YEAH. That was me this past week: dashing off to the ER around 9 pm on Monday night, with the help of a lovely friend who rushed to my aid since my husband Chuck wasn’t yet home from work.
That turned into an all-night stay—plus a ride to the hospital the next morning in an ambulance (minus the lights and sirens)—and then another 24 hours in the hospital’s Rapid Observation Unit, because all my tests were normal—despite my scary symptoms.
Full disclosure: Everyday Communication Sorcery works in a medical situation.
Here’s how I know that: My out-of-control–blood pressure and wildly racing pulse from Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation self-converted in the hospital less than 7 hours after I arrived.
And HOW? Because I consciously chose how I wanted to feel in just about every moment. You know that feeling you get when you are so scared you have to pay really close attention to everything? The threat of having a stroke will do that to you—you get really calm and really focused (unless of course you totally freak out—which is another story for another day).
The Sorcery
All my Sorcery served me so well:
- breathing (to kick in my “relaxation response”)
- using language to put a problem state in the past—even when I was in the middle of it—so I could bring my deepest resource state into the present
- trusting myself.
Everything I learned this year about the power of our Unconscious Mind and its treasure trove of resources fed my arsenal. Added to my long-honed strategies of Simple Shifts™ from my 2012 book, Dance Into Your Power, I was truly “loaded for bear.” (I know that’s a pretty arcane reference from the 19th century—however it’s the only phrase I can think of that fully describes my state in this experience.)
Here are three Simple Shifts that helped me this week:
- You bring about what you think about—so pay attention to your thoughts. This is the secret to all of my success and the first thing I teach my clients. In the hospital, I visualized myself as a skilled warrior, prepared to handle anything that came up. That state of mind helped me to be very clear about what I wanted (or didn’t want) from various medical personnel, which helped me tremendously. This left me feeling like I was never a victim of any of my circumstances—no matter what came up, I always had a choice. Even if it was a crappy one, the choice was always mine.
- Every obstacle brings a gift. As I was heading to the ER on Monday night, I was visualizing a short stay, because I had a long-awaited presentation the next morning for a wonderful group, The Boardroom, on Untangling Difficult Conversations. Jen and Jennifer had reached out to me in this past Spring, and we had been promoting it all month. At 3 a.m. when I was told I would not be going home—because they were scheduling the ambulance to take me to the hospital—I remembered this one. It involves a story about a 10-year-old kid who, when faced with the task of shoveling out a huge barn filled to the brim with horse manure, says delightedly, “I KNOW with all this POOP in here, there’s GOT TO BE A PONY!” Those were my sentiments exactly. My pony showed up that morning before noon when Jen rescheduled our program for January 9, 2024—the perfect timing to promote my January 25 launch of the online course, Untangle Your Difficult Conversations: What To Do When You’ve Been Treated Unfairly. What an awesome GIFT.
- Talk Nice to Yourself—and Grab Some Stones. Neuroscience has proven that your body can’t distinguish between a physical blow and a verbal blow, so it’s crucial that you lavish yourself with tender loving care in every way possible. The way I did it was to imagine that I was taking care of a baby who was in distress. (I know it sounds so corny—and I promise you on my life that it works wonders for your mental state, as well as your immune system.) Meanwhile, stones have been my secret weapon for decades. Because I’m also a crystals person, rocks and crystals surround me in every room of my home (I’m married to a geologist after all). On my way to the ER, I grabbed my two hand crystals (each fits in the palm of my hand) and put them in my pockets. I put a rose quartz stone in my bra over my heart, and a heart-shaped amethyst on the other side. (Call me crazy—and—I stop at nothing to soothe myself in distress.) Stones in my hand always ground me—and always help me to shift out of that “frightened baby” state into the resourceful state of calm and centered warrior. Sweet words and rocks—oh yeah.
Try This Yourself
You don’t have to have a medical emergency for these three Simple Shifts to work for you. You can try them out this week whenever you feel like you want to bring some Everyday Communication Sorcery into your life.
Play of The Week: Check in with yourself:
- What are you thinking about? Are you imagining disaster or visualizing success? If you’re stuck in disaster, change your thoughts to ANYTHING else—and see what happens in your body. Play with this—you can increase the amount of time you feel good, no matter what is happening in your life.
- How much POOP surrounds you right now? What if you imagined that all that poop merely indicates your invitation to dig out YOUR PONY? Play with this—you can increase the amount of time you feel good, no matter what is happening in your life.
- What are you saying to yourself? Are your words a punch—or a hug? See how you feel after talking to yourself—and increase the amount of time you treat yourself like a beloved child when you are in distress. Play with this—you can increase the amount of time you feel good, no matter what is happening in your life.
Try out these three Sorcery practices and see what happens. The Big Win here is to consider the possibility that they have merit—something you can only prove one way or the other by trying them out.
Important Note: All you’re doing this week
is PLAYING & EXPLORING.
is PLAYING & EXPLORING.
There’s NOTHING to SOLVE—and EVERYTHING TO DISCOVER.