Category Archives: Anxiety

    Diane Vich   →  Anxiety
    Categories Advice, Anxiety, Emotional pain, Fear, flare up, freedom, Health, motivation, positivity, self-actualization, Self-doubt, Speak your mind, stress relief, Worry

    Rock Bottom to Awareness

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    How do you get up from rock bottom?

    What do you do when you fall on your butt?

    What do you do when it feels like everything is falling apart?

    What do you do when life keeps sending you obstacles that throw you off course?

     

    Life always seems to send obstacles and challenges to throw us of course.  These obstacles can create frustration, stress and anxiety within us.  The journey can be annoying and difficult when you allow the stressful emotions to take over.  But actually each unique challenge is meant to make us stronger as we learn and grow. I have had plenty of rock bottom moments.  So many moments that threw me completely off course because stress got in the way.  And in the heat of the moment getting caught in the overwhelm and frustration creates havoc in our lives.  I have made plenty of these mistakes by getting caught in overwhelm and losing sight of my goals, dreams and purpose.  The amazing thing I have learned is that even after really challenging moments, everything works out in our favor in the long run.  In the midst of chaos it appears that our world is caving in around us but after all the dust settles, we evolve and life is better.

     

    Think about a stressful moment in your past.  Something that felt overwhelming and frustrating in the moment.  Maybe it was a physical injury, a lost job, a break up, a big argument or an illness.  In the heat of the moment you likely got caught up in the stressful feelings making you feel helpless and hopeless.  The effects of this stressful moment can last hours, days, weeks or months.  Trust me I know that some of these obstacles can truly get in our way and make us feel like the world is against us.  I have felt that way plenty of times.  Now think about that same situation after a few months passed.  Things settled and life started to return to normal. Your drive and motivation returned.  And life returned to its typical pace.  And when you reflect on those events, you might notice that everything worked out. But it wasn’t exactly as you planned it. For example, back in November 2019, I had an upset customer throw my life completely off balance.  In the heat of the moment, I was caught in my stressful emotions and felt a deep dread and impending doom.  I was caught in negative emotions and let the stress take over my life for weeks.  During this stressful situation, I felt helpless, hopeless and alone.  And literally in that moment when it all transpired, I was alone.  It all happened when my husband was away with my oldest son.  I was home alone with my youngest.  And I could have been enjoying this fun bonding time with him.  But instead I was dealing with the subconscious self-limiting beliefs that made me spiral into a sense of fear and overwhelm.  I was so stressed and anxious that I completely felt like my world was caving in on me. And I forgot I had 15 years of amazing customer service on my side.  I forgot that everyone has a bad day sometimes.  I forgot that sometimes you can’t please everyone even when you do everything in your power to support them.  I forgot that I am amazing at my job and that my colleagues all new it.  I lost sight of who I am and I lost hope for everything.  And that extreme stress caused sudden emotional shifts and crying fits. And this wasn’t the first or the last intensely stressful situation.

     

    In the heat of the moment, I let stress, anxiety and fear get the best of me. The situation left me feeling drained, exhausted and frustrated on all levels. I was physically drained of energy.  I lost mental focus and productivity.  I was emotionally frustrated and overwhelmed.  The funny thing is that I know better.  I know the power of using your awareness to free your body and mind of negative emotions.  And I teach my clients to use their awareness to take action and get out of these situations.  But everyone makes mistakes, even me. Because the subconscious mind is more powerful than we can imagine.  And I let myself spiral into the old frustrated version of myself.  I lost sight of all the amazing things in my life because I let the stress of that situation get the best of me.  And when stress gets the best of you, it can completely take over your life.  And it did for quite a while, until I began to slowly take charge of my life again.

     

    That challenging moment kept getting in my way as my self-limiting beliefs and negative thoughts took over my mind.  It continued for a few months as I worked through those negative thoughts, feelings and emotions.   And as I dealt with the true root of the problem my awareness and clarity began to unveil itself.  I have always known the root cause of our emotional shifts come from deep in our past experiences.  The emotional turmoil feels like it is the result of the current situation.  But that deep sense of overwhelm and frustration stems from something way in our past that is imbedded in our subconscious mind.  These overwhelming emotions usually stem from our past childhood and adolescent experiences that were never processed or resolved thoroughly.  And I have worked through many but the subconscious mind always needs attention.

     

    I slowly regained my self-confidence, motivation and drive.  But the journey back was dreadful and I know it was my choice to allow that to take place.  I could have responded differently and ended the torment quickly.  Thankfully, my reputation for great customer service, kindness and compassion prevailed.  And that dreadful day slowly disappeared from my mind.  In that moment of intense anxiety, stress and overwhelm; I was stuck in emotions from the past.  I was processing emotions from my childhood as a Special needs child.  Most people don’t realize that I had a Learning Disability.  They can’t believe that a successful Nurse and Educator could possibly have had learning challenges.  But I did and the journey was not easy.  I worked hard to get out of special classes and eventually graduate with honors from High school and college. But my unprocessed emotions from my childhood were hidden far away in my subconscious mind.  I honestly had no memory or recollection of my experiences as a special needs child.  Actually my childhood was all a blur and I know now it is because I was always stuck in the fight or flight response.  I spent most of my life stuck in this dreadful state of overwhelm and my health declined progressively till I took charge in my 30s.  The stress response was always in motion for me creating havoc on my body physically and emotionally. Just to paint a little picture of what stress can do to your body. I had lost half of my hair by my 20s.  I had severe digestive issues that eventually required surgery and multiple prescriptions.  I had chronic pain and numbness that began in High school. And my health was at a point of crisis in my mid 30s.

     

    Now let’s jump back to the experiences with self-limiting beliefs as a special needs child.  I honestly had no recollection of my experiences as a special needs child until the dust settled after the incident in November.  I realized that all those intense emotions had nothing to do with the situation at hand.  But rather my physical and emotional response mirrored my childhood when I was bullied for being different.  I was teased and picked on because it took me longer to take tests.  I was teased because math and reading was harder for me.  I was ridiculed because I was different from everyone else.  I was isolated because I was the girl that had to leave mainstream class to go to several special classes during the day. I was made fun of because I was bigger and more voluptuous than girls my age.  I was under so much stress due to this emotional turmoil and frustration that I had completely blocked most of my childhood memories.  As a means of protection my mind literally shut down and hid most of my childhood memories, even the good ones.

     

    A few weeks after issue in November, the dust settled and life came back to normal. My career was intact and my overwhelming emotions had resolved.  And as families reached out to me for support to help their special needs children with anxiety a huge realization happened within.  And I finally realized bullying was part of my past that I had never recognized or recalled.  And I never would have realized that truth about my past if this challenge wasn’t placed in my path.  That customer through me off course because it was time for me to evolve and grow from that experience.  It was time for me to process the past and let go of those negative feelings that no longer serve me.  And I needed to realize that I had the power to decide if I would let people push my buttons.  I was finally in charge and I didn’t need to allow others to impact my emotional state or drain my energy anymore.  It is ironic because I knew that I needed to set boundaries, I even talk about it in my book, “The Truth about IBS and Anxiety.”  But I didn’t realize I needed to set clear boundaries with everyone including strangers.  It is funny how sometimes you need a slap in the face to wake up and see the clear picture in front of you.  It all worked out in the end and I learned from my mistakes.  But it took a while for the truth of this experience to enter my conscious mind.  And it all happened this week as a much more obvious obstacle came in my way.  And sometimes the challenge is a wakeup call.

     

    This week those pesky negative thoughts were pushing me once again. It all became clear after I literally fell on my butt.  This time it wasn’t an event that made me stumble and fall.  It wasn’t an argument or confrontation.  It was literally an internal fight within my mind that threw me off balance.  Let’s just say it started 20 minutes before the moment I lost my balance and fell on my butt.  And it occurred because I wasn’t practicing what I teach.  I wasn’t transforming the negative voice in my head.  I wasn’t using my awareness to set myself free from the stress.  Instead I was letting the negative voice take over my emotions and creating a sense of hopelessness once again.  Some people might call this negative voice, Chatty Cathy, but I call her Negative Nancy.  Or for the gentlemen I call him Negative Norm.  Let’s just say Negative Nancy was on overdrive in my mind and those thoughts were getting in my way.  And since I wasn’t paying attention, I was about to get a rude awakening. It was time for me to practice what I preach but I wasn’t listening or observing the message. I was falling back into my stress cycle and I needed a wakeup call to see it.  Something had to give for me to see clearly.

