WHEN ‘CRAZY’ WAS MY LIFE

Two young children, a consulting business,

studying for a Master's degree, an international
move to an unfamiliar country: I was
overwhelmed and perpetually exhausted.
Tired but wired, I would have trouble falling
or staying asleep. My brain would spin with
everything that was on my plate. With my
natural energy reserves depleted, I relied on
caffeine and sugar to cope. Sound familiar?
I'd pride myself in being busy and productive,
but it couldn't last. Eventually I was diagnosed
with adrenal fatigue. Rather than being a journey,
my life was heading for a dead end.
Tired of being stressed, I began to investigate
different approaches to diet, lifestyle, movement
and emotions that would lower my stress
response and soothe my nerves. Eventually I
became a certified Wellness Educator. And here’s
what I learned as the Crazy to Calm Coach:
forget trying to manage your stress; instead,
manage your calm.
Read on to find out how.

FORGET TRYING TO MANAGE YOUR STRESS
Trying to manage stress is an uphill battle. It’s
actually very hard to do. So why not manage
your calm instead? By working on your calm,
you automatically lower the stress response.
The body’s stress-calm response is like a
seesaw: when you increase or raise up one side,
you automatically lower the other side. When
one is on, the other must be off. Focusing on the
calm is easier, more effective, faster and a lot
more fun than wrestling with stress.
So how do you turn ON your calm response?
I’m sure you know by now that telling yourself
(or anyone else), “Calm down,” seldom works.
Instead, there are tools that target and impact the
limbic part of your brain. The limbic system is
where you find the master controls to the stress/
calm response.

THE BRAIN TRICK

Here’s another important fact: the brain
doesn’t like change. If you try to change too
much all at once, the primitive part of the brain
goes into a self-defense mode. In order to protect
itself from a lot of disruption, it will do its best
to sabotage your efforts.
Yes, your own brain will trip you up and
destroy your plans.
The solution: trick your brain by starting small
and slow. Gradually introduce tools that target
the on/off switch of the stress-calm seesaw. Each
small change will contribute to a bigger impact.
We’ll start by focusing on three tools:
1. Breathing;
2. Tapping;
3. Senses.
There are of course other elements we can
include but these three easy, effective tools
provide a great starting place.

JUST KEEP BREATHING
There’s a reason so many meditation
techniques involve the breath: it works. The
longest nerve in the body, the Vagus Nerve, starts
in the limbic part of your brain (where the
stress/calm control lives) and finishes in millions
of nerve endings underneath your diaphragm.
When you’re under stress, you take shallow
breaths. You use the top half of your lungs, and
only your chest rises and falls. When you’re calm,
you tend to breathe deeply into the lower part of
your lungs.
So what happens if you are stressed but you
focus on breathing deeply? Your diaphragm
expands. This movement triggers the Vagus
Nerve endings to send powerful signals to your
limbic brain to calm your system down.
Basically, the primitive part of the brain says
to itself, “If my body is breathing deeply, there’s
no danger I need to fight or flee, so I can relax.”
If you’re not sure what it feels like when you
are breathing deeply, try this: exhale completely
and put your hands over your stomach so that
the tips of your fingers just touch. As you inhale,
the fingers should move apart.
Here are three simple breathing exercises
you can use:
1) Take a few deep breaths! Focus on the
movement of your diaphragm going up and
down.
2) Breathe in deeply through the nose for 4
counts; hold for 7 counts; exhale completely
through the mouth for 8 counts.
3) Place the thumb of your right hand over your
right nostril and block it. Breathe out and in
deeply through your left nostril. Then place
your ring and pinkie fingers over the left
nostril to block it, and lift your thumb off the
 right nostril. Breathe out and in through the
right nostril. Then replace your thumb over
your right nostril and lift your ring and
pinkie fingers. Do this several times.

Aromatherapy is another way you can use the

power of breath. The olfactory nerve is located at
the very top of your nose and is hard-wired
directly into the limbic part of your brain.
All your other senses go through your frontal
cortex (the thinking part of your brain) first,
where they are processed.
Your sense of smell skips the intellectual stuff
and goes right to the limbic system. What you
breathe in can directly and quickly impact your
stress/calm control.
With that in mind, why not experiment with
essential oils? These powerful plant extracts are
known for their healing properties. You can put a
couple drops on a cloth, on your pillow case or in
your bath.
Essential oils that have a relaxing effect
include rose, neroli, chamomile, lavender,
geranium and ylang ylang. They are often sold in
health stores and pharmacies. Lavender is a
great, multi-purpose oil to have in your bag, at
the office or in your bedroom. Put a couple drops
on your palm and breathe in a few times for a
calming break.

TAP IT OUT
You’ve probably heard of acupuncture: the use
of small needles pushed into your skin to release
healing energy. Now you are going to apply this
principle but using the tips of your fingers rather
than needles.
✴ Place the tips of all your fingers (but not your
thumbs) right above your eyebrows.
✴ Be aware of the sensation of your fingertips
touching your skin.
✴ Gently tap your fingertips against the ridge
 above your eyebrows for ten seconds.
✴ Move your hands to your temples; tap your
fingertips against your temples for ten seconds.
✴ Move your hands behind your ears; tap the
ridge of bone immediately behind your ears.
✴ Move your hands down the sides of your neck
and along the top of your shoulders, tapping
for a few seconds in each location. Repeat!

SENSE IT
The next tool uses the five physical senses. By
focusing on each of your five senses, one at a
time, your mind moves away from stress-creating
thoughts. Instead, it focuses on your body’s
immediate experience in the present.
Here’s a simple five-senses exercise to move
you into a calmer state. This exercise can be done
in its entirety, or you can focus on just one of the
senses. It can be done almost anywhere.
Spend one minute per sense:
✴ Find a comfortable seat and close your eyes.
✴ Place your focus on the sense of touch. Notice
how your body feels against your seat, how
 your clothes feel against your skin, how the
temperature of the air feels.
✴ Notice any tension in your body and breathe
into that tension.
✴ Focus on your sense of sound. What noises
are there in your immediate personal space?
What about in the room at large? And outside
the room? Outside the building?
✴ Focus on your sense of smell. What scents do
you detect? Loosen your jaw. What do you
taste?
✴ Finally, focus on your sense of sight. Open
your eyes but keep them relaxed. Glance about
the room slowly, focusing on each section.
What textures, shapes and colors do you see?

IN A NUTSHELL:
1. Do deep breathing exercises. Add in a few
drops of essential oils.
2. Tap across your forehead, behind your ears,
and along your neck and shoulders.
3. Use the five senses to anchor your mind into
the present.
 Follow those guidelines and you will be well
on your way to calming your body and your
mind.
As you can imagine, this is just the beginning.
There are a lot more tools, tricks and exercises in
the Crazy to Calm program.
For information about the full course
(available for individuals, groups and
companies), or a personalized option, email me
at vered@crazytocalm.biz or visit
crazytocalm.biz.

Copyright © 2017 Vered Ehsani