Every single one of us has stress. We have so much on our plates as we juggle family life, kids, jobs, and the list goes on.  We all do our best to manage and deal and cope, but do we understand stress?  In this podcast, we are going to discuss the stress response to help us better understand it, and by understanding it, we can help manage it.

Stress is caused by the "stressors" in our lives. These are outside sources that we all juggle. Our nervous system then interprets these stressors.  This interpretation is influenced by our past learning, cultures, upbringing, health, and so many other factors and imprints that flavor this interpretation.  This then elicits the "stress response."  When we are all talking about our stress, what we actually mean is our stress response. 

This stress response causes a reaction in our bodies. Sometimes it benefits and helps us, and sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes the stress response is no big deal, and sometimes we can get to the point where we are stuck in that hyper or hypo active state due to our stress response.

What can we do?! Establish safety.  We are all little boys and girls screaming on the inside for safety.  Follow these 3 steps:

1. Am I safe? Ask yourself this. Remind your brain you are not in physical danger. (If you are in physical danger, RUN! Get to safety!)
2.  Do I feel safe? Most of us don't feel safe. Inside some tension and something is screaming for help. Find that tension.
3. Relax. Relax that part of you that is tense, that is tight, that the stress is sitting in. 

There are many different ways to help us relax and regulate our nervous system to help us manage our stress.

Stress cannot live in a relaxed body! Too often we try to go through our minds and talk ourselves through the stress. Try going through the body!  

We all have stress we are trying to deal with.

We all have imprints and stamps from our life experiences.

These imprints flavor our interpretations of our stressors.

Be kind, we are all doing our best, and are managing the best we know how!

Listen in for more!

Whenever we travel, one of the biggest stressors is getting through the airport.  There are so many security checks and measures.  There are machines, security guards, and dogs all scanning for danger or threats.  

We have an internal scanning system called our Nervous System.  Our nervous system is meant to scan for safety, danger, or life-threatening situations to keep us safe! It scans outside of us, inside of us, and between us to decide if there is something to be concerned about.  Many times our scanning system gets it right! We jump into protection mode and fight, flight, or freeze! However, sometimes, we aren't always in danger but go into the same mode.  

In this case, there are tools to help us unwind those behaviors. But first, we have to be aware of what is going on! In this podcast episode, we discuss more about our nervous system, neuroception, and gain some awareness of some of the behaviors and reactions we may have! 

Listen in!

This week on the podcast we get to hear from my oldest son Dylan on the Power of Relationships.  Dylan and I always had a pretty good relationship, but during his mission our relationship grew and developed. As a missionary Dylan had the opportunity to interact with many different people and companions, and he developed some very valuable skills to improve his ability to connect and have meaningful relationships. Today on the podcast we discuss what he learned, how to apply them, and offer some tips on how to help us in our daily interactions! 

1. Catch a Vision. See who others can become.
2. Treat people as they are, that's what they will be. Treat them as they could be, that's what they will become.
3. Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.
4. Watch your tone.
5. Don't beat yourself up! There is always room for improvement!

Listen in to hear more about the Power of Relationships and ideas to improve yours!

Rulon D. Pope said, "We live in an age and society where hope becomes expectation, and expectation turns quickly into entitlement."

This made me wonder how often some of our hopes may have become expectations.  In our relationships with others, we can hope for things, but when expectations arise and those expectations are not met, we have disappointment, resentment, and pain.  

The truth is, other people can't read our minds, and they don't always do the things we think they will or want them to.  Things might look a little different than we thought, and that's OK.  We can take a step back an see if our hopes for another may have become an expectation, and loosen our grip. We can admit things look different than we thought they would, and everything will be OK.

Listen in to hear more!

What does love look like? Have you ever asked this question? What does it look like for you!? And what would Love look like in every situation? 

These are a few places I saw love this week:

Love is the random sugar cookie on the counter with a note that said: For Mom, love Meg because she knows I love drink shop sugar cookies.

Love is walking away from a discussion or argument and saying, “We need to talk about this later when we’re not upset.”

Love is a random text that says, “Hey! You’re a great mom.”

Think about this as you listen to this episode then ask yourself: "What would love look like right here, right now?"

