How to Stay Calm in the Midst of the Storm.

Many of you know that I work as a therapist and offer counseling to those with PTSD, anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship issues among other things.  Often I see people coming in or those that I know who suffer from what I call busy mind syndrome.  There is so much going on in life these days that our brains are filled with swirling thoughts.  It is an important discipline to know how to calm this storm and be at peace.  There is a portion of our brains that simply enjoy worrying.  It is what they do and they do it well.

2 Timothy 1:7 says For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind.

This verse serves as an important reminder that we do not have to be afraid or live in fear regardless of the circumstances that we find ourselves in.  We are called to live our lives in love, in peace and with a sound, rested mind.  I have met few people who actually know how to achieve that.

I attended a training with an amazing woman named Myra Tovey who taught me the principles of heart centered living.  She teaches her students how to get out their busy minds and into their heart which leads to peace. A lot of information has come out regarding the intelligence that God put in our hearts (http://www.heartmath.org/) as opposed to the intelligence he gave us in our mind.  Heart Math offers biofeedback equipment that teaches you how to reach a peaceful state by focusing on your heart.  Many therapists I know teach their clients how to do this using computer programs.

Learning how to do this requires practice but it does not necessarily require any fancy equipment.  Here are the steps that I used to learn this.  I put my hand on my heart, I take a few deep breaths, which help to quiet the mind, and then I focus on unconditional love coming to me from God.  Feeling this love keeps me out of my head and puts me solidly in my heart.  I can then pray or meditate on Him and stay in this place. 

Doing this instantly transforms any fear, worry or stress that I may be feeling and puts me back in touch with where my heart and mind should be. It works.  Try it.