It Was Accidental

I was looking for the Huffington Post news app when I happened to scroll across an app they co-developed with bLife® and HeartMath®. It's called: GPS for the Soul. This app has a built in sensor that uses your Smartphone’s camera to gauge whether you are stressed or calm. Subsequently, they’ve created guides to help you relax and alerts to remind you “to check-in with yourself”. Guides include meditation, relaxation, breathing, and yoga techniques–to name a few.

Check out their website and if you have a smart phone, maybe you want to download the app too: GPS for the Soul.

Postscript: the Huffington Post, bLife® or HeartMath® are the property of their respective trademark holders. These trademark holders are not affiliated with La Paz y Calma and they do not sponsor or endorse La Paz y Calma.

Just Say No

I got into a car accident. I moved. My commute went from 30 minutes or less to an hour plus. I lost my phone. Rufus got really sick.

(Some excuses for not writing in a little over a month – I truly and deeply am sorry).

Such is life.

So, why was I beginning to have a panic attack as I sat down to check my emails at work a few Wednesday’s ago?

I was standing, talking to my supervisor when I became slightly dizzy. I excused myself and sat down as I began to break into a sweat. Then all of the symptoms came pouring down on me, spilling over my nervous system and igniting my panic. My breathing became shallow and my mouth dry. My stomach began to churn and I felt like vomiting. My thoughts were unfocused and I could only think about running away.

I began to stipulate what could possibly be wrong. Food poison? Stomach flu? Infection?

I began to dread, NOT AGAIN and then I became angry, REALLY? Inwardly I screamed, “NO! STOP IT JULIA”. I grabbed my purse for a .5 mg of an anti-anxiety medication my doctor told me take if I ever felt I was beginning to panic. I took a deep breath. I put on a fan I have on my desk and I started to control my breathing by counting. I said a prayer and then forced myself to focus on my work. And just like that, I started to control the situation.

Taking control wasn't easy. I don’t take medication easily. It scares me to think I could ever become immune to it, and then the whole purpose of having it becomes a moot point. I can’t deny that the medication contributed, but deep down inside I know the first step truly was me telling myself no.

No, I won’t entertain these thoughts. No, I won’t sit idly as my mind begins a war against my body…against my better judgment…against myself.

I’m not going to say this is a foolproof plan. But I can emphatically say this: I feel an unmistakable surge of power that I never felt before. It is no doubt the power behind the word NO.

Its Been A Long Time

I shouldn't have taken so much time off from blogging, but some changes in my life forced me to take a step back (nothing serious). Nevertheless, I'm back and am attempting to get into the swing of things.

I just want to say, please STAY TUNED!

You Can Learn a Thing or Two from this Prez

Check it out:

It Really Is The Small Things

Funny thing: My puppy Rufus is teaching me a thing or two about pushing myself.

Rufus on the couch he is not allowed on : /

He will be 3 months old today (Happy Birthday Mushy), but he’s a tenacious little guy. For Christmas I bought him a stuffing free fuzzy fox and he loves to play fetch with it. We were playing in the living room the other day and I tossed the fox onto the couch. Not only is Rufus not allowed on the couch but he’s still too little to get the height needed to jump up on it.

His sneaky little fox

That didn't stop him. He ran as fast he could and jumped as high as he could to try to get that fox. But he fell. Instead of being defeated, he sprang up on his hind legs and with the support of his front legs on the couch cushion he kept jumping forward towards the fox. After about 6 or 7 attempts he managed to get just enough height to grab the fox by the skin of his teeth before he fell to the ground in victory.

Falling does not have to be a defeat. Falling validates your resolve to try, to jump and take a chance. Keep pushing yourself a little more each day. If your anxiety knocks you down, take a moment to think how far you've come. Remember every struggle, every leap and bound you had to take to get where you are at the very moment.

I know sometimes it’s hard to believe you've made it anywhere, but keep in mind there are many women who can’t read about anxiety because it becomes all too real for them. I know. I was one of them, but I made it far enough to write a public blog about my own anxieties because I wholeheartedly believe that many of those women can make it too.

Always Look Again

It's hard to write about past panic attacks because I have to relive them. When you spend a great majority of your life fearful of reliving certain events the last thing you want to do is write about them. Writing seems to be one of those elusively permanent things.

I know better than to let that fear get to me.

The last major attack I had was less than a year ago: May 17, 2012 to be exact, the effects of which lasted a couple of days. No one knew about it except my parents and my department (I was at work).

It was that experience that led me to start this blog.

I needed an outlet.

I wanted to reach out to others.

I had to let you know you are not alone.

Click here and scroll down to Entry Number 4 to read about the day that truly changed my life.

I'll elaborate more later...

Serenity, Courage, Wisdom

It’s a New Year.

I didn’t make any resolutions.

I do not believe I need a new year to set goals for myself. For that matter, I don’t believe a new day or even an hour is necessary. My experience has proven sometimes it just takes a moment: a moment of clarity or of distress to turn a challenge into a resolution.

Let me be clear. I do not believe there is anything wrong with having resolutions. I set goals for myself, both short term and long term. I just don’t take to the premise that the best time to start is tomorrow, next week, month, or year. The time to start is always NOW. If you don’t succeed right now, THEN you pick yourself up and try again tomorrow, next week, month or year - when you are ready.

Ironically though, as I wished my family a Happy New Year, I thought of a resolution.

2013 will be a year of acceptance.

I will accept my mistakes. My failures. My iMperFecTions.

Accept new happenings and challenges.

Accept myself.

Here goes nothing.

"God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other". ~ Reinhold Niebuhr