The Work We All Avoid… But That Changes Everything

I was ready to smash mud against the wall. Maybe even break some plates. Or rip off the door handles—something, anything.

It wasn’t just frustration. It was something deeper. An agitation that felt like it had hijacked my body, dripping with fear and fury.

Have you been there? When everything and everyone irritates you, but deep down, you know—it’s not really them?

I knew that if I wasn’t careful, I’d leave a wake of destruction behind me. Even if I didn’t lash out, even if I kept my words measured, the energy alone would reverberate through my interactions, my decisions, my day.

And here’s the thing:
That anger wasn’t me.

It was a state I was in. A moment I was experiencing.

 ✨ Meditation and mindfulness have given me the ability to know: I am not my emotions. I am not my frustration. I am not my stress.

But that doesn’t mean ignoring it.

Our first instinct when these emotions arise? Push them down. Disown them. Hide them under productivity, numbing, distraction. But when we do that? They don’t disappear. They fester. They grow. And they carve paths of destruction—inside us and around us.

So, instead of resisting, I did what I teach. I turned toward it.

A Simple But Powerful Reset

Try it.

Just a few moments of gentle touch can:
🌿 Activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest + digest mode).
🌱 Stimulate oxytocin (the “connection” hormone).
✨ Calm the vagus nerve, signaling safety to the brain.
💨 Allow for deeper breathing, reducing the chemical flood of stress.

And most importantly? It created space.

Space between me and the intensity of the moment.

Space to shift from, “This is happening to me” → to “Why is this here? What is this telling me?”

 And the answer always varies.

Sometimes, it’s insight into what someone else is experiencing—offering me greater clarity and empathy.

Sometimes, it’s a signal that I’ve been neglecting a change I know is needed.

But always, there is insight—if I’m willing to listen. 

The Hard Work of Peace

At our recent retreat, when I asked what people most wanted in their lives, the answer was overwhelmingly the same:

Peace. Internal peace.

Not more time. Not more money. Not even more success.

But here’s the truth: Peace isn’t something we find—it’s something we cultivate.

And while it’s simple, it’s not easy.

It requires:

🔥 Courage to face what’s within, even when it’s uncomfortable.
🌿 Commitment to practice, reflect, and grow—day after day.
🌱 Hard work to release old stories and build new ways of being. 

And while this work is challenging, staying stuck is harder.

The choice? Choose your hard.

Let’s Cultivate Peace—Together

Join Calm & Connect – a space where we practice grounding ourselves, creating clarity, and finding calm.
📅 Next Session: Sunday, February 09, 2025 at 10 AM CST
👉 Sign Up Here

 Or, if you’re an organization looking to support your teams in managing stress and creating clarity, let’s talk about The Reset Room—a transformative, multi-sensory experience designed to train the mind and reset the nervous system.

✨ Because when we master our minds, we reclaim our lives.

👉 Schedule The Alignment and Clarity Call here.

P.S. How do you bring yourself back when your mind runs away? Reply and let me know—I’d love to hear. 💬

How to Leverage the Power of A Pause + Micro Moments

Have you recently felt riddled with agitation? Or ever? If you have, you are not alone.

Let me tell you about a moment which, after intense agitation, changed everything: my perspective, my approach and my resolution. And it boiled down to a simple micro-moment. That moment where I chose to pause, to reflect, and pivot…

A few months ago, I had the gift of taking care of two precious, personality-filled pugs, Bear & Bella. In addition to their love, they offered invaluable lessons (click here for the first, fabulous edition :D ):

You know those mornings where you wake up and before you open your eyes, you are already agitated? At what, you have no idea! Perhaps it was a disturbing dream that you can’t even remember, but the urge is to go back to sleep and maybe, just maybe, shake the dream and shake the mood.

One particular morning, after a rough night of sleep, aware I had to deal with a sizable work issue, I groggily rolled over willing myself into a better mindset…

AND THEN… I smelled it.

This wasn’t the first day this had happened. It was the 5th(!!) day.

STRONG. Pungent. Poop. 😩

No matter how late I walked these precious pups - or how early I rose… 2 am on the living room floor was their newfound favorite time and place to relieve themselves.

Already agitated, you can imagine how this impacted my state of mind. I was DONE.

Done with the poo, done with the underlying agitation and issues.

As I knelt on the floor, scrubbing (and scrubbing… and scrubbing) the hardwood floor, I realized that my hands were mimicking my brain: attacking an issue, creating more distress and frustration.

So I stopped.

It was one of those micro-moments where I had a choice: further enmesh myself in my agitation and have that influence the rest of my day - which would be detrimental…

OR…

Pause, acknowledge the frustration without digging a deeper hole, and then pivot: look at how to best resolve the situation at hand and ask myself simple, yet critical situation-shifting questions.

Micro-moments are incredible opportunities that fill our days. And when we leverage them, we:

🧠 Reset and dramatically change the course of the hours and days that follow.

🧠 Turn around problematic situations with colleagues, clients and family members.

🧠 Create opportunities to ask a question (instead of jumping to conclusions), transforming our communication and relationships.

🧠 Reboot between engagements and meetings

🧠 Reroute problematic and debilitating inner dialogue

🧠 Ensure everyone feels heard and understood.

How do YOU leverage micro-moments?

It begins with awareness. It begins with mindfulness. And just like any muscle you build, it gets stronger with use.

Whether you set an alarm or use the “breathe” reminder on your phone, gift yourself regular moments to pause, reflect, and see if there is a simple or needed pivot.

I promise, you won’t regret it.

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