     

    And boom the signs were all about to become super clear once everything fell apart.  I stubbed my big toe. My subconscious mind didn’t budge and I kept allowing Negative Nancy to take over.  And as the helplessness grew in my mind, my anxiety began to take over.  My emotions of frustration were building and I was getting grumpy for no apparent reason.  The day had been beautiful, peaceful and relaxing but I was not feeling relaxed at all.  My mind was stuck on negative overdrive for no apparent reason.  The message was going to be very different this time.  And boom I stubbed my pinkie toe with metal.  This bump made me see stars as the sharp pain radiated up my body.  It was so hard there was an instant hematoma.  It hurt so bad I had to breathe deeply to catch my breath.  It took a few minutes to get blood flow back to my head because the pain was overwhelming.   I was seeing black spots as the pain slowly resolved itself.  A few minutes later I realized my toe was bleeding and went to clean it up.  But my negative mind was still at full force and things were about to tumble quickly.

     

    I had no idea that I was going to experience an epiphany as my life flashed before my eyes. I had my right foot on the counter as I tried to clean my pinkie toe. I leaned over to reach for a tissue paper that was just inches away from me. But my body was not stable or balanced.  And suddenly I lost my balance and my life flashed before my eyes.  I tried to grab the toilet and stop the tumble to the floor.  It all happened in super slow motion as I remembered all the other times I had fallen and injured myself over the last 40+ years.  I slowly went down twisting in midair till my butt hit the toilet rim. After the sharp intense thump on my butt and hip I stumbled to the ground.  I laid on the ground for several minutes taking it all in.  I took deep breaths to regain my vision and energy.  It took some deep breathing to relieve the intense sharp pain in my lower back and butt. In this brief moment of breathing and reflecting, I realized that each of these injuries could have been avoided.  All of those events were under my control but I had chosen to let the negative voice take over.  I avoided using my awareness to set me free from the stress and the stress clouded my vision.  It is interesting how life literally needs to throw a curveball for you to see clearly.

     

    I took it all in.  Step by step from the moment I walked out of the car feeling stressed out.  I was worried about something.  And the impending doom made those negative thoughts and emotions go haywire in my brain.  And when your mind goes haywire everything goes off balance.  It literally throws your entire day off balance.  I didn’t realize how powerful the subconscious self-limiting beliefs were until I reflected on the events that had occurred since November.  My anger and negative emotions took over until I felt it in my body.  Yep, that is exactly what happens, when you stub your toe, hit your funny bone, cut your finger, etc.  You are thinking of something that the universe, god or whoever you believe in wants you to stop obsessing over.  To make a point and create a sense of awareness within you something will happen.  And that means an event, accident or confrontation will come into your life to get you to open your eyes and see it.  And hopefully you get the message and stop the negativity and self-loathing.  Hopefully you stop breath and reflect. And wake up and Smell the coffee.  The life events that come into our path are all learning experiences.  And life is great at changing the subject when you are smack in the middle of a stressful situation.

     

    We have all felt extra stress during this quarantine.  As a nurse, I left so many close friends, family and colleagues at the frontline.  It has been devastating to be far away from them when they needed support and love.  Yet, my fear and negative thoughts kept getting in my way.  I let all those negative thoughts stop me from reaching out to them when they needed me most.  And I spent the last few weeks working up my strength and resilience to help those I love most.  And it was my awareness after falling on my butt, that made me realize, this moment is exactly where I am supposed to be.  I was given a gift to share with the world.  And I have been hiding it because of my own insecurities and self-doubt.  I have been hiding because I fear what people will think of my uniqueness.  But the truth is it doesn’t matter.  Because the people I love at the frontline deserve to see the silly side of me.  They deserve to have the funny girl that brings a smile, a joke and inspirational words into their days.  And if that means I get on Camera with a wig and make a funny joke as I teach a relaxation technique then so be it. So after falling on my butt, I realized that my uniqueness can inspire others to use their awareness to set themselves free from the turmoil within.  And I was inspired to create a unique experience for my friends and colleagues at the frontline.  So I created a video teaching some simple relaxation techniques wearing one of my wigs. So the moral of this story is get up and get out of your own way.  The world is sending me challenges and obstacles for you to evolve into the person you dream.  Sitting at the sidelines doesn’t serve anyone. So get up and get moving.  Your awareness and action can set you free from the stress that lies within.

    Categories Anxiety, autoimmune, Emotional pain, Health, motivation, Physical Pain, Transformation

    Keep Your Head Up!

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    I woke up this morning with a song playing in my head.  As the words played, I remembered that everything is always evolving for the greater good.  The music playing in my head is all a beautiful sign that my day is starting off in alignment with my bright, intuitive, positive and creative nature.  Trust me it has been difficult for me too.  I may not be working at the bedside as an RN because my chronic illness and autoimmune disease lead me to a different role but I still experience plenty of stress.  I am the lucky nurse that calls families with Covid-19 results.  I am the special person that was chosen to give the news weather good or bad to families.  And trust me those calls can be difficult, stressful and challenging.  But my resilience and mindful practices support me so that I can be strong and support the families in the community.

    Life tends to through us plenty of obstacles.  Even with all the mindful activities that I practice and my perseverance, some days are harder than others.  And one of the things that seem to disappear when I am stressed is my creativity and writing.  Most people don’t realize this little secret because they see me on social media and assume that everything is perfect.  I used to write on this blog consistently before the spring of 2019.  But over the past year stress, challenges and obstacles kept throwing me off track.  And even though I was writing a little and publishing books, I still felt frozen and stuck.  And this phenomenon can happen for all of us on a regular day but now in the midst of a pandemic the stress is heightened. Trust me those days that I have to call a patient with a positive result aren’t easy.  But my unique stress reduction techniques propel me forward and help me stay healthy, happy and positive.  And it is essential because if I fall apart then everything around me will fall apart too.  If I make that phone call feeling sad, gloomy and upset – the families will feel it too.  And if the families I call feel it on the phone – imagine what my family feels as we are all confined in our homes.

    Stress and overwhelm reaches everyone you come into contact with and everyone you love.  You may not realize that the way you feel impacts those around you but it absolutely does.  Yesterday, I had a weird day, I wasn’t stressed or anxious but I didn’t feel connected to my creativity or productivity.  I wasn’t my typical fun and creative self.  I usually incorporate some fun creativity in the day for Lucas but I didn’t.  I usually plan an art project, game or science project.  These activities give us time for bonding, laughing, creativity and fun.  But yesterday I didn’t do any of that.  And Lucas spent all day entertaining himself which resulted in anxiety and sensory overload before bed.  And it resulted in him having anxiety and difficulty sleeping.

    The biggest secret I learned in my journey overcoming chronic illness and debilitating pain is that it is crucial to tackle the emotional and physical root simultaneously.  And the emotional stress is the most complex.  It is essential to shift the negative thoughts in the subconscious mind and staying positive.  And during this Pandemic Crisis it is absolutely crucial to stay positive and optimistic.  When we fail to see the positive in our days it makes us stay frozen, fearful and stuck.  This pandemic has been difficult for all of us.  But the beautiful gift is that there is a reason for everything, even this crisis.  And there is always sunshine after the storm.  The gift we have all received from this quarantine is more quality and quantity time for bonding and connecting with those we love. We all have more time to be with our children.  We all have more time to call up a friend and say hello.  We all have more time to video chat with extended family.  We all have more time to sit outdoors and meditate.  We all have more time to exercise and take time for ourselves.  But if we get stuck in the negative thoughts and distractions we can’t appreciate the positive gifts we have received.

    Staying positive during the difficult times can be easier than you think.  Somedays might feel super complicated and impossible to overcome.  Trust me I have had some pretty horrible days over the past few years.  I have had days that made me want to curl up in bed and stay there.  I have had days filled with physical pain.  I have had days filled with sadness and frustration.  I have had days that made me feel like crying constantly.  But I pushed through them because I knew that staying in that negative space would only make things worse.  And I knew every new day is always a fresh start.  And with a fresh start comes a new outlook. And with a new outlook comes new possibilities.  Sometimes it is hard to remember the sunshine will come out tomorrow.  Trust me I completely understand.  These days have been difficult for me too.  But if you keep your head up, stay positive and shift that subconscious mind anything is possible.

    Like the song says, we have to stay in the positive, keep your head up and stop worrying.  The secret to manifesting your wellness is to stay focused on your goal and stay positive.  If we allow the stress to overcome us and live in fear then Covid-19 wins.  Somedays are harder to feel relaxed, calm, peaceful and healthy.  But the secret is remembering there is always a rainbow after the rainstorm.  There is always sunshine tomorrow if you shift those thoughts and stay positive. Tomorrow is always a fresh start to achieve your dreams.  The obstacles, challenges and this pandemic is only a bump in the road. The sunshine will come again if you breath, relax and stay positive.

    Today is a fresh start to embrace the beauty and gifts around us. Are your ready to Manifest your own Wellness?  Do you want to stay Positive during this pandemic? Do you want to Thrive?  You can manifest your own wellness and stay positive.  If I can manifest wellness inside a body filled with autoimmune disease and genetic predispositions than anyone can. And you can manifest wellness now even amidst a pandemic. So, are your ready to stay Positive? Do you want someone to motivate you to stay positive? Then check out this exclusive program to support you during this crisis.

