F**k That Sh*T, Do you!

Respect your community. It’s the first of our five Golden Rules. And at the present moment, it feels most pertinent.

You can hear the humming holiday excitement in the air, feel the stress to make ends meet, and see the quick shuffle of those around you, as we all race to close out the year.  

Everyone’s got something to do.
Everyone’s got somewhere to be.
Everyone wants to be loved, heard, appreciated, cared for, admired.
…And alas, it’s 9:30 at night and you finally sit down to take some time for yourself! Oops, you fell asleep!

F**k that sh*t, do you! Respecting your community, includes respecting yourself.
TO respect, is to love, hear, appreciