be okay no matter what.” Open your eyes.

It’s no secret that life is hard. The trick to staying calm is practicing awareness and then incorporating simple exercises that help us live in the moment, have hope, and know that we will survive.

This post is original content, not AI-generated.

Vicky DeCoster is a Certified Life Coach based in Omaha, Nebraska, who specializes in helping her clients both locally and nationwide to move past obstacles, create a plan for happiness, and cross the bridge of transition to find a new and fulfilling direction in life. To read more about her and her practice, visit her at crossthebridgecoaching.com.

Mindfulness Practice: Finding Quiet in a Busy World

It can be difficult to boost our joy and zest for life and all it has to offer when we feel pulled in several directions every day—all in an attempt to please everyone else, not ourselves. Therefore, while existing in a world that now expects us to be “on” the majority of the time, it is vital to be mindfully aware of our innate need to find a quiet space to reflect, think, and just be.

“Nobody can bring you peace but yourself.”

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

At least once a week, leave your distractions behind and seek a peaceful place where you can unplug, recharge your battery, and rest your mind. While resting in this space, drink fresh water, write in a journal, listen to the sounds of nature, eat a healthy snack, and take in everything around you with every deep breath. Focus on accepting yourself just as you are; listen to what your head, heart, and gut are saying; and quiet your critical inner voice with positive affirmations.

This is a loving space, just for you. Use it for good, so that others may look at you as an example of how to really live.

 “Peace is its own reward.”

--Mahatma Ghandi

Work is not everything. Our children and grandchildren are not everything. Our spouses are not everything. It is you who is everything. There is only one you. Take good care of yourself.

 Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.

Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.

Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.

Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.

Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.

Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.

Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.

Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.

Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.

Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.

Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.

--A Ute Prayer

Vicky DeCoster is a Certified Life Coach based in Omaha, Nebraska, who specializes in helping her clients both locally and nationwide to move past obstacles, create a plan for happiness, and cross the bridge of transition to find a new and fulfilling direction in life. To read more about her and her practice, visit her at crossthebridgecoaching.com.

Mindfulness Practice - Writing Headlines to Bring You Closer to What You Want from Life

Every day, headlines in the news capture our attention, either prompting us to read more or move on. Great headlines are clear, concise, and have a direct impact on the reader.

What if you could write a headline about your own life on a daily basis?

The good news is that you can.

Every morning before getting out of bed, grab a notebook or journal and envision a headline you would like to describe the day ahead. Begin the process by asking yourself these five questions that will help you focus, find clarity, and identify a vision:

What emotion do I want to focus on today? (i.e., gratitude, joy, fulfillment, perseverance)

What do I want to specifically achieve today? (i.e., a clear goal)

Who do I want to be today? (i.e., peaceful, grateful, loving)

What promise do I want to fulfill to myself today? (i.e., to be calm, passionate, or to talk nicely to myself)

What light can I shine on the world today? (i.e., kindness, the gift of listening without judgment, hope)

Close your eyes. Focus on your breath. Bring your thoughts inward. Take a few moments to contemplate what is really important to you today. It doesn’t have to be complex. Simple is better. Now open your eyes, grab a notebook, and describe what you want in a few words. For example, your headline might be:

Athlete Decides Progress, not Perfection, is a Better Way to Live

Job Seeker Dedicates One Hour to Networking

Executive Makes Good on Three Client Promises

New Retiree Says Goodbye to Bad Habits and Hello to Positive Changes

Entrepreneur Finds New Ways to Achieve Balance and Fulfillment

Passionate Helper Performs Two Random Acts of Kindness

Avid Reader of News Shuns News to Achieve Inner Peace

As the above examples demonstrate, there are many ways to write a headline that describes what you want for your day and how you want to present yourself to the world. The important takeaway is to remember that each headline you write brings you closer to what you want for yourself and your life.

Headlines can set the framework for solving a problem, help you see a better future, and ultimately guide you to remembering that it is you who holds the power to creating your own destiny, one day at a time, one headline at a time.

Vicky DeCoster is a Certified Life Coach based in Omaha, Nebraska, who specializes in helping her clients both locally and nationwide to move past obstacles, create a plan for happiness, and cross the bridge of transition to find a new and fulfilling direction in life. To read more about her and her practice, visit her at crossthebridgecoaching.com.