    Manifest Wellness with Diane

    Thanks Andy Grammer for waking me up with your beautiful song.  The song that played was You gotta Keep Your Head Up! 

    Categories accomplishment, Advice, Anxiety, autoimmune, autoimmune crisis, Chronic Pain, Digestive Issues, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, fatigue, Fibromyalgia, gym, Health, hope, pain, Physical Pain

    Autoimmune Warrior

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    What does it mean to be an autoimmune warrior?  It means you fight hard to overcome your symptoms and live the life you dream.  It means that there are battles and sometimes your fail but you get back up and do it again.  But most of all it means that once you finally succeed, it is time to share your story and help others accomplish the same.  It wasn’t an easy journey.  It was filled with obstacles and challenges.  It took me 7 years to perfect my process.  There were tons of rock bottom failures.  But we all learn from our mistakes.  That is when you find a way out, dust yourself off and do it again.  There were many times that I wanted to give up and eat junk food.  There were many times I wasn’t motivated to exercise.  There were plenty of hard days.  There were plenty of horrible days.  But every challenge I faced only made me stronger.  I have autoimmune leaky gut and a genetic syndrome called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.  The combination can be pretty debilitating and overwhelming.  If I wouldn’t have chosen to make my health a priority my life would be very different right now.  It wasn’t an easy decision to put myself before others.  After all I am a mom, wife and nurse.  All those amazing things means you put everyone else before you.  And I absolutely love doing that but when my health started to fail and it impacted my children’s joy, I stopped to reflect.  If I didn’t find a way out they would be faced with the hardships of having a chronically ill mom to care for and they didn’t deserve that fate.

    Leaky gut is a condition that allows particle of food to travel throughout your body.  These particles begin to wreck havoc everywhere.  Then your immune system begins to attack the food particles and your own body in the process.  Leaky gut and autoimmune disease is a backfiring of your own immune system.  Your body attacks itself creating physical symptoms and pain. I suffered from symptoms since childhood.  But I had no idea what or why it was happening until my 30s.  I’ve learned a lot on this journey to find wellness.  My journey took me through an educational journey to find answers for others that ended up helping me.  My career evolved from a Special Education teacher to a Registered nurse in hopes of helping children with special needs overcome their health battles.  And the amazing gift that unveiled was the very answered I needed for myself.  In the process my health eventually failed and crisis struck.  I desperately searched for a solution to my horrible digestive issues. Slowly my body began to heal and transform.  The journey helped me develop an incredible technique that I have used to support my clients and children.  I reduced and practically eliminated all my symptoms in my body.  And boy were those symptoms extensive.  I used to experience all of these symptoms almost daily: reflux, bloating, cramping, anxiety, fatigue, chronic pain, frequent illness, migraines, headaches, etc.  The symptoms became overwhelming and my life seemed to be falling apart.  I knew that there had to be a better way to live.  And I knew my children deserved better.  And I am so thankful and grateful for the journey that brought me here. But to truly understand the hardship, it is time to take you into a journey about genetics.

    I went to countless specialists and as my research evolved I knew there was a genetic condition behind all my extensive medical diagnosis and symptoms.  But it wasn’t easy to find.  I went to rheumatologists, Gastroenterologists, neurologists and then finally a geneticist.  And that was finally when I got the answer I was looking for, I was diagnosed with EDS III. Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is a debilitating condition that impacts every organ, muscle and tissue of your body.  Most people with this condition have tons of surgeries and need assistive devices.  The pain and frequent injuries leave you feeling ashamed and useless.  Thankfully I was able to overcome that dreadful time in my life.  It has been amazing to see that I was able to develop a routine that has helped me become more active and energized.  It has been a long journey.  But I learned a lot along the way.  And the most valuable gift was that all genetic conditions, illnesses and diseases have a root cause that needs to be addressed synergistically for true success.  Trust me I was skeptical. I didn’t believe myself for years.  I didn’t truly accept that there were 2 root causes of my illness.  And then suddenly in 2019, as I wrote my book, “The Truth about IBS and Anxiety,” everything became crystal clear.  As I helped people heal, I truly began to see the transformations that were possible with my process and the gifts they experienced.  You see the truth about what I teach, is that it doesn’t only help mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa; it helps the kids and grandkids too.

    Think about it this way.  Reflect on your week or your month.  Was there a day that you were super stressed, anxious or overwhelmed?  Did it change the way you behaved?  Did it change the way you felt? Did it change the way you spoke to others?  Did it change their reaction? I bet if you truly think about it, you will say, YES, YES, YES.  I will give you an example.  My client, Demi, suffered from chronic illness, reflux, chronic pain and fatigue.  She felt hopeless and alone when we began working together.  She was sure she was doomed to fail and hopeless.  As we worked together to create a supportive routine for her, she began to transform easily.  Her weight seemed to melt away.  Her symptoms seemed to disappear.  Her energy and motivation increased.  And her life completely changed.  But it didn’t stop with her, it extended to the entire family.  Her husband and children began to eat healthier.  The more energetic and happy she became, the more fun and exciting their relationship became.  And her children began to change too.  When we started working together her youngest had anxiety and trouble sleeping.  He often complained of stomach aches and headaches.  As she began to improve the way she felt, their health began to change too.  She began to really see that her own health impacted the entire family.  She began to notice that the days she was stressed and overwhelmed, everyone was stressed and overwhelmed.  She noticed that when she screamed and lost her temper, her kids suddenly had a symptoms arise.  She noticed that when she wasn’t following her routine, it affected the world around her too.

    The beautiful gift she thanked me for her compassion and courage

    The funny thing is that I didn’t realize I gave her that gift until now.  I actually created that audio about courage and compassion for myself.  Because getting on camera, writing my book and sharing my story has been a difficult journey.  It has tested my resilience and perseverance.  It has tested my patience and kindness.  It has tested me in all facets of my life.  But Demi reminded me that my journey is not only to help women.  She reminded me by helping one person, I help everyone around them heal as well.  Because if one person can make a different to transform the world around them, imagine the possibilities if more people do the same.  We all deserve to feel happy, energized and vibrant.  We all deserve to thrive in life.  We all deserve to reach our ultimate potential.  And it all starts by working on yourself first.  I never thought I could overcome my chronic debilitating pain.  I though I was destined to live a life of pain and fatigue.  I thought that surgery and physical therapy was the only way to reduce my symptoms.  But now I surpassed all my physical limitations.  I went from a girl that never exercised or played sports because her pain was so intense.  To a girl that rock climbs, dances and repels down waterfalls.  And it all began with a decision to work on me first.  And the same magical transformations happen when my clients unveil their own healing powers.

    Categories Anxiety, Digestive Issues, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Stop Bloat

    The Journey to Published!

