Where you place your attention with intention, your energy follows

"NO!!!" I felt a flash of heat as I screamed in silent horror.

Rushing upstairs to look in the bathroom mirror my worst fear was realized. I saw the beginning of a stress sore on the corner of my mouth. Without conscious awareness my inner alarm triggered panic to flood throughout my nervous system. With ghastly images becoming more hideous by the second, I frantically searched through the cupboards, looking for my prescription to head off this atrocity.

As the panic attack triggered an asthma attack, and my breathing became very shallow, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Wide frightened eyes, raised eye-brows, and frozen facial features. Slowing down, I held my own gaze, and watched as it slowly transformed into one of recognition and then the warmth of gentle kindness. Silently, I acknowledged what it was like to be me in that so stretching moment of time. I remembered the intense pressure I had unknowingly placed upon myself the previous day, to accomplish so many details on so many levels, and I recognized the intense stress reaction this had inadvertently created within my being. As I felt deep sadness I acknowledged how much that was not in congruence with my sacred values. Consciously I dropped back and mindfully began to breathe into the micro-sensations of my body. "Notice breath. Soften belly. Open heart." My shoulders dropped as they released the neurochemicals of pent up stress, and my lungs cooled their fevered inflammation - ever so slightly - allowing some much needed oxygen back into my depleted cells.

As calming energy soothed this horror story without making it wrong, I felt my heart open and I was able to receive inspiration from within to attend to self-care with essential oils.

Reflecting back on my experience what stands out to me is, when I find myself under extreme stress, or panic, returning to my own center for a moment is an excellent strategy. Utilizing the healing power of meditation, as used in ancient spiritual and healing disciplines, enhances one's ability to; meet stress, increase concentration, and reduce vulnerability to anxiety while increasing spontaneity, creativity, peace of mind, and happiness. When one consciously evokes emotions like love, appreciation, caring, and compassion, the heart produces a coherent rhythm that gets the brain to resonate with it.

Where you place your attention, your energy follows.