Something unexpected happened the other day…
Kristin Gilmour from Optimal Rx, a well renowned Australian practitioner-only herbal company asked whether I would present a lecture on teenage health as part of their webinar series.
Although it was an honour to even be considered, my mind immediately went into overdrive with questions and self-doubt – “When is it due?“, “I don’t have enough time to put this together“, “I’m not good enough to lecture other practitioners“, “What will I talk about for an hour?“.
My hands started to sweat, a familiar knot was forming in my stomach and I nervously played with my hair as I bombarded Kristin with questions about the presentation. Sorry Kristin.
Why Can’t I Stop Worrying?
My response to Kristin’s proposition may have seemed a bit dramatic, but stress IS irrational a lot of the time and that’s because there are actually three minds involved which rarely cooperate with one another. As a result, this incongruence between the minds manifests into physical, mental and behavioural problems.
The THREE Minds
Conscious mind: The tip of the iceberg
The conscious mind is where rationalisation comes from, it is our thinking mind. It was the part of my mind that was trying to logically tell me, “You have plenty of time and the ability to present a lecture.”
However, the conscious only occupies about 10% of the mind…which explains why it lacks control over how we behave or feel, making it difficult to listen to that voice of reasoning.
Subconscious Mind: Submerged under water
The subconscious, on the other hand, makes up 50-60% of the mind. The subconscious is like a storage room that keeps all your memories based on your experiences, what you’ve learnt and like an overtired child that’s had too much sugar…it is EMOTIONAL and you can not reason with it.
In this instance, I felt like I wasn’t good enough to lecture. Perhaps it triggered an unpleasant memory from Grade 4 where I completely froze in front of my class instead of delivering a speech!
Unconscious Mind: What lies deep below
Lastly, the remaining 30-40% consists of the unconscious mind, which has an important role in our survival and causes a physiological change in our bodies when it is activated by a perceived threat.
In my case, the mere thought of presenting a lecture was enough of a fear to trigger my fight or flight response – sweaty hands, the knot in the my stomach, increased heart rate and muscle tension.
A Scientifically-Validated Way to Reduce Stress
Kristin had patiently answered all my questions, but I was still feeling overwhelmed and I was certain that my body was so tense that it was about to fold itself into a pretzel.
I implement various habits into my daily routine to manage my stress levels, but I knew that a Neuro-Emotional Technique (NET) session with my good friend and fellow certified NET practitioner, Dr. Megan Azer would be beneficial to me.
NET works by making the three minds congruent and by resolving underlying problems that keep getting retriggered to allow healthy mind/body functions to take place.
The Latest Evidence Demonstrating The Efficacy of NET
I have experienced the incredible results from NET through my personal and clinical experience, but now there is quantifiable evidence as to ‘why’ my patients feel better with NET.
In a recent study titled ‘Neuro Emotional Technique Effects On Brain Physiology In Cancer Patients With Traumatic Symptoms’, there is evidence clearly demonstrating dramatic pre and post changes on MRI brain images for patients who received NET.
I couldn’t wait to share the exciting news when I heard that a documentary called ‘Stressed’ had been released detailing the science behind NET. You can watch the documentary here.
Feeling calmer after NET exchanges with Megan is quite immediate, but something I use outside of that and something that may also be helpful to you is FIRST AID STRESS TOOL (FAST) which integrates the concepts of NET to improve the stress response.
Embrace Your Fears
In the end, I knew presenting a lecture would provide an important platform to share knowledge and to grow as a healthcare professional, so I abided by one of my personal laws of not letting fear stop me from experiencing a fuller life and said YES. (…Stay tuned for the webinar!)
I hope this information has been helpful to increase awareness of your body and to understand why stress rarely has logic!
If you’re still tired of trying to juggle all the different stresses, sign up to become a Wander Woman because my help is only one click away.