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    The journey to becoming Published was not easy. It didn’t just land in my lap. The path to create this book took me 7 years. It took me a 7 years to truly learn my body and overcome my IBS. It was more than a diet change to combat the overwhelming symptoms. The process would have been so much easier if I had a coach to guide me through it. But my path was perfectly set exactly as it was because I was meant to be the person to make the difference. I was created to change the world for others around me. My pain, heartache and struggles were a necessary part of my journey. Because they made me the woman I am today. And if I wouldn’t have overcome so much, I never would have published this book. I never would have transformed my career over the past 20 years from Special Education Teacher, to Nurse, to Professor, to Health Coach, to Hypnotist and finally Author. The journey was never meant to help me figure out my health problems. It was always leading me to a better good. A deeper purpose was always in my heart but luckily for me the path also brought me an awakening of my own gifts and self-healing emerged. And in the path to self-healing and wellness, I discovered a multitude of other gifts that had been hiding. I learned that my empathy could be transformed from a curse to a gift. I learned that my love for the community and helping others was in my path. I realized my career wasn’t set in stone. I realized I could be everything I dreamed and more. And in the process this amazing course by Angela Lauria landed on my lap. She popped up on my Facebook news feed in July and I loved every minute of the course. It spoke right to my heart and everything I had always dreamed. To be an author and share my truth. I took a leap and filled out the application. The universe didn’t make that easy either. I had to fill it out twice because it disappeared before I submitted it the first time. But I persisted and completed the application again. I never thought they would pick my story to be published. But they did. And my final interview happened in August while I was on family vacation in Hawaii. And the journey began. The path was not easy and it wasn’t supposed to be. It happened exactly how it was meant to unfold. I worked everyday balancing family life, full time nursing, and writing. I woke up most days between 4am and 5am when everyone else was sound asleep. I wrote till 6 am and got the kids ready for school. Then I left home before 7 to spend the day at the hospital. And I would return home again to finish what I had started in the morning. Some days were easier than others. Some days I finished a chapter in an hour. Some days the chapters didn’t flow at all. Some days were filled with anxiety and symptoms. Some days were filled with joy and love. But even on the hard days I pushed to overcome those obstacles and challenges. I worked to create a safe space for myself that would spark my creativity again. And the creativity would reemerge. And then one day all the chapters were finally written. Some needed an overhaul but they were written. And a sense of relief came over me. I had finally expressed my story on paper with a bigger purpose. I had finally overcome that fear of being seen and heard. That fear that had held me back this last year of evolution. I was finally on the path to my dreams. And it all started with a class about writing my book. This week has been amazing and stressful all in one bundle. Finally being a Published author can be checked off my list. But the path to help others truly transform their health and lives is just beginning to unfold. And yesterday was the hardest day of all. The day when all those pesky fears popped back into my mind. The fear of being seen and being heard. The fear of having it all reemerged in the middle of class. And tears began to roll down my face. In that moment I realized exactly who had made this all possible for me. But the emotions had never truly hit me until that moment. I wrote about him in the book but the tears had never flowed. I’ve told the story countless times but never really felt the emotions. My Angel that made all of this possible was a close friend and my own gastroenterologist, Dr. Angel Veloso. He told me 7 years ago that I needed to change or I was going to die. He told me Nursing was killing me and I needed a break. And if he wouldn’t have pushed me to leave the bedside I wouldn’t be here today. And that is why the tears ran down my face yesterday. The tears that not many saw. They all did notice my smile was not the same. My cheery upbeat attitude was hiding underneath. It was hard for me to speak to anyone when we went on break. I had to process all those emotions. I had to truly release those beliefs that triggered those feelings. And I did just that. I prayed, meditated and relaxed in the meditation room. I felt much more relaxed and centered. My fears were slowly drifting away. And then something was calling me back to the classroom. So I prayed and meditated some more in front of the giant crystalline stone. And suddenly I felt everything come back to place. I was my happy, energized and motivated self again. And I was thankful that the very person that opened this path for me was proud that I was on this journey. I had told him weeks ago about the book. And he was excited that I was going to help others with my story. And finally my inner strength and resilience reemerged to plan the path for the next year. I realize now the true potential within me that has unveiled. I finally see that I can truly help people thrive in life. And it all starts with the gut. So my path is set, my year is planned and my next journey is unfolding. The question I have for you is… Do you know someone that suffers from IBS and digestive issues? Do you have digestive issues or IBS? Are you willing to share your story to help me collect case studies for the book? Are you available for a call that could change your future? Do you want to eliminate the symptoms of IBS? Do you know someone that is overwhelmed and desperate for a solution to their symptoms? Then share this article with them. And if it is you than schedule a call. If you have IBS and are suffering with symptoms all the time. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Let’s chat….

    Categories ADHD, Advice, Anxiety, brain disorders, Empath, fatigue, Health, kids, Mommy

    Sensory Overload

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    What is sensory overload? It occurs when input bombards your senses from all directions.  This is exactly what happens when you receive stimuli in all 5 senses simultaneously.  It can happen in loud parties, conferences, schools, public places, work, events, etc.  Many events and public venues create this feeling of increased stress due to the magnitude of sensory assaults that are emitted from equipment or people.  These constant and repetitive sensations trigger a reaction in the body.  It is the flight or flighty response.  You know the fear of the situation takes over, all your stress hormones turn on and you can fight back or run.  You can either be stuck in the moment and allow the stress to build until you explode.  Or you can step away and relax your senses.  We are all impacted by noises, visuals and sensory stimuli but some have a significantly more potent experience.  And for those that are anxious like me, sensory overload can be overpowering and exhausting.  That’s right.  It is exhaustingly depleting your energy every moment you stay stuck in that uncomfortable situation.  And if the stress left unaddressed it accumulates in the body creating a sense of panic.  That is why children and adults exhibit feelings of anger or frustration when sensitivities accumulate resulting in a reaction of some sort or a tantrum.  A child might have a tantrum or cry during fireworks.  A teen might get in a fight or scream at someone in a loud concert.  And an adult might have an argument during a music festival.   Of course there are unlimited possibilities and unlimited scenarios.   But I’m all about positive solutions for the life we live in the environment around us.  Helping others finding the mental wellness they desire through simple modifications in their daily lives.

    So let’s get back to overstimulation in public venus.  In public events there are often many groups of people talking, kids laughing, babies screaming, overhead lights, flashing lights, loud music, etc.  It feels like an overwhelming assault on your senses and it happens every second.  You might be engaged in a conversation but all the stimulation keeps distracting you.  Its difficult to speak or understand everything.  If you are trying to do something on your phone, its 10 times harder to concentrate.  Any task or action you need to perform becomes excruciatingly difficult.  Every second builds into minutes and hours of stimulation entering your 5 senses.  And after many hours your body is completely drained and devastated.  I bet you know someone who is highly sensitive.  They may have an official diagnosis or medical condition.  If you know someone you feel in your gut or body when you imagine them.  The diagnosis or condition doesn’t matter.  It is just a name given to a condition that is covered by an insurance.  Its a name for something that will helps you acquire treatments or services.  But this is simply about understanding your body and taking ACTION to help yourself relax.  I am talking recognizing the symptoms or pain your body send you.  It is about Recognizing the triggers that cause you to experience the stress in your body.  If you can picture a friend who is always sick or has a headache.  A friend who always has a stomach ache or pain.  Or maybe its you.  Maybe you always have this creeping pressure in your chest.  Or your stomach feels like you swallowed a basketball.   Take a moment to think about the last time you felt that way.  What where you doing?  Where were you?  What did you feel in your body?  How did you feel in that place?  What emotion comes to mind.

    Ok so now that you have a better idea if you are sensitive or you know someone who is sensitive let’s take a deeper look.  Highly sensitive individuals include but are not limited to those diagnosed with a conditions like Autism, Seizure Disorders, ADHD, Multiple Sclerosis, PTSD, Anxiety and Mental health issues.  It is prevalent in all ages (infants, children, teens and adults).

    Here are some possible examples:

    • A child that is very spacey and distracted.  They appear to be in another world many times a day.
    • A friend that keeps fidgeting and looking at their watch during your conversation.
    • A coworker that loses eye contact during conversation and is looking at everyone in the room instead.
    • An infant that is unconsolable and crying in her mother’s arms.
    • A friend that screams at you during a normal conversation for no apparent reason.
    • A child that hides in a tent during fireworks.
    • A person that is pacing back and forth.

    Some symptoms of sensory overload: difficulty focusing, irritability, restlessness, urge to cover your ears, urge to shield your eyes from light,  feeling overly excited, feeling anxious (fearful or stressed) and feeling sensitive to things rubbing against your skin (textures, fabrics, clothing tags and nails).  Some symptoms may be even more confusing than you thought.  I experienced sensory overload after attending a child’s party.  The event was in a loud party venue (loud music, bright colors, kids, laughing, kids screaming, bright lights and tons of talking).  As the time passed I felt more tired and drained.  By the end of the event I was in such exhaustion that I needed a nap.  Napping is not my typical routine.  I usually have more than enough energy to complete my day.  I might need an afternoon meditation but a nap usually won’t happen.  Years ago I was exhausted like this every day.  I had chronic fatigue and realize now that sensory overload was a huge part of this.  So I returned home after the party tried a meditation but was still exhausted.  And I cuddled up into my sheets to sleep for 1.5 hours.  I woke up did another meditation and finally felt vibrant again.  Interestingly my son exhibits symptoms of sensory overload too.   But his energy was not impacted in the same way mine was.  He actually developed a headache.   After all the stimulation was over and it was time for bed, his head was pounding.  I’ve been learning his symptoms along with mine for several months now.  Becoming aware of your symptoms takes some effort.  And observing your child is important to understand their symptoms.  It is also important to ask them questions about their day and how they feel.  Its important to help your child deal with sensory overload.  It also helps you develop strategies to reduce sensory overload regularly.  And have a plan in place for full fledged sensory exhaustion.

    Our nervous system has two important parts that need to work together to establish balance: the sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is involved in activities of wakefulness and alertness.  The sympathetic nervous system is involved in the fight or flight response.  This response helps us defend ourself during dangerous situations.  Dysfunction of the sympathetic nervous system results in nervousness, stress, and anxiety.  The parasympathetic nervous system is involved  in our restful activities like sleep and digestion.   It promotes healing, regeneration, nourishment and elimination.  Activating this system in your body is essential to reduce stress, sensory overload, and anxiety.  Dysfunction of the parasympathetic system appears in symptoms of lethargy and fatigue.  If the body is unable to calm and rebalance in response to these changes causes oxidative stress in the body. A prolonged stress response leads to stress on the adrenal glands and immune system.  The prolonged stress response begins to exhibit symptoms and eventually illness in the body.

