Energy Harmony: Achieve Goals with HeartMath
By Mitchell Woods
When embarking on a new goal, we often forget to consider the toll it takes, not just physically but emotionally too. We get caught up in the logistics—consultations, timing, money—yet overlook a critical question: how much of ourselves does this goal demand, and what’s the energetic cost?
Think of your body as a battery, tasks either fill us with energy or deplete our reserves. While working on our goals we can expend a significant amount of energy. That’s when our sophisticated nervous system, specifically the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), kicks into gear, releasing stress hormones like adrenaline and noradrenaline. This is the system we tap into to face challenges and conquer the hurdles on our journey to achieving our goals.
Achieving new and complex goals naturally expends physical energy—an “output.” Here lies a common misconception: we have an infinite energy supply. I can assure you, speaking from the experience of being bedridden for weeks due to burnout, it’s far from the truth! Achieving balance is crucial; we need practices that heal and restore our fatigued nervous systems, activating the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
The PNS, acting as the rest-and-digest branch of our nervous system, provides our bodies with the ability to slow down and replenish our energy. Sadly, in our modern high-paced lives, cultivating our PNS can be challenging. We find ourselves overwhelmed, feeling fatigued, stressed, and anxious, even struggling to get a good night’s sleep. So, how do we break this cycle of energy expenditure and lack of recovery? In one word: HeartMath.
HeartMath, an innovative American research company, has pioneered science-based tools using various breathing and emotional regulation techniques. These techniques swiftly guide you from a stressed to a calm state by aligning your physical, mental, and emotional systems. HeartMath achieves this by teaching you a unique breathing method that activates your PNS, turning off excessive SNS input and creating a state of balance in your nervous system—what they term “coherence.” Coherence is a state of optimal functioning, where you experience heightened emotional stability, increased mental clarity, and improved cognitive function. It’s the perfect state to be in when facing and overcoming challenges on your journey to achieving your goals.
Personally, I’ve embraced and shared HeartMath techniques with aspiring athletes, focused corporates, and busy parents and children. For more information, check out my website mitchellwoods.com.au, and for every Tweed Coast Living reader, I’m excited to offer an exclusive 15% off my 6-session performance coaching package. Here’s to conquering your goals with a dash of HeartMath magic!
Mitchell Woods is a Performance Coach based at Movement Health Club (Casuarina & Tweed Heads) and also delivers his coaching services online. Mitchell combines over 20 years of experience as a strength and conditioning coach and exercise scientist together with his expertise in coaching meditation, breath enhancement training, HeartMath tools and performance mindset development to provide you with the ultimate coaching program, Heart of Performance Coaching. You can reach him via his website www.mitchellwoods.com.au or call him on 0415 847 006.