Original Grace by Adam Miller

The winter months can be long and hard around here, especially for playing baseball.  Our family does a lot of that and practicing baseball can be tricky.  A few facilities are available, and I have found it helpful to hire coaches to do some hitting and fielding sessions with the kids during these months.  

I hired a coach to keep my 14-year-old Austin in shape and work with him on his hitting for the next few months.  One night after Austin’s hitting session he and I were chatting about the session and he asked me if I knew what the fastest muscle in the body is.

Our eyes!

Our eyes are amazing!  They move so quickly scanning for information and sending it to our brains! They also communicate to others so much! We see them, we are listening, we hear them.

What do your eyes communicate? Do they shine and do you help other's eyes shine?

In this week's podcast, we talk about a TED talk given by Benjamin Zander and shining eyes!

Zander's focus is to awaken the possibilities in others and he knows he's doing that when he sees shining eyes.  

Join in this week's podcast as we discuss this topic and some ideas on how we can be the person who helps others shine!

Beautiful Leadership: Shining Eyes

Benjamin Zander TED Talk: The Transformative Power of Classical Music

The Power of the Muscles in Your Eyes

Change Your Game, Change Your Life: How a simple shift in focus will completely transform your relationship to golf—And everything else! By Andrew McKee

Every day our mind is consumed with thoughts and ideas.  If we were to look at our thoughts and rank them in how often we think of something, or what is at the top of our minds, what would those thoughts be?

Home

Family

God

Work

Entertainment

Food

All of these areas of focus are on my mind constantly, but do I put them in the proper order? Is there an area you could say I worship? Tune into today's podcast as we discuss the themes of our thoughts and worship, and how to keep God at the forefront of our minds in our day-to-day!

How to Worship Bruce R. McConkie

Yielding Our Hearts to God Neill F. Marriot

When our kids were little we took them to Build a Bear Workshop to make a stuffed animal that was especially for them. They could pick the bear or animal, the inside qualities we put in them, the stuffing, the accessories, all of it.  They were perfectly tailored to fit each child.  

Wouldn't it be nice if we could do the same about ourselves? Pick every little thing we wanted and get rid of everything we didn't want.  But does all of that matter? We put so much value on the outside things. Our jobs, titles, degrees, number of kids, where we live, what we drive, etc.  We make that mean we are valued and important, but when all of that is stripped away, what's left? The stuff on the inside. That's what is left and what matters.

In today's podcast, we talk about what really matters. We talk about the main identifier in our life that we can focus on to help us in every other area. That we are Beloved Children of God.  That is first and foremost.  We will discuss how Satan works to get us to believe the opposite, and how to work to overcome his influence!

We can pray to know how Heavenly Father feels about us, read the scriptures for answers, and serve others. Use the gifts we possess to bless others and those gifts will be revealed as we continue to do so!

Listen In!

Eyes to See Michelle Craig

Why do we get up and grind every single day? Why do we continue to push and endure the hard? What is the purpose of all of this? What really matters? I have been asking myself a lot of these types of questions, and the answer is Family.  It all comes down to the fundamental unity of society. Family. God created the earth as a place for human families to learn and grow and develop to become like Him.  In this week's podcast, we talk about the family as the deep why behind our day to day. We nurture and provide for the ones we shepherd over and endure great challenges for the ones we love.  Listen in to this week's podcast as we discuss more about the family.  We discuss grace and mercy, how to attain happiness in family life, and I invite you to join me as we discuss what a successful family looks like!

The Heart of the Matter Russell M. Nelson

Grace and Mercy

As the new year begins, we all seem to have great intentions and goals to conquer and accomplish. We look forward with anticipation of what is to come! But have you thought about the benefits of looking back? Sometimes we look back and feel regret and sadness, and that's OK, but if we can look back through the lens of learning, and growth, and remember all the good the bad and the ugly with that in mind, we will be able to propel ourselves into 2024.  We can gain momentum, energy, and motivation to accomplish what it is that we desire! As you look back, pay attention to the big things and the little things that will help you. Give yourself credit for the goodness, the learning, the growth, and launch into 2024 with excitement and energy!