    As an empath, I realize there are many people that experience this deep inner sense of stress.  And these people experience it like me, every moment, in every second, in every activity.   But I hadn’t realized its impact on the body until recently.  It is so overwhelming that symptoms arise quickly.  The stress builds and symptoms accumulate over time.  I’ve noticed the prevalence of children exhibiting symptoms of pain or digestive issues is a growing trend.  I was the same as many of the patients coming through the hospitals regularly.  Children with inexplicable symptoms and negative lab results.  Test after test just leads to no answers or solution for your child.  So what if we decide to take a step back and observe.  Taking time to understand your child a little closer and observing the symptoms that arise.  Here are some common symptoms of sensory overload.  And I also have some relaxation techniques to help your child calm their senses.  But there are plenty more strategies that help calm the nervous system.   And everyone is different, so its imperative to create an individualized routine for yourself or your child.  The routine should be based on the individuals needs and preferences.

    Symptoms of a Child with Sensory overload:

    • Tantrum
    • Throwing things
    • Kicking
    • Screaming
    • Zoning out/Day dreaming
    • Cover their eyes or ears
    • Shift in mood

    And there are scientific methods of reducing this overload in yourself and your children.

    Strategies to avoid sensory overload:

    • Plan to leave events early from parties- have an exit strategy and take breaks
    • Shopping- Plan, write a list and prepare before you enter the store.  Being prepared will enable you to gather everything you need and exit the store quickly thus reducing the impact of sensory overload.
    • Learn your triggers and those of your child – It will help you plan for new events and have methods at hand to reduce symptoms.

    5 Ways to Calm your Child’s senses:

    • Guide your child to relax with visual imagery and story telling
    • Relax outside in Nature
    • Cuddle and watch a relaxing nature show
    • Blow bubbles
    • Noise cancelling headphones with peaceful nature sounds

    If you want to learn more ways to help your child with special needs.  Then stay tuned for events and webinars coming soon.  I will be presenting soon at Miami Family Friendly Hands in October.   I will be discussing sensory overload and its impact on children and adults with disabilities.

    Categories Anxiety, Chronic Pain, Emotional pain, Empath, Empathy, fatigue, Fear, flare up, Fulfillment, Health, hope, Human Needs, motivation, Physical Pain, positivity, self-actualization, Self-doubt, Speak your mind

    An Empathic Awekening

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    What is empathy?  Empathy is a sense of understanding the feelings and experiences of another person.   Many of us are empathetic towards our friends, coworkers or family members experiences.  And we have some form of empathy this sense of every day in conversations or communication with others.  We may even experience empathy watching a movie, TV show or listening to a song.  There are many unique individuals that choose to live a life of empathy and service to others.  Those special individuals live a life of service in one form or another to better the lives of the world around them.  They often choose their profession because of their high sense of empathy and compassion towards others.  These loving individuals in the health care or service profession experience more empathic situations than others do because of their work environment.  For example, my profession healthcare (nurses, doctors, EMT, Medical Assistants, Fire fighters, etc.) experience much more empathy because their career choice is founded on helping others.  Every day they care for patients facing health challenges and they serve them in their role.  Each of their patients is facing unique experiences that involve some form of physical or emotional pain.  The healthcare workers role is empathic in and of itself, simply by their conscious decision to help others.  Many health care workers may experience added stress or health issues because of their career choice and the way they process these experiences.

    And yet there are still people that experience an extreme sense of empathy.  This highly exclusive gift is almost impossible for others to understand.  They experience empathy at a cellular level throughout their entire body.  You can’t imagine feeling this form of empathy unless you experience it first-hand.  Those enlightened individuals are empath’s and they feel exponentially more than everyone around them.  Empath’s are individuals with a gift of hypersensitivity.  Some may call it a curse but I call it a gift.  Of course to reach this point of awareness and acceptance was quite a journey for me and those around me.   Empath’s are hypersensitive to the feelings, thoughts, pains and emotions of others.  That little fact was even hard for me to understand even-though I had an intuitive feeling lingering in my mind for a long time.  The interesting fact is that many empaths (hypersensitive people) don’t even realize the extent of their empathy or the toll it can take on their own health.  For instance my career paths have always lead me to a trajectory of caring for others in various roles and environments.  My careers gradually transitioned and transformed from one career into the next in the service realm.   Every career choice was a compassionate one: Special Education Teacher, Nursing Assistant, Registered Nurse, Health Coach, Hypnotist and now Transformational Author.  These are all careers based on supporting the community by nurturing, caring, and loving others.  All of these career choices were based on love and a hope to make a difference.  They were each an opportunity to improve the lives of those around me.  I acknowledged my empath gift a few years ago but didn’t understand its true impact.  I had NO idea the significant role it played in my own emotional and physical wellbeing.  I had seen a rollercoaster decline in my health and happiness but had no idea my empathic gift was the culprit.  And truly it wasn’t the culprit at ALL now that I understand my gift.  The cause of my health decline was my lack of understanding and preparation to live with my special gift.  After all we may be born empathic but the cultivation of a deep connection with Your Inner Strength takes time.  It was my lack of knowledge that caused me to fail at meeting my own basic human needs.  It was a lack of self-loving, self-care practices that was my downfall.  It was my lack of knowledge about self-protection that truly opened my eyes.

    Imagine a person that is so open and willing to help others every second of everyday.  They are so willing that they do this subconsciously all day long, 365 days a year, over and over again.  And I mean in the moment and every moment.  It could be a text message, phone call, face to face conversation or care-giver relationship.  You name the situation and my body was ready to tackle it. And I had no idea it was happening for almost 38 years.  I was effortlessly absorbing feelings, thoughts, emotions, pain and experiences of those around me.   I absolutely mean absorb because that is what empaths do.    And that is exactly what I used to do every day.  I was completely oblivious and unaware it was happening.  I did it with patients, complete stranger, friends, family members, co-worker, etc. It didn’t matter who it was if they were in pain I was ready to fix them or give them a little relief.  The true awakening began when I noticed TV shows and movies triggered intense feelings.

    Hypersensitive people are extremely sensitive to the energetic vibrations, emotions, thoughts and feelings of others.  This weird phenomena can actually allow them to absorb the feelings, thoughts and emotions of others into their bodies.  I know it sounds crazy because until I experienced it for myself I thought it was a crazy too.  Then I started to feel intense emotions during movies and TV shows.  The most significant experiences I had were watching Game of Thrones or other violent shows.  And the most traumatic scenes in the first few episodes of Game of Thrones were the hardest for me to handle. I could feel the good, the bad and the ugly.  I could feel everything as if it was happening to me.  I could see the pain in Kalisi’s eyes as her new husband raped her.  I could feel her pain when her brother treated her like garbage.  It wasn’t always negative or bad.  I felt the good ones too.  I could feel her love transform into something new for her husband.  And when I say feel, I mean my heart would race, my blood would boil, the emotions would pop into my head and fill my entire body. I could feel her fear; her shame and it took a lot of work to be able to watch the few episodes that I did.  We tried to watch it years ago but it was too violent and at that point I hadn’t established a self-love routine.  This past year we tried to watch it again and every time those rough and tough emotions came up I practiced my own routine on the couch amidst the chaotic show.  Yep, I changed my breathing pattern, I chanted affirmations in my mind, I practiced my stretching and relaxation techniques to release those emotions that had entered me.  It was an exhausting process and eventually we stopped watching the show.  I truly thought it was an amazing show but it was a lot of work to stay relaxed and calm because I hadn’t learned how to protect myself yet.

    After this phenomena, I was more aware of feelings and emotions in my body.  I started to feel weird sensations in my body during conversations with friends, coworkers and family members.  I began experiencing pain in areas that had been pain free for years.  Random pains would emerge once again.  Sometimes the pain would vanish after some self-love routines and others would last for days or even weeks.  You see I still hadn’t learned a crucial element to prevent or limit this phenomenon.  And truly this little crucial element is beneficial to everyone not only empaths because it promotes your own resiliency by building your own inner strength.

    Have you ever had a conversation and suddenly your head hurts?  Or Your shoulders tense up?  or  You get a sharp pain in your stomach?  Once, I started to put things together and realize this was my reality I began to ask myself questions.  Why does my back hurt?  What is the message my body is sending?  Suddenly, I started to ask myself a lot of questions.  This little practice began several months ago.  I began to see patterns with friends, family and strangers.  I realized that many pains that arouse in my body were not mine: back pain, shoulder pain or headache.  I’m not sure if they experienced any relief but suddenly after the conversation ended, I had their pain too.  Some might say its psychological, you are imagining it but I wasn’t.  They didn’t tell me they were in pain, I wasn’t assessing them as a nurse does, yet boom it came.  Then later on in the day they would mention they had a headache or their right shoulder hurt and it confirmed what my intuition had already told me.  And when I say I had pain I mean it.  My muscles were tight and tender, I was less flexible.  My muscles would making popping and snapping noises and activities became harder to perform.   Let’s just say the things I had worked so hard to relieve started pilling back up again.  My arm pain or back pain would be debilitating once again.

