Fight Flight Freeze

With the beautiful Spring sunshine, the new season brings the energy of change, growth, momentum and movement. Spring carries Yang energy, meaning outward, active and masculine. We already exist in a society of perpetual motion and this surge of “take action” energy, can easily stress the system and transform sunshine into rain!

Many adults, and an ever-increasing number of adolescents, are living in perpetual “stress-mode”. As the demands of constantly-connected careers and modern-day parenting skyrocket, unreasonably high levels of stress have become the “new norm.” According to a recent survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), job pressures, money, health, poor nutrition, media overload and sleep deprivation rate as top stressors in the US.1 Most notable is that nearly 66% of Americans reported they were likely to seek help for stress management!

Frequent or unresolved stress can result in significant physiological changes that can be unpleasant in the short-term, and greatly impact health and well-being in the longer-term. According to  Linda Gallo, PhD, Clinical/Health Psychologist and co-director of the San Diego Institute for Behavioral and Community Health Studies, “stress can negatively affect health and even contribute to chronic health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.”2

In bringing the Eden Method (EM) and energy medicine to a broader population, including cancer survivors and those impacted by chronic health disorders, practices to promote relaxation and stress-management have become a central theme. Many feel powerless in changing stress-inducing circumstances and/or environments, and instead, the goal is to support you in changing your stress response! 

There are many effective strategies to help mitigate the effects of stress: meditation, yoga, reading, spending time in nature and journaling. Another approach, which is not as well-known in the Midwest, is balancing your body’s energy system. 

The experience of stress has an immediate impact on every system of the body. Often before the onset of a physical symptom (i.e. headache, fever, heart palpitations) an individual will experience an emotional symptom (anxiety, sleeplessness or even anger). From an energetic perspective, prior to feeling the emotion, there are quantifiable changes in the body’s biologic and energetic pathways, including: biofield, biochemical, cellular and neurological processes.3In other words, the very first response to stress in felt in your subtle energies!

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“The meridians not only feed vital energies to their related organs, they also reflect any pathological disturbances in those organs, thus providing a convenient and highly accurate tool for diagnosis as well as therapy.”

~Daniel Reid, The Essence of Chi-Gung

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Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has used the meridian system for thousands of years to help calm the stress response and restore energetic balance. Meridian energy is an integral component of the EM and you can easily tap into this system to repattern your stress response. According to Donna Eden, founder of the Eden Method, the triple burner or triple warmer (TW) meridian is primarily responsible for helping to better manage stress. In addition to its role in stress, TW is also responsible for immune system function and is therefore a critical pathway for maintaining vitality. When TW becomes activated, the body switches into high alert, to prepare for battle or flee from the hungry wolf. Because these primal behaviors were wired into humans thousands of years ago, they continue to impact the body. Blood is shifted away from the forebrain (which is responsible for reasoning, learning and emotion) to the amygdala (the part of your brain that governs your survival instincts) and stress chemicals flood into the bloodstream.4  This biologically programmed stress response results in the mind/body feeling as if there is an imminent threat; when in reality, you are just dealing with an overbearing co-worker or rush hour traffic.

Are you tired of feeling like your constantly facing mortal danger? Are you ready to start repatterning your stress response? You have the power to reprogram your energetic body to no longer switch into crisis mode when faced with the stresses of modern life. And in doing so, your chemistry (cortisol) will follow, your reasoning skills will stay intact and your body will hold less tension!

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Triple Warmer

Meridian tracing to release excess energy

Release Energy from Triple Warmer Meridian

By tracing TW meridian backwards, excess energy is released and the body’s stress response is calmed and relaxed. This is a very helpful technique to use when you notice your unique response to stress, such as emotional anxiety, neck or upper back tension or increased heart rate. 

1.   Place your right pinky finger at the inside edge of the left eyebrow. Relax your abdominal muscles and take a deep breath in through the nose.

3.   On the exhale trace your pinky over the top of the eyebrow, over the top and around the back side of the ear, down the neck, along the shoulder to the elbow and off the end of the ring finger.

4.   Trace 3 times and repeat on the opposite side.

Triple Warmer Smoothie

A second exercise is the Triple Warmer Smoothie, which amplifies the energy release by tracing TW backwards + holding a specific acupressure point + tapping into Heart Chakra energy.

Take a few moments to watch Donna Eden demonstrate, so that you can add this quick and easy practice to your energy balancing toolkit!

Nourishing Yin Energy

For me (& possibly you?), the end of the year could not come soon enough! After months of action - endless doing, constant creation, perpetual motion – my body and soul are calling for deep rest and replenishment.

January is the month for stillness and reflection, ruled by Water and Winter. The Water Rhythm is the first rhythm of life. Infants emerge from the watery womb and remain in the Water Rhythm for the first years of life (regardless of the season they were born!). In both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Tibetan medicine, a balanced Water Rhythm allows you to “go with the flow”, feel a general sense of well-being AND easily connect into childlike joy. 

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Revel in the deep nourishment of the season. Do not deny Winter’s gift of renewal, trust and hope.

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Most years, Minnesota offers full opportunity to layer-up, make snow people, fly angel wings, and play snow mountain. And yet, rarely do adults engage in these joyful activities. With winter blues effecting many in the northern region and seasonal affective disorder impacting ~5% of the population, taking a slightly varied strategy may offer significant value. 

The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Medicine, a treatise on health/disease written ~300 BC, reminds us that seasons affect all living things and suggests in the winter we should

“retire early and get up with the sunrise. ... desires and mental activity should be kept quiet and subdued, as if keeping a happy secret.”

