If you’ve ever come to see me for acupuncture, you know we’re not just slinging needles. We listen, strategize, and teach bodymind strategies. Because while it’s AWESOME to watch someone get off the table pain-free, it’s also wicked cool to teach that person the tools to take care of herself each and every day. Especially for stuff like stress: acupuncture can alter your neuroendocrine system, but it’s the stuff you do every day that changes the nervous system for good.

Like this week: I’ve been working with “Sarah” on decreasing her level of worry and increasing her confidence at work. Sarah’s a smart, self-aware lady who knows it doesn’t do any good but still spends a lot of time worrying about things she can’t control: like what might happen to her kids, or if things don’t work out at her new job. She doesn’t always say what she thinks at work, especially when her hot-tempered boss is around. He reminds her of her rageaholic dad, and she fears him blowing up at her. But if she doesn’t speak up, her great ideas will die quietly in her head and she won’t be contributing in the way she knows she could.

To try and break the worry habit, I encouraged her to start red-flagging those thoughts as soon as she notices them and shifting out of those thoughts using a bodymind reset: it’s a simple qi gong movement of inhaling the arms out to the sides, and exhaling as the arms move down in front of the body. Syncing up the body with the breath helps to ground and center the body’s energy. This was 3 weeks ago.

When I saw her this week, Sarah told me something remarkable. She was asked at the last minute to do a presentation at work – something that would ordinarily have completely stressed her out. She went to the bathroom for some privacy and did her 10 cycles of breathing combined with guiding the qi down and then rocked her presentation with only a fraction of her usual jitters. That same day, she went in for a meeting with Scary McBoss-man and was able to present her ideas without holding back – and, most amazingly, without fear.

This is the result of the compounding of her new habit. Like accruing interest in your bank account, the more you reinforce a habit like breathing, qi gong, or yoga, the more power it has. What keeps you motivated on a new habit is getting in touch with your Big Why.

Here are a couple of my self-study courses:

12 Treasures Qi Gong, Your Movement Multivitamin

Calm Yourself: Self-Care Strategies for Stress and Anxiety

Be Well,

Brodie