    It would happen suddenly in the middle of a conversation, my neck suddenly tightened and tensed up causing a radiating pain.  Then I would take some time to meditate, breath and relax.  I would ask myself.  Is this my pain mine or someone else’s? Boom, a name would pop into my head.  Then I would think about the conversation and any visual cues I had received.  Maybe the person was rubbing their neck or told me they had a headache.  I usually didn’t know they were in pain during the conversation.  Mysteriously symptoms would arise all the time out of absolutely thin air.  It helped me understand a little more why working bedside in the Pediatric Emergency Room was so difficult for me.  Being such a loving person and trying to heal the pain of those beautiful little children had eventually taken a toll so huge that I had to leave them behind.   But I hadn’t figured this out until now.   And I left bedside nursing more than 9 years ago because I left when my oldest was little.  You see I have been taking care of myself for years already and my chronic pain is pretty much non-existent.  I literally had to give up bedside care because my body couldn’t take it and my doctor was worried I was going to die if it continued.  Fast forward to this year, I am aware that I can feel these intense emotions and am creating a routine to relax and calm but I’m still missing a key element protection.  I get flare ups here and there but the extent of my pain is never close to what it was 6 or 7 years ago.  Then I travel to Hawaii with my family.  People that I love more than anything in the world.  People that I would give my life for and obviously if I absorb the pain of strangers my body was open and ready to take on their pain too.  Traveling in a group is always stressful.  We all know that it’s hard to please everyone and I always try to please everyone.  So I did, I used my ho’oponopono and my self-loving practices blessing everyone in my family.  I blessed them all every single one of them all day long.  If there was a family argument I blessed them.  If the kids were fighting I blessed them.  If we couldn’t agree on a tour, I blessed them.  If we were in a car for a long time and tension was running high, I blessed them.  I thought I was helping myself in the process that the blessings would help me remain peaceful, calm and protected.  They helped me stay peaceful and calm but I definitely wasn’t protected.  Each day I was exhausted and drained.  I would fall asleep early and wake up exhausted.  I didn’t realize I was missing some crucial steps in my process until I returned from Hawaii and read a book that arrived as a gift from my Publisher. Ramses Rodriguez’s book “Stop Pressing Your Own Panic Button” opened my eyes to my gift.  It also brought to light a doctor that has my special gift.  She has dedicated her career to help people understand their gift and protect themselves. Dr. Judith Orloff wrote the “The Empath’s Survival Guide” really opened my eyes.  I began to listen to her book on audible and them progressed to purchasing her program for additional insight.  And suddenly it all made sense, the exhaustion and the desire to rush home early from Paradise.  By the end of my trip to Hawaii, I was exhausted, drained and overwhelmed.  The lack of protection for myself caused me to feel completely overwhelmed and snappy.  I was snapping at people, grumpy and making hasty decisions because I just couldn’t take any more stress.  I had spent the entire trip blessing everyone around me and had lost myself.  I had lost my happy, positive attitude and upbeat personality.  I was at complete exhaustion and the only thing I could think about was getting home.  I still oblivious of my true gifts and the impact it was having on my own health.  I hadn’t developed a protection routine for myself because I didn’t know I needed one.  I was still taking on the emotions, thoughts, pains and energies of everyone around me even though I didn’t want to. And thus my Empath awakening happened. It has been a few weeks since we returned from that spectacular trip that enlightened me to the true powers of my gifts.  It also helped me realize the importance of creating a routine for myself that truly gave me resilience and happiness.  The funny thing I learned along the way is these little routines that I have are not only beneficial to me but everyone around me.  This week a course came into my email at Baptist called “Highly Resilient Nurses” that cemented this little fact in my mind.  The course spoke of some of the practices I have developed for myself over the past few years.  My practice is still significantly different than anything I have encountered out in the world.  But I realize now that I am on the right path and that Hawaii was the trip that brought my true awakening to light.  After all we all need to fall to stand up again.  We all need to crawl to walk.  We all need to hurt to heal.  So now it’s time to write the Transformation book I was born to write.

     

    So Here is a little gift.  I created it for all those empath’s out there.  Those Special people like me that feel more than the rest.  Those people that have a unique gift and were born to help the world around them.  And maybe even live in the health care world like I do.  Take time for yourself to listen and relax before you begin your day.  Create a sense of protection for yourself every morning.  This practice of self-love will make your day Fabulous.  Blessings and Joy to all of you. Click the image below to list to the Meditation.

    Morning Meditation
    Empathic Awakening
    Categories Advice, Anxiety, freedom, Health, hope, positivity, self-actualization, Self-doubt

    Fight the Fear

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    Fighting your fears is definitely a life changing experience.  I never thought I would be where I am today.  This past year has been an enlightening and nurturing experience.  We all have fears in our lives.  The biggest problem with fears happens when they overwhelm us and hold us back in life.  If we let the fears win then we don’t get to live the life we deserve.  Letting our fears get the better of us causes us to let our dreams dwindle away.  Thankfully I didn’t let that happen. Fighting my fears has been an uphill battle and the ultimate learning experience.  Learning my triggers and challenges through awareness has been an enlightening experience.  Tackling your fears is a slow process but worth every moment.  We need to start with the fears that impact us in our daily lives and progressively work up to the really difficult ones.  We face fears everyday during our regular life experience.  They can come up during conversations, work, daily life, music, television and even social media.  I started with little fears that were impacting my creativity and voice.  Its hard for many to believe that I had a fear of creating videos, public speaking and writing.  I was able to tackle my fears by reframing the subconscious blocks in my mind that made me believe I wasn’t worthy of achieving my dreams.  I learned to develop strategies to cope with the stressful physical response fears created in my body.  Over time I learned exactly what helped me relax, unwind and connect with my inner sense of calm.  Everyone has their own unique interests and coping mechanisms to deal with stress.  We don’t always know the techniques that work until we begin to invest in ourselves and find strategies that are proven to work to relieve stress.  Over time I developed my proactive approach to stress management which brought me my sense of happiness and joy.  The interesting thing that happens when you begin to unravel your fears is you true path in life emerges.  When you clean away the debris stress leaves behind inside our bodies it uncovers your passions and desires.  The path to emergence creates a proactive approach to overcome obstacles and challenges.  Developing this proactive approach which I now call my happiness framework took me almost a year to solidify and reinforce.  The interesting fact that emerged this week is that everything I have done to tackle the little things actually works for the big fears.  As I thought back to my past experiences with travel and airplanes I realize that fear used to shut me down in life.  I used to need a prescription to deal with the stress of travel and the anxiety that built when I felt confined in an airplane.  I remember my last long flight to Europe wasn’t an easy task and the only reason I was able to deal with it was because I had Celexa and Ativan on hand.  I am so thankful that I found my way out of the prescription patch up and developed a true proactive approach to deal with my stress.  I was a completely different person on the flight to Hawaii.  This was by far the longest flight I have ever taken.   Two separate flights lasting about 11 hours total.  The true test of my happiness framework came during the 8 hour flight to Honolulu.  Not only was I on a huge plane for 8 hours the seating arrangements were less than idea.  I was traveling with my boys but we were separated by strangers.  I was too far away to speak to them but close enough to see them.  It was impossible to get their attention to ask a question or to get something from them.  You see I was stuck in the center seat between two complete strangers.  And they were also stuck in two center seats between two strangers.  The old me would have been overwhelmed and panicked by this situation.  Instead I used everything that I new worked for me to connect with my inner calm and relaxation.  I listened to meditations and hypnosis sessions focused on empowerment, true purpose, wealth and abundance.  I glanced at my boys during the flight and filed with happiness at the peace and calm that they were experiencing.  I calmly closed my eyes and focused on centering myself through breathing and feeling.  Any emotions that came up during that long flight were washed away quickly allowing the sense of calm to grow.  When I was tired of relaxing I played tetris and listened to my dance album.  The old me would have been worried about what others thought of me and what I was doing but I truly didn’t care.  At times a song would come up that made me want to dance and I did.  Granted I was still stuck is a chair between two people but I wiggled and moves my arms in that tiny space jamming to the beat.  Sometimes I was so entranced in the song that I would close my eyes and jam even deeper.  I’m sure people walked by and thought I was a little strange but I didn’t care.  I didn’t care because I’ve learned and weird is a good thing.  I’ve learned that being myself is empowering and that no one can take that from me.  I’ve learned that the only person that needs to feel comfortable with it is me.  In a long day like this one tons of emotions came up but I let them flow easily and effortlessly.  Experiences from your past will pop into your head at any time and any situation but allowing yourself to feel centered and calm releases their hold on you.  When things would pop up I used Ho’oponopono, stretching and self-hypnosis to release them.  This unique proactive approach kept me feeling serene in a less than ideal situation.  I would normally have been pacing up and down the isle or worried about my kids but I felt completely aligned, safe and relaxed.  The flight was long and exhausting but fear didn’t get in my way.  It was truly an empowering experience to see that everything I had put into place for myself over the past year was exactly what I needed.  There was no longer a need for prescriptions to fog my brain or hide my experiences.  I am thankful for the journey to enlightenment because it truly set me FREE to live the life I desired and dreamed.  I am thankful that I can use everything I’ve learned to help others find their peace and calm.  It truly is a beautiful day.  I may be exhausted and unsure of the time but I know that my peace and calm is here to stay.  So if you want to connect with your sense of calm and inner strenght, check out my Facebook Group: Unleash Your Inner Strength today. I will begin posting videos today from Hawaii.  There will be some videos on You-tube as well but the bulk of the content will only be in Facebook.  I invite you to connect with your sense of calm in any situation.  You are powerful and resilient too.  It just takes a little guidance and support to get you feeling centered again.

