October 7, 2021
Grace in Chaos: Tools for Emotional Resilience
Earlier this year, as I was gathering ideas and thoughts to share with you on an prior blog, I received an urgent text from our son, who, like many, was working from home. He and his family live 1000 kilometers away.
Sienna, our 6-year-old granddaughter, missed us and needed to chat. Well, I must confess, that this was way more important than writing the blog.
So, connected by Skype, Sienna and I explored all her latest art work, played in her little tent, inspected her tidy toy area, arranged for a recipe swap with Mommy, pretended to be dizzy as she rotated the phone around in circles, inspected the garden in the back yard and planned baking cookies with Daddy for tomorrow.
We visit as often as we can, but the current health restrictions have made that more of a challenge, so we don’t get to see her in person as often as we would like. To be honest, I had been missing my beautiful little grandchildren and my family and this call warmed my heart in ways nothing else can. And it brought me back to love and grace.
Grace is defined as “simple elegance.” In times of great chaos, grace has a powerful impact.
Grace is one of those things that can certainly appear spontaneously. However, when you create fertile soil, seeds of grace will bring you much comfort, strength and sustenance.
How do we create this soil for grace when the whole world is in turmoil?
It is the nutrients in fertile soil that nourish seeds into healthy growth.
In times of great challenge it is important to gather many ways to nourish yourself. Here are some of my favorite that help me to keep my centre and open the door to grace.
Health Tip of the Month
October 10 is World Mental Health Day
You can’t see it, but for millions of Canadians, it’s an everyday reality – an invisible disability!
Depression is a common mental health condition. For some people depression is mild and short-lived; for others, it is more severe and longer-term. Some people are affected only once; others more than once.
First, know the signs:
- loss of energy;
- change in appetite;
- sleeping more or less;
- anxiety;
- reduced concentration;
- indecisiveness;
- restlessness;
- feelings of worthlessness,
- guilt, or hopelessness;
- thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
There is help.
- Talk to someone you trust about your feelings – most people find that talking to someone who cares about them helps.
- Seek professional help – your local health-care worker or doctor is a good place to start.
- Stay connected with friends and family.
- If you feel suicidal, contact someone you trust for help, or ring the emergency services.
- To learn more, visit the World Health Organization website:
who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2021
Mental health care for all:
let’s make it a reality
Daily Quotes To Live By . . .
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses..”
– Alphonse Karr,
A Tour Round My Garden
This Month’s Gift
Gratitude Journal
As we approach Thanksgiving, it is a good time to remember those things that we are most grateful for – our families, our home, our close friends, and so much more.
A guiding principle of the Emergent WorkForce™ program
is to raise the collective (vibrational) energy such that each person is in the right space and the right mindset to seek their highest potential.
Much of our angst, our negativity, depression, and even much of our own self esteem, comes from our perceptions. It’s very easy to cling to the negative, while setting aside all the positives that influence us every day.
The simple act of gratitude is often all it takes to restore a positive mindset.
Each day, find at least one thing (many of you will find more – even a lot more) for which you are grateful. Record your thoughts in the Gratitude Journal.
Download the Gratitude Journal
Our WorkPlace Wellness Programs
Join us for “Please Pass the Calm!” a FREE 1-hour online journey to explore effective ways to bring
calm to your day.
You’ll uncover how stress shows up for you.
And you will learn 5 powerful, easy to use tools, proven to support health and well-being, including:
- Perceptual intelligence – how your perceptions can impact your stress levels,
- How to use your breath to effectively calm the stress response,
- Sound is food for your nervous system. Experience sounds and simple vocalizations
designed to create calm and stimulate health.
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Have it Your Way!
Programs can be offered in person (when health restrictions allow), by live-stream video, or by (just released!) on-line learning with programs that are compliant with the Canada Job Grant program – you can recover up to 2/3 of your training costs.
I invite you to see for yourself. Click below to contact us. See for yourself how powerful an Emergent WorkForce™ can be!
Nancy Addison’s focus is on an optimal diet that will supply the basic needs of the body and fortify the body’s defenses, thereby improving health, increasing vitality, delivering greater longevity and preventing diseases associated with aging. These include heart disease, age-related muscle loss and fat gain, memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and the physical effects of aging.
When you give your body the right tools, it can do miraculous things!
When we play music together, there is a battery of hormones released by the nervous system, including Oxytocin, the bonding hormone, Dopamine, the ‘feel good’ hormone, Immunoglobulin A (IgA) an important immune system antibody, Serotonin, which regulates the sleep/waking cycle, and Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), Growth hormone (GH), and B-endorphin (B-EP), all helpful in supporting our immune function. 
There is a growing body of research that documents the benefits of gratitude. Experiments have confirmed an immediate increase in happiness, reduction in depressive symptoms, and increased wellbeing. These benefits have lasting effects on the brain and the individual.
We all have our own perceptions. It has been said that there is no one truth for our individual truths have been coloured by our perceptions and beliefs, our upbringing and past experience – just as our vision is coloured when wearing a pair of sunglasses.
Tibetan Singing bowls were traditionally used as an aid for a meditation practice, but they do much more. The slow repetitive movement of the playing stick creates an instant physical relaxation response, while calming emotions and focusing the mind, so there is greater access to creative solutions and inspiration. The Tibetan Singing Bowl can act like the restart button on the computer. They are natural stress-busters that can stimulate the natural healing ability of the body.
However, it can be easily suppressed by stress, by fatigue, or illness, with short term and long term consequences.
There are always distractions in an office environment. From the sound of a phone ringing, conversations in the hall, or a photocopier, or printer working away to name but a few. The distractions are compounded as more businesses shift to cubicles, which have been shown to reduce productivity by up to 60%. 
Brainwave entrainment is a thousands of years old practice.
In 1998, Robert F Furchgott, Louis J Ingnarro, and Ferid Murad won the Nobel Prize in Medicine for the discovery that our cells puff and release nitric oxide. Nitric oxide, is a gas that acts as a signalling molecule in the body. Since its discovery, the U.S. government and the pharmaceutical medical complex have spent hundreds of million of dollars investigating this gas. As a result, medications are now widely available to support cardiovascular disease, and others.
Let’s take a look at the software that handles stress or relaxation. The autonomic nervous system has 2 divisions that work like a teeter-totter. One division takes control, and the other yields. And then the other takes control.
There are two sides to our autonomic nervous system – the sympathetic (fight or flight) system whose purpose is to protect, and the parasympathetic (rest and digest) system whose purpose is to restore health.
Building on the ‘Office Fitness’ module, we look at ways to bring fitness home. There are many ways to incorporate an easy to follow fitness program, from walks to swimming, to shoveling the driveway. They all come with the benefit of supporting a healthy body, one that is more resistant to disease, one that has the energy to do things with friends and family, and one that strengthens performance. 
Keeping the mind and body well oxygenated is essential for peak performance, yet sitting for extended periods reduces blood flow in the upper body, with the corresponding drop in oxygen to the brain. Using deep breathing techniques, coupled with simple movement that can be done in the office, oxygen levels can be restored, invigorating the body and mind. 
Mindfulness has a significant impact on communication and safety. It is a proven way to reduce stress and improve health (physical, emotional and mental), thereby reducing absenteeism. 
One of the most powerful tools you have to navigate through everyday life is your voice. It is one of those things that, like air, is always there, but we pay little attention to it. Your voice is your communication center. And it communicates both verbally and non-verbally. Your voice communicates from many different aspects of who you are.