Would you agree that FALL is a huge attention getter?  Dramatic changes all around.  The gorgeous changing of the leaves followed by their release from the tree.  A breeze that sends them dancing across the roadway.  Sweaters, jackets, football, pumpkins and more.  
 
Is Fall the Universe's way of telling us CHANGE is good?  I've felt a challenge recently to make a change in the way I manage my STRESSORS and my STRESS RESPONSE.  I feel I have a good knowledge base in the area and know the tools to use, yet I don't always take the time to implement these tools.  Thus, I'm offering myself a CHALLENGE to CHANGE.  Will you join me?

The Make a Change Challenge:
1)      Identify one stressor in your life that is creating imbalance. 
2)      Examine the options:  Can you change the stressor, or do you need to change your stress 
         response?
3)     Make a change!  What action or non-action will you take?
 
FIrst, let's look at Wikipedia to note the difference between a stressor and the stress response.  
Stressor:  a chemical or biological agent, environmental condition, external stimulus or an event that causes stress to an organism.  An event that triggers the stress response.
Stress Response:  an organisms's physiological or biological response to a stressor...the body's method of reacting to a challenge.

Dr. Paul Martin says it rather simply in his book, The Healing Mind.  "The unpleasant or potentially harmful things happening in the environment are referred to as stressors, while the psychological and biological reactions they elicit are referred to as the stress response."
 
Step 1:  Identify one stressor that is creating imbalance in your life.
 
Journaling can be a great way to get clarity around what the stressor is and what it involves.  Start scribbling and make a list of your stressors.  Pick one you'd like to work on.

Step 2A:  Examine the options.  Can you change the stressor?
 
Some stressors can be deleted or altered.  Here are some possibilities for change.  Will one of these apply to your stressor?

• Delete it!  And Let Go!
• Alter your perceptions around it by changing your self talk.
• Set boundaries with yourself or others.
• Say "No!"  Or more gently, "That won't work for me."
• Practice conflict resolution.  Communicate.  
• Are you communicating your needs and wants?  
• Are you listening to and taking action regarding your own needs and wants?
• Delegate!
• Use your support system.
• Time management, including incorporating time for you.
• Go meditate or play!  That stressor may seem less intimidating when you return.

A Saylor Academy website offers great strategies for avoiding, altering, adapting or accepting the stressor. Click here. 
 
Step 2B: Do you need to change your stress response?

You may want to take a quick assessment of the self-care essentials.  The acronym HALT is a great tool.  Most of us manage stress better when we avoid letting ourselves get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely and Tired.  A healthy meal, walk, nap or time with a friend may be the answer.  

Simply slowing your breathing pattern and focusing on a mantra or affirming phrase can calm the fight/flight/freeze/fret response and elicit the healing power of the relaxation response.  Have you tried biofeedback?  

I've listed other ideas below.  You may also want to review my October 2015 blog post. 

Letting Go in the Body:

• Muscle tension-shoulders, jaw, hands, muscles in the face, back, legs and feet.
• Pain-give it permission to leave.
• Fatigue-breathe energy into your body.

• A long exhale with an audible sigh can signal the body to let go.

Letting Go in the Mind:

• Busy mind chatter  
• Negative thoughts and self-talk
• Anger, resentment, unforgiveness
• Worry, fear or other pent up emotions
• Perfection and the need to please
• Let go of one needless “to do”
• The sense that there is “not enough time”
• Confining beliefs

Step 3:  Make a change!
 
Set an intention for yourself.  Write it down.  Post it where you'll be reminded daily.  Set an alert or timer on your phone.

You could start now by committing to the Chopra/Oprah 21-day meditation challenge.  It starts tomorrow, October 31st!  It's free!  Do you have 20 minutes in your day to invest in YOU?  Register here. 

​My March blogpost invited you to contemplate the idea that “You are the guardian of your Joy.”  I suggested making a 3-column list with these headings, “Things I know that give me life”, “The reasons I don’t do them” and “What I’m doing to fill my tank today.”  If you missed that blogpost, you can find it here: http://biofeedbackwellnessstudio.com/blog/you-are-the-guardian-of-your-joy-what-gives-you-life

Did you participate?  And if so, what did you discover?  If you’re like me, you begin each day with great intentions, but what you desire isn’t always manifested.  External obstacles are sure to arise, but sometimes the stumbling block is within.  Hello self-saboteur.  http://www.thefreedomexperiment.com/2010/12/08/are-you-a-self-saboteur/
​
However, no need to beat yourself up.  It may not be your fault.  Its how the brain works, according to Joe Dispenza in this 3-minute YouTube interview, “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself.”   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWhCom5ZTpg.  He states, “95% of who you are is in a memorized set of subconscious programs.” As you’ve navigated life’s path, you’ve acquired some faulty brain circuitry. 