    Categories Advice, Anxiety, depression, Fear, Health, motivation, Self-doubt

    Thrive in Your Life

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    Some days are filled with challenges or obstacles. They can be internal or external. The external ones impact our body in many ways.  Some of us get headaches, chest pain, shortness of breath, etc.  There are many physical responses that happen when you are stuck in Fear.  They are all due to our bodies fight or flight response.   It happens in the moment and it is intense.  It could happen for many different reasons and in many different situations.  It could be a confrontation by a superior or elder.  It could be a conversation that made you upset.  It could be a TV show that triggered some emotions.  But the fact is that they all stem from the subconscious beliefs we made in childhood.  It was based on our experiences and lack of coping mechanisms.  We simply were never taught how to deal with our emotions: anger, sadness, fear, worry, shame, guilt, etc.  We had no idea what to do with them.  And the way we dealt with these challenges before impacts the way we react now.  The interesting fact I learned this past year is that you can Thrive in Your life.  The tricky part that most people don’t realize is that it requires an investment in self-improvement and development.  Yes, that’s right, an investment in YOURSELF.  You can make little changes here and there by reading books and taking free courses but you still feel stuck.  The shift just doesn’t happen because your subconscious still doesn’t believe you Really DESIRE the change.  Trust me I’ve felt it and I’ve been there multiple times.  You take two steps forward thinking you are on top of the world, just to fall back on your ass when the next obstacle hits.  Yep, exactly you read a book and started to change the way you react to confrontation.  You are doing well and then suddenly someone you absolutely love and admire, throws you a curveball and boom you are back to square one.  Your body responds once again with a deep sense of Fear and the fight or flight response happens again and again.  Then one day I decided to truly get out of my comfort zone and surround myself with powerful, successful business women and entrepreneurs.  They were women I admired and honor for their courage and accomplishments.  Women that have overcome hardships and turmoil to get to where they are and I realized that was exactly what I needed.  It took time and investments to make the shift in my life but it all focused on Self-Development and Self-Improvement.  And when I speak of an Investment, I mean monetary investment and time.  The truth about psychology of the mind is that if there isn’t a monetary contribution then You won’t make time and truly invest in the transformation.  So I did, I took a leap, I cried and second guessed myself many times but in the end I took a leap.  I took the leap because I deserved better than the life I was living.  My family deserved the best version of me.  I had worked on improving my health for 6 years but the anxiety was still there.  I had to work on that subconscious and I had to actively get out of my comfort zone.  And the investment simply motivates and pushes you to do it.  I attended networking meetings, weekly meetings, coaching courses and online programs.  Each activity brought me a step closer to where I wanted to be.  Nothing worth achieving is Easy.  Nothing worth earning is FREE.  You need to put the time, money and effort into your Transformation.  And I did, just that and it finally stuck.  And I know it stuck because I finally took action for myself regardless of the obstacles that came my way.  I finally didn’t let a confrontation, conversation or challenge stop me in my tracks.  I used everything I learned through my health journey and my personal improvement to transform myself.  That meant actively responding to my self-Awareness and taking Action.  Then suddenly everything fell into place.  Obstacles came and went but I kept moving forward.  Confrontation made me uncomfortable and I took action.  Taking action through awareness means feeling your emotions and sitting with them.  Then the true Action happens, using everything you’ve learned and practiced to regain your composure,  focus, commitment and drive.  That’s right, you get down and dirty to fix the problem in the moment.  That’s when you feel the SHIFT.  You notice that conversation didn’t bother your quite as much as before.  Your notice the self-care and self-love you invested in the moment worked.  You realize that you are actively creating again and that your future is coming.  This only happens when you are ALL into the Change you Desire.  When you desire change and truly want to transform then you will achieve it. But first you need to Invest in yourself and Your personal development. Then everything will fall into place exactly how you desire. You can THRIVE in LIFE when YOU INVEST in YOURSELF.  That’s right, Imagine you are Thriving. FEEL NATURALLY AMAZING with a little self loving and nurturing for YOU.  Sounds to good to be true. Nope it is Powerful and Achievable.

    Some people need a visual of how Awareness and Action works.  Here it is:  A few weeks ago I woke up completely exhausted and unmotivated for anything.  It was time to go to work and get things done, so I needed to suck it up and move Right.  But remember this, I woke up like a zombie. I drove to work like a zombie in autopilot.   I had zero energy, my eyes were droopy and I felt like I hadn’t slept in weeks.  I was completely drained and unmotivated to work or even think. I need to act quickly to shift things. Which meant taking ACTION to switch from a snail pace to a Productive and Powerful day. Then, I took ACTION: I stumbled out of the car to grab some things from the back of the car (yoga mat, Kasina glasses, sound bowls and ear buds).  I Stumbled to the lake like a sleepy kid to Meditate, Breath and Rejuvenate. I set everything up and laid down.  I put in my ear buds and Kasina lenses to stimulate alpha waves.   I used the techniques I have developed over the year to relax, unwind and focus.  I Listened to a meditation (made specifically for me), practiced my relaxation techniques and 20 min later…I was ENERGIZED and feeling FANTASTIC.  One funny thing happened in the middle of this little relaxation session that could have thrown me into Fear and Worry.  An employee at the Hospital actually thought something was wrong with me.  Remember all my senses were involved so I didn’t hear or feel him approaching.  When he said, “Excuse me man, Are you ok?”  I heard him and lifted the glasses up.  LMAO I actually screamed.  I am someone that startles easily so thinking back that poor man must have freaked out.  I told him I was fine and jumped back in for the last few minutes.  My heart slowly slowed its pace, my breath relaxed and my body settled once again.  I finished my routine and I was Vibrant, Motivated and Energized.  The obstacle that happened didn’t stop me from my goal of getting back in my groove.  You can THRIVE IN LIFE with more Self-love, Positivity and Nurturing. You are POWERFUL.

    Categories Anxiety, Developmental Delays, Fear, hope, kids, motivation, positivity, Self-doubt, Speak your mind, Worry, young brain

    School of Stress

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    School stress is a normal part of life, Right? I am not the only person that got anxious for tests or presentations. I am not the only person that developed an upset stomach during Final exams. Have you ever had to rush out of an exam to explode in the bathroom? Yep literally, my stress and anxiety caused severe IBS. It was always an issue since at least 8th grade. I bet if you are reading this now, at some point in your life you remember a time during your education where STRESS was on your mind and evident in your BODY. Maybe it was a teacher that spoke to you in a negative way or put you down. Maybe it was an obstacle you faced early on in your education that caused you to loose a little self-confidence or created a little self-doubt. Maybe, your parents were very strict and expected perfect grades adding extra pressure to an already stressful experience. The cause of the stress response is usually related to a deeply engrained emotional reaction in you subconscious mind. Trust me, I had no idea this was possible until almost a year ago. I thought anxiety was a perfectly normal part of life. I though that it was just my way of dealing with school. It was normal for me to study my butt off, know everything by heart and blank out on a test. It was normal for me to second guess myself and switch the answer on the test. Then I would spend nights worrying some more after the test was over. And then reviewing tests, I began to recognize a pattern over the years. My gut first answer was usually right but I always managed to second guess myself and change it.