One of the simplest energy exercises you can practice is a rhythm wisdom meditation. Say what!? Yes, you read that correctly! Being still is an exercise. And one that does not come naturally in our current culture! In Tibet, ‘taking the 3 precious pills’ is a meditative practice using silence, stillness and spaciousness. You can practice for as little as 7 minutes a day and all you need is a quiet place to comfortably lay, sit or stand. 

In this exercise, you will be sinking into the 3 precious pills to more deeply connect with the rhythm/season wisdom. Begin by taking several deep breaths, allow your shoulders to settle and your chest to open. Now, add a gentle smile on your lips and call in the feeling of gratitude. Recall positive elements of your life. It can be as simple as “I am thankful for a warm house.” or “I am grateful for my ability to read.” The important component is feeling the gratitude in your body. If at first you aren’t ‘feeling it’, don’t fret – trust and practice. 

Next, invite your body to be still and your mind to be silent. If your body twitches, gently call it back to stillness. If your mind wanders, welcome it back to silence. Again, no stress, no straining – just go with the flow. As your mind and body settle into the present moment, allow a sense spaciousness and expansiveness to push away any last tension. Now, recall the Winter season / Water rhythm. You can envision snow falling from the sky or a large body of water, like the majestic Lake Superior. Remembering the wisdom of this season is a state of calm, peace and comfort with the ability to flow around obstacles and easily respond to changing situations. With each inhale, allow this energy to enter your body. As you exhale, release any discomfort and invite blockages to dissolve. Continue for 7 minutes or as long as feels right. As your meditation ends, return to your statements of gratitude. Offer an additional expression of appreciation - to yourself - for taking a few minutes to connect to the healing energy of the season.

Every season holds divine wisdom! By practicing this meditation regularly, you will open to this natural wisdom provided by the five rhythms. In doing so, your spirit will be lifted, your heart will be lighter and your cheeks will certainly be rosier!

Toward Wellness

Recovery from a significant health event using holistic health practices motivated me to redefine me journey toward wellness. 

I was raised in the woods.

Quite literally, my childhood home was located in the middle of 180 acres of pasture and woodland. As a child, I spent endless hours outdoors - running barefoot through the woods, caring for the plants and animals that resided near our home. The closest neighbor was miles away. In lieu, Mother Nature became my full-time playmate, fostering my deep respect for the natural world.

Nursing school was a natural fit.

My first nursing job was in Oncology/Hospice. During this time. I was introduced to Healing Touch. A colleague and I began partnering when patients came in to receive chemotherapy. I was fascinated by her ability to sense the sensations experienced by patients – the heaviness, stinging, burning that occurred during infusion. I returned to the University of Minnesota and completed my Master of Science, with a heavy focus on complementary therapies.

A health event inspired me to return to energy-based healing.

What started as a need to heal my body, has become my passion! Eden Energy Medicine (EEM) combines techniques from multiple modalities, including acupuncture, yoga, kinesiology and qi gong. Using EEM, balance and harmony can be non-invasively restored to the body and mind. And, EEM readily complements both western medicine and other healing modalities.

Balancing Yin & Yang

In every moment, of every day, life is comprised of movement and stillness. 

My father was the 13th child in a farm family, who was taught early on to “earn his keep”. As his daughter, I too was raised with a strong work ethic. And of course, current culture is one in which “laziness” is frowned upon and “productivity” rewarded. 

I’ve always pushed myself hard – first managing work alongside school/college/grad school; then jumping into a demanding career in healthcare leadership. When it came to generating results, I was convinced if I just “worked hard enough” I would achieve the outcomes I desired. Sometimes this strategy worked; other times it didn’t. Regardless, this “strong work ethic” often resulted in me feeling overextended, depleted and emotionally exhausted. 

Ill health became my wake-up call. As I worked to regain my health, I began to realize how out of balance my energies were – I was trapped in perpetual motion! Always on the go, juggling kids, career and home and being far too heavily influenced by the Yang (doing) realm. I had lost sight of the value and balancing effect of Yin (being/still) energies – no longer taking time for self-care, journaling or even daydreaming! 

Regardless of gender, all beings have two defined energies - Yin (often associated with feminine) and Yang (often associated with masculine). In the current “just do it” culture, where results are so highly valued, many men AND women are out of balance, over-extending Yang energy. 

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For optimal wellness – physical, emotional & spiritual – maintaining balance between masculine and feminine energies is essential!

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Balancing Yin and Yang energies applies directly to optimal wellness and also extends to our way of being in this world. I could never have launched The Centre of Wellness without tapping into both energies. First, engaging Yin energy – receptivity and intuition – to realize my true purpose, as well as process-oriented, relational strategies to ensure my business model was optimally aligned. Second, tapping Yang strengths, I was able to act with the take charge, fire in the belly energy needed to execute my work plan and overcome any real or perceived barriers. 

This experience has been potent! As a nurse, colleagues and I often practiced by the motto – learn it, do it, teach it. By integrating energy balancing into both my self-care and business model, I am better able to appreciate the real power of the Yin/Yang Model comes when we learn how – and when – to simultaneously call forth these powerful energies. I’ve learned it — I’ve practiced it — and now it’s time that I teach it!

Yin/Yang Attributes:

Yin: Feminine, being, intuitive, inward facing, receptive, process-oriented, collaborative.. 

Yang: Masculine, doing, outward facing, goal-oriented, determined, commanding, assertive

As we move deeper into Autumn then Winter (both Yin seasons) and simultaneously charge into the busy holiday season, I encourage you to assess your energetic balance. Are you giving to your SELF as much as you are giving to others? Are you finding time to play, experience joy, rest in quietude (Yin actions)? Do you know what stressors/triggers push your energies out of balance? Be curious! And, as always, be compassionate toward your process and self.