A Return to Peace
The art of living with joy, ease, and presence.
Welcome to Heart-led Anxiety Coaching. I’m Irene and I help women just like you stuck in relentless hurry, never-ending to-do lists, and jam-packed schedules to slow down, start saying no, and find themselves again.
I see you working tirelessly to look like you have it all together while inside you feel like a mess.
I see you…
always going, doing, and trying to get things done while never giving yourself permission to relax
constantly seeking balance only to be terrified of dropping one of the balls you’re desperately trying to juggle
exhausted and overwhelmed by your own expectations yet rather than allow yourself grace, you procrastinate, self-sabotage, or numb out from life
achieving success after success only to find yourself unfulfilled and unhappy at the end
crippled by indecisiveness for fear of making a mistake or you make rash decisions to try to be rid of the pressure
having a hard time saying no, setting boundaries, or letting anyone down.
struggling to hear God’s words over the voices of your anxiety
If you know, you know.
You perform well in your day-to-day and you manage to convince yourself everything is fine, while the absence of peace is spilling over into your health, your work, and your relationships. Yet, you’re terrified if you do actually stop, you’ll let everyone down, everything will fall apart, and nothing will actually get done. You’re equally terrified of not stopping and life just passing you by with only vague memories of rushing to finish the next task or make the next commitment on your calendar.
I’m not anxious. I’m just stressed.
High-functioning anxiety may not be diagnosable and that doesn’t make it any less real in your life, you’ve just gotten really good at pushing it down. The very behaviors creating your stress are simply strategies you’ve picked up along the way in an attempt to not feel the anxiety.
If I never make a mistake, I’ll never feel the pain of criticism (and my inner voice is constantly berating myself anyway as further protection)
If I hold ridiculous expectations for myself, I never have to feel the shame of not being enough (and when success does find me, I never allow it to be good enough)
If I say yes to everyone, I never have to carry the weight of others’ disappointment in me (and then I spend my time and energy blaming others for their selfishness and neediness)
If I avoid asking for help, I never have to feel the sting of rejection (and can wallow in the self-pity of being unsupported)
Anxiety is a fear-based emotion. It’s normal and healthy; without it, you would have no sense of danger or your own limits. It triggers your body’s stress response so that you can be safe. I believe God gave us this emotion to protect us.
The problem is when anxiety is running the show. High-functioning anxiety is all about clinging to control. When your brain recognizes a similarity between a distressing situation from your past and what you are seeing or hearing in the moment ~ even when there is no present threat or danger ~ the same distress signals that you experienced in the earlier situation can become activated.
Anxiety is a message. It is an emotion that can serve you, protect you, and provide signals through your body when you need to take action and it can feel impossible to quiet the stress response long enough to hear God’s message for you. Because anxiety shouldn’t be running your life.
Transforming your Connection to Anxiety one tap at a time
It’s time to stop seeking the confidence, calm, and clarity you desire. They are already within you simply getting trampled on by the anxiety (and strategies to avoid anxiety) that is so familiar to your system.
It is time to build the resilience to access these states. It is time to get clear from the unresourceful stories, false narratives, and limited perspectives keeping you stuck.
Embodiment is defined as “living life informed through the sense experience of the body.” It is the active practice of using your body’s messages as a sacred tool for presence and mindfulness.
What is EFT Tapping?
EFT or Emotional Freedom Techniques is a well-established system for releasing negative emotions and quieting the body’s stress response.
Negative emotional experiences become locked in the body, attached to the memory of that experience, and affect the way we see and engage with the world until we disrupt the connection. You can then feel the physical sensations, like nausea or anxiety, of your body’s stress response and react to them.
EFT has been shown to rapidly reduce the emotional impact of memories or traumas that trigger distress allowing you to be fully present in the current moment rather than trapped in the past or worried about the future. Because regardless of having great faith, everyone has fears. Having great faith isn’t denying your fears, but confronting them head on and giving them over to God. EFT helps you to get out from under the body’s normal stress response to suppressed emotions that are buried in your subconscious mind and allow yourself to truly surrender your worries.
How I use tapping with clients
To be empowered in their anxiety and stress
To navigate emotional challenges and reactivity
To quiet the overwhelm and confusion
To process trauma and cPTSD
To address self-limiting beliefs
To shift self-sabotaging behaviors
To process difficult emotions
To improve relationships
To go after their goals connected to their purpose
