As a stress management specialist, my work is about helping you, your organization, and your clients navigate the inherent stress of life with more intention and clarity.
It’s about practical strategies that are backed by science and delivered with compassion, connection and empathy.
It’s about helping you to move forward from a place of calm awareness, so that you feel the way you want to feel and live life more intentionally.
Stress has a way of taking hold. Ever have that happen?
I did. Both of my sons were born with a medical condition that required numerous medical appointments, therapies, and procedures each and every week. After two exhausting years of working as a certified early intervention specialist and juggling my sons’ rigorous schedules, I made the decision to leave my job. For while I loved my work, I was feeling completely overloaded and spent.
I thought it would ease my stress, but guess what?
It didn’t.
Constantly on the go, I was edgy and irritable, exhausted every day, tossing and turning with thoughts all night. The stress changed how I showed up each day as a person.
With all of the demands on my time and my energy, I no longer felt like my life was my own. And, I no longer felt like myself. Like many of my clients, I wondered why I couldn’t do a better job “handling” it all. It sure seemed like everyone else was managing fine.
Lots of people talked to me about taking care of myself by slowing down. And in my mind I would think they were crazy. How on earth could I ever do that? Who has the time?
Then it happened: my health bottomed out and I crashed. And I realized:
To get back to being who I wanted to be, something had to change.
I turned to some simple techniques that I used with my boys during their medical procedures and hospitalizations. I figured if these strategies could help toddlers they could certainly help me. While I was skeptical, I was hopeful.
Slowly, things started to shift. The stress in our lives was still there – but how I handled it changed. And suddenly I saw a positive ripple effect in my life: I was starting to show up in my life in the way I wanted.
Further education taught me more about the mind-body connection. As a graduate of the Benson Henry Institute of Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and having completed clinical trainings in Mind Body Medicine and Building Resilience at Harvard Medical School, I’ve learned that this process was supported by research – lots of research. And I know that even if stress hijacks our lives, it is possible for us to shift and regain control if we have:
- Knowledge as to why stress impacts us the way it does
- Awareness of our individual stress response, our triggers and reactions
- Practical tools and strategies that change our relationship with stress
From Reacting with Panic to Responding with Purpose
Over the past several years I have committed to learning as much as I can about the stress response, its impact on our mind and our bodies, its influence on our health, our relationships and our professional lives and how to best build our resilience.
What I am most proud of is that I continue to see the benefits of this work on my family each and every day.
My boys are thriving. My husband and I are more present and connected. Our family navigates stress with more intention and clarity.
Stress has a way of hijacking our personal and professional life.
Stress will always be present in our lives, from day-to-day demands on our time to life-changing challenges that can take our breath away. We hear people talk about stress reduction all the time. But I don’t believe we can reduce stress; however, we can learn skills to navigate and manage it.
Stress has a way of changing our relationships.
While we can’t eliminate every source of stress in our lives, we can look seriously at our relationship with stress – and decide who gets to be in control. Our own relationship with stress impacts the relationships we hold with others professionally and/or personally, as well as the relationship we hold with ourselves.
I’d love to talk about what’s happening in your life and organization that is causing you stress, and how it’s impacting you, your staff, and the families you serve. Let’s discuss what we can do to help you navigate stress and find a starting place of calm awareness.