Some of us can get stuck here, blaming the old circuitry on people or situations from the past.  Don’t go there, because YOU can make a choice to rewire the programming and move beyond self-sabotage.  How can you signal your body to undo a memorized program?  Change the chatter!   In this 3 ½-minute video, “The Science of Changing Your Mind,” Dispenza explains that it starts with “throwing out the mental trash.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSnH1zUAITY.  Focusing on a new thought will rewire your brain and get your mind and body working together so that you can indeed become the guardian of your Joy.
​
Dispenza’s book, “You are the Placebo”, offers a more in-depth look at how typical thoughts and behaviors get hardwired so that we get stuck in old patterns.  Here’s an example of his process from my own life.  The pattern he presents is in bold.  My examples are in parenthesis:
Same thoughts (I’ve got to get this all done) => Same choices (I’m going to push on till this work is done) => Same actions and behaviors (keep working non-stop) => Same experiences (I love my work, I’m accomplishing a lot, and that’s great, but I’m not taking time for me and my loved ones) => Same feelings (I feel exhilarated at all I’ve accomplished, but I feel totally drained.  My body is tense and I and need some down time) => loops back to Same thoughts (because I’ve got to get this all done).
 
We must interrupt the cycle somewhere along the way in order to change brain chemistry and make new neural pathways.  For example:
 
New thoughts (I can take time for me and still get things done) => Different choices (today I will take mini-breaks) => Incorporate new actions and behaviors (one 5-minute relaxation break mid-morning plus a mid-afternoon mini-meditation) => New experiences (wow, I think I accomplished the same amount of work, but I’m less tense and wound up) => New feelings (It was hard to take time for me, but I did it and I feel less drained.  It didn’t take that much time! => New thoughts (I’ve learned a simple way to put some balance in my life.)

​ Is there a change you'd like to make? 
My current pattern:
Same thoughts ___________________________________________________________ =>
 
Same choices ____________________________________________________________ =>
 
Same actions and behaviors ________________________________________________ =>
 
Same experiences  ________________________________________________________ =>
 
Same feelings____________________________________________________________ =>
 
loops back to Same thoughts _______________________________________________ 
 
 
My plan for creating a new reality:
New thoughts ___________________________________________________________ =>
 
Different choices _________________________________________________________ =>
 
New action/behavior I’m going to take________________________________________=>
 
New experiences! _________________________________________________________ =>
 
New feelings!_____________________________________________________________ =>
 
New thoughts!____________________________________________________________  

Increasing awareness of and preventing heart disease is the aim of February’s National Heart Month. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States.  Every year, 1 in 4 deaths are caused by heart disease. The efforts you can make to lower your risk of developing heart disease are likely familiar. 

• Limiting sodium, red meat, unhealthy fats and sugar, including sugar sweetened beverages. 
• Maintaining a healthy weight and BMI.
• Engaging in aerobic physical activity.
• Avoiding smoking, second-hand smoke and excessive alcohol consumption.
• Maintaining healthy blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
• Managing your stress response.

Information on these and more can be explored at http://healthfinder.gov/nho/februarytoolkit.aspx

Abiding by these heart healthy suggestions is wise in order to maintain the function of this magnificent fist-sized pump inside our chests.  But there’s more I’d like to share.  Research is emerging that demonstrates the heart’s complexity.  That it possesses a level of intelligence.  That is plays a greater role in our mental, emotional and physical processes than previously known.  Much of this research is documented at HeartMath.org.  In fact, they’ve just compiled their findings into a new book which can be downloaded at: https://www.heartmath.org/research/science-of-the-heart/.  I’d like to share three of these findings.

1. The Heart Brain:  Most of us think of the brain as being the center of intelligence and the organ that controls the rest of the body.  We now know the heart has its own nervous system, the “heart brain.”  And get this, the heart sends more signals to the brain than the brain sends to the heart.  These signals have to do with decision making, perception, creativity, emotional processing and social awareness.  

The heart to brain communication can be enhanced when we create “heart coherence.”  Manipulating your breathing pattern allows the heart’s rhythms to sync with the respiratory pattern.  It looks like this on my biofeedback equipment. 
 
  This is the first step to creating heart coherence and is demonstrated in a YouTube video I've shared previously.  Click here and breathe along!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EapnBw0iJ_A&feature=youtu.be
 
2. The Heart’s Hormones: The heart also communicates with the brain and the body by producing hormones.  One of these hormones is atrial natriuretic factor (ANF), sometimes called the “balance hormone.”  Others are neurotransmitters which help regulate the autonomic nervous system and oxytocin, the “love” or social bonding hormone.   

3. The Energetic Heart:  The heart generates an electromagnetic field that extends several feet from the body in several directions.  This electromagnetic energy can be transferred to another person through touch or close proximity (research suggests a distance of 3 feet).  To family, friends and to those strangers you may encounter along the way.  In fact, heartmath data shows it is possible for the magnetic signals radiated by the heart to influence the brain rhythms of another.  Breathe and send some heartfelt LOVE to everyone who crosses your path today!
 
You might ask, what if another individual’s negative energy rubs off on me?  Never fear.  Creating heart coherence can make you less vulnerable, helping you to avoid getting caught up in any negativity emanating from others.