What a great morning. I got out of bed as soon as my alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and breezed through morning routine. Thanks to my hubby helping our 3 year old get ready, we were amazingly 30 minutes ahead of schedule so I let my daughter have some extra daddy time. The daycare drop off even went smoothly and I was excited for a great day of chair massage. Then I saw it, tail lights...LOTS of them as I merged onto the Westbound Beltline. No worries I thought I'm still ahead of schedule plus I have an extra 20 minute buffer in the event of bad traffic. Besides the traffic sign says its only 6 minutes to my Verona Road exit (6 miles) away. So I decided to do some neck circles and stretches since my car wasn't going anywhere anyway.
Six minutes later having moved what felt like only a few feet I noticed my: chest getting tight, breathing becoming more rapid, palms getting sweaty, stomach tightening and thoughts beginning to spin. As I noticed my body's responses to the parking lot status of the beltline I realized I feel anxious right now...I'm beginning to panic. In that moment I was so grateful for the training I have done in tracking (a foundational skill in the Heart IQ Method) which was allowing me to observe, and yet feel, what was going on for me rather than just being consumed by all the thoughts and feelings. As soon as the thought emerged in which I was kicking myself for letting my daughter have the extra play time, I reminded myself that focusing on the the past didn't help to solve the current issue and was able to bring myself back into the present moment. Back to the awareness that I felt anxious.
As I allowed myself to feel the anxiety I remembered that fear and anxiety comes from the anticipation of pain from loss or hardship. So I asked myself am I afraid of this causing hardship? No not really. Ok, so then what am I afraid of losing? Instantly I realized I was afraid of loss of my reputation. Being punctual is incredibly important to me. This company was paying me for a service and I might not be there at the agreed upon time. As soon as I realized this I decided I would contact the company to let them know of the delay if it was clear I wasn't going to make it on time. Once I had this "game plan" I felt the grip of the anxiety beginning to release.
I noticed a bit of anxiousness creep in here and there as traffic continued to crawl but time sped on. I knew I had done everything I could though and the best thing I could do was stay calm so I was grounded, relaxed and ready to help others feel more grounded and relaxed as soon as I made it to my destination. Even as the clock rolled past the time I had planned to arrive...past the minimum time I needed to set up for the event...an hour after I had planned to arrive, I was ok.
I could have very easily arrived in a panicked frenzy. Instead of swearing and pounding the steering wheel (which I admit I've done in the past), however, I spent an hour connecting to my breath, doing some gentle stretching and even brainstormed some ideas. It turned out to be another great day of chair massage and everyone was very understanding of the situation and glad that I made it there safely.
This morning's experience was also a good reminder for me that you can't prepare for everything. Who knew it was going to take me over an hour to travel 6 miles on the beltline?? So thank you ungodly beltline traffic for giving me the opportunity to practice mindfulness and inner peace this morning.
Contact me to learn more about how to connect to your body, mind and spirit more deeply so you can experience more ease and joy in your life...even in anxiety provoking situations ;)
Six minutes later having moved what felt like only a few feet I noticed my: chest getting tight, breathing becoming more rapid, palms getting sweaty, stomach tightening and thoughts beginning to spin. As I noticed my body's responses to the parking lot status of the beltline I realized I feel anxious right now...I'm beginning to panic. In that moment I was so grateful for the training I have done in tracking (a foundational skill in the Heart IQ Method) which was allowing me to observe, and yet feel, what was going on for me rather than just being consumed by all the thoughts and feelings. As soon as the thought emerged in which I was kicking myself for letting my daughter have the extra play time, I reminded myself that focusing on the the past didn't help to solve the current issue and was able to bring myself back into the present moment. Back to the awareness that I felt anxious.
As I allowed myself to feel the anxiety I remembered that fear and anxiety comes from the anticipation of pain from loss or hardship. So I asked myself am I afraid of this causing hardship? No not really. Ok, so then what am I afraid of losing? Instantly I realized I was afraid of loss of my reputation. Being punctual is incredibly important to me. This company was paying me for a service and I might not be there at the agreed upon time. As soon as I realized this I decided I would contact the company to let them know of the delay if it was clear I wasn't going to make it on time. Once I had this "game plan" I felt the grip of the anxiety beginning to release.
I noticed a bit of anxiousness creep in here and there as traffic continued to crawl but time sped on. I knew I had done everything I could though and the best thing I could do was stay calm so I was grounded, relaxed and ready to help others feel more grounded and relaxed as soon as I made it to my destination. Even as the clock rolled past the time I had planned to arrive...past the minimum time I needed to set up for the event...an hour after I had planned to arrive, I was ok.
I could have very easily arrived in a panicked frenzy. Instead of swearing and pounding the steering wheel (which I admit I've done in the past), however, I spent an hour connecting to my breath, doing some gentle stretching and even brainstormed some ideas. It turned out to be another great day of chair massage and everyone was very understanding of the situation and glad that I made it there safely.
This morning's experience was also a good reminder for me that you can't prepare for everything. Who knew it was going to take me over an hour to travel 6 miles on the beltline?? So thank you ungodly beltline traffic for giving me the opportunity to practice mindfulness and inner peace this morning.
Contact me to learn more about how to connect to your body, mind and spirit more deeply so you can experience more ease and joy in your life...even in anxiety provoking situations ;)