    Looking back now, I realize that my insecurities were linked to my learning disabilities and family history of learning disabilities. I developed this fear of school that progressively got worse over time. I developed a sense of self-doubt and worry that impacted me throughout my career. I didn’t let it stop me though, I pushed through and managed to graduate High-School with honors. I pushed through it, over and over again. Two careers and Master’s education didn’t seem to stop me but deep down the insecurities blocked me from finding my true purpose. Some how, I managed to graduate with honors time after time but the impact on my body was pretty catastrophic over the years. The Negative thoughts impacted me during my Master’s degree to a point of absolute panic. I actually remember a day where my research paper completely vanished off my computer. The file vanished. AHHH! Seriously, it completely disappeared a few minutes before the submission deadline. My stress and anxiety hit me hard and fast. It felt like a kick in my chest. Fear overwhelmed me and worry made me feel helpless. I dropped down to the floor in a panic and cried uncontrollably until thankfully my husband found it. I had never experienced such an intense stress response before. It was the peak of my chronic illness, anxiety and stress. It was my worst panic to date and I thought I was doomed but everything worked out. Thankfully, as I mentioned before I was a great student and my paper was amazing. Somehow, I surpassed my own internal fears and worry to graduate with honors, once again. But these embedded childhood challenges continued to arise throughout my life. Self-doubt, fear and worry would impact me in all aspects of life. I finally decided something had to shift. I realized that these negative feelings were not aligned with my path in life. I had succeeded and overcome so much, it was time for my mind to catch up and wake up. It was time to shift this crazy negative mindset and leave the past in the past. It was time to believe in myself and release the past. No one deserves to live a life of self-doubt, worry and fear. Everyone deserves to THRIVE NATURALLY in their own skin. Everything fell into place at the right moment in time. I was READY. I was willing. And I was dedicated to finding my path. INVEST in YOURSELF. You deserve to THRIVE. You deserve to feel Healthy. You deserve to feel Prosperous too.

    Categories accomplishment, Anxiety, Chronic Pain, Emotional pain, flare up, hope, motivation, pain, Physical Pain

    Let go and Be Free!!!

    Author Diane Vich Posted on

    Learning your personal stress triggers and fears is a huge part of emotional health and wellness. It is impossible to change the world around us but we can change the way we react to it. I’ve learned a lot about myself over this past year. Learning the way I react to criticism, comments and conversations with others wasn’t easy but it is an essential part of emotional health. Every single one of us has pre-established beliefs, rules and behavior patterns in our subconscious mind. The healing comes into play when we truly understand our own beliefs, rules and patterns. We can only change our responses and actions towards the events life sends our way. We all face challenges and obstacles in our daily lives that can impact our health and happiness. Our reactions to these obstacles and challenges impact our bodies in exponential ways. Over the years, keeping my true emotions trapped inside lead to an exponential changes in my body resulting in chronic illness and disease. I was a person that held in all my emotions, fears, worry and stress. I didn’t share them with anyone much less myself. I kept everything so bottled up and tight that my health began to fail more and more with each year that passed. These high stress levels impact our bodies cell by cell that accumulates over time developing illness and disease. Emotional intelligence is not something we are born with or learn in school. The more we experience stress and keep it bottled up inside the worse our emotional and physical health gets. I’ve learned that no one can hurt you more than you hurt yourself. We hurt ourselves everyday repetitively and harshly. We repeat the same hurtful and harmful statements to ourselves everyday. It’s a vicious cycle that creates a build up of emotional stress in our bodies. This emotional pile accumulates inside our tissues, organs and cells and eventually develops into symptoms, illness and disease.

    My health issues started as a child with digestive issues, reflux, and IBS. I began bottling up my emotions and hiding my voice from the world as a child. I lost my creative side completely. The part of me that could write poems and paint, simply went to sleep when my voice went silent. The symptoms built up more and more each year until my health crisis in 2013. I reached a point in my life that any more stress was simply overwhelming and my body was ready to give up. It was evident in my emotional and physical health that something had to change. I reached my breaking point where my body just couldn’t take any more stress. I was getting my MSN degree, working in the PEDS ED and raising to young boys. My husband’s work schedule had him traveling all the time which added extra stress on my already full plate. At this point my hair was falling constantly, panic attacks were the norm and food was simply not digesting. I reached a point where water and saltine crackers were causing me stomach distress, nausea and pain. After extensive tests and hospitalization the truth was clear. My body was tearing itself down little by little. My stomach lining was eroding and ulcers were soon to develop in my stomach and intestines. The poor digestion and lack of nutrient absorption was impacting my skin, body and hair. The anxiety was causing panic and my chronic pain was at its peak. I was taking 13+ prescriptions and felt absolutely awful. My right arm and leg were numb and the pain was constantly severe. The doctor basically told me either you change your lifestyle or you are going to die. It was a scary truth that I had to face as a 36 year old young mom. The decision to place my health on my priority list was not easy. I had spent my entire life helping everyone else around me. Since childhood I had placed the feelings of everyone around me before my own. The decision I made was for me but even more for my children and husband. After all my health impacted my children the most good or bad. If I kept on that path my boys (Gabriel 7 and Lucas 3) would face a life without a loving and supportive mom to guide their way. Even typing that today brings tears to my eyes. I can imagine their beautiful little faces and lives impacted by my own lack of self-love. Over these 6 roller coaster years, I found my way back to my emotional and physical health. But the hardest part was this last year. The emotional journey to unlock the feelings and beliefs that had impacted my health over these 41 years. Now as a 41 year old mom of 2, I see the power in emotional health and wellness. I see the impact our emotions have on our bodies and that we harm ourselves more than anyone else can. We fail to forgive ourselves for our mistakes, behaviors and actions. We criticize ourselves more every single day about any little insecurity. Some of the criticisms I realize now runs really deep and impacts your body. I learned a month ago that I actually was angry with myself about the birth of my children. I was angry at myself for not having a vaginal birth. It was a decision that had to be made because my oldest was too big and likely would have been stuck in the birth canal. I didn’t realize the impact my anger had on my body until 12.5 years later. I realize inside my body, inside my yoni, I was blaming myself for not being good enough. I blamed myself and thought I wasn’t a good mom because of this little bump in the road. This little obstacle that gave me a precious gift a son that I love with all my heart. It just goes to show that you have no idea what your subconscious is hiding and the damage it can be causing in your body.
    Low self-esteem and self-doubt plagued my mind throughout my life. When I was heavier, I used to say horrible things to myself when I looked in the mirror. “Yuck look at that cellulite. Omg look at that belly bump, you are so fat.” I would look at myself and not see the beautiful woman everyone else saw. I didn’t think I was beautiful, I had little self-esteem, I didn’t show myself much self-love. This continued for most of my life until 2013 when started making myself the priority. I started eating right and exercising. I began to show myself more kindness as my body started to feel better and the pain began to leave my body. I began loving the beautiful girl in the mirror. I started to see my body was changing, shedding weight, looking less bloated and a real smile started to emerge. It wasn’t the fake smile I had been hiding behind for so long. I had been hiding my physical pain from the world a long time. Finally, when that pain was gone and I connected with the truth behind it my true smile emerged. It’s a smile filled with self-love and appreciation for everything I had been through, everything I had learned and the new me emerged.

    This journey of emotional healing and connecting with my intuition wasn’t easy. It takes dedication and self-love to truly get to the root cause. Learning that I had been keeping emotions trapped inside my body gave me the power to release them. I was holding a multitude of emotions. I had been a worrier all my life. I worried that I didn’t do things well, that I wasn’t good enough, that I wasn’t beautiful, that I wasn’t loved, etc. I was holding many other emotions too. The thing I realized through hypnosis was that my subconscious not only had the power to hurt me but it had the power to heal. There are so many emotions we hold inside us. These emotions don’t serve us to keep them trapped inside. The more we allow them to build up inside our bodies the more symptoms arise. It’s very interesting to tap into your intuition and allow your body to give you the answers. When you connect with yourself through self-love and nurture your mind, body and soul everything unfolds. You become aware of the immediate tension that arises in your shoulders, when your feeling overwhelmed. You notices the knot erupting in your neck while you talk to a friend that tells you something upsetting. You feel the pressure in your chest when someone shares a truly emotional truth they experienced. You can actually close your eyes, scan your body, identify a sore spot and know exactly why it is tender. This is not pain or soreness from exercise or overuse of a muscle. This is emotional pain that you have absorbed inside your body. Sometimes the pain isn’t even your own. It sounds absolutely crazy, I know but I have learned that as an empath, I can actually absorb the physical and emotional pain of others. My intuition tells me exactly why the pain is there and only then am I able to release it. It’s essential to bring out the subconscious triggers from hiding into your conscious mind. You need to feel the emotions in the moment in order to Let it go!!! You need to feel the pain, feel the symptoms, cry if you need too, sit with it and feel it. Sometimes you need to work a little harder to get it out of your muscles and tissues. The power of naturally releasing pain comes into action when you combine the subconscious mind, the conscious mind and the physical body. I have learned my body so well that I can actually release physical pain, feel the fluids shift inside my body and sense the emotions change with it. Working with your body in this deep way connecting mind, body and soul empowers you to tackle your biggest trauma, your worst heartbreak and even your greatest fears. Understanding your bodies natural healing powers enables you to accomplish things you never dreamed. Letting go of the past that created turmoil inside your body creates a positivity that radiates out of you. Letting go of every emotion that no longer serves you sets you free. Let go, live your life, be free, be powerful, be abundant, be YOU!! ou can be the ultimate version of yourself, I believe in YOU!!!

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