BIOFEEDBACK: For Anxiety Control & On Demand Self Soothing

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the heat of the moment it is likely to say and do things we later regret.  When something happens that hits a nerve (aka emotional wound) our emotions & nervous system go haywire.  The heart beats rapidly, breath gets shallow, often feeling shaky, dizzy or you might even feel like you are going to die. 

Biofeedback and the HeartMath Institute’s EmWave can help you access your unconscious and gain control of your heart (HRV – heart rate variability), emotions, and nervous system.  This especially helps with anxiety and panic attacks.  It is possible to shift your emotional state when you are in a rage or panic.  Not easy, and takes time but possible!  The more you practice breathing slowing and deeply while focusing on the heart, while holding a heartfelt intention to shift your emotions, the easier it will become to find peace and calm, no matter what is going on around you.  

Biofeedback and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), when practiced together, have limitless potential. 

• Biofeedback helps in the moment of need
• EMDR helps prevent the moment of need 

How & Why Biofeedback & EMDR work:

As babies we are born blank slate.  Every day is a learning process where we label and categorize everything.  Our parents, extended family, neighborhoods, schools, peers, teachers, religious organizations, governments and beyond become our programmers.   Once labeled and categorized it gets stored in long term memory and becomes largely unconscious.

We come to take what we learned as children as truth, even if (and sometimes especially if) it is painful.  Painful and traumatic experiences often lead to  self destructive decisions about ourselves and our world, which then leads to self sabotaging actions, feelings and thoughts that feel beyond control.  This is because those decisions are stored in the body and become largely automatic, similar to our heart rate, blinking and breathing. 

Biofeedback  & EMDR are powerful ways to start accessing / interfacing with those unconscious forces.  In the heat of an argument, tough deadline, or stressful event the best way to handle it is to be able to calm and sooth your nervous system so you can return to a state of coherence and rational thinking. 

When emotions become overwhelming, it can wreak havoc on your nervous system, which in turn hijacks your cerebral cortex (the main control center for problem solving, decision making and planning) and sends you into fight or flight mode, over-riding your true intentions and often causing self-sabotage behavior.

You can learn how to strengthen the “muscle” that controls your emotional state and heart rate through a series of biofeedback sessions that gives you a visual representation (see graph) of your internal system.  This in turn can give you a greater ability to be able to identify that “muscle” and thereby strengthen it. 

Imagine the sense of self-mastery in being able to respond with ease and finesse in the face of stressful, chaotic, or even traumatic events.  This system is often used by first responders, police, military and paramedics to help them maintain calm in the face of traumatic events.

Call, text or schedule an appointment for a free consultation to learn more about biofeedback and how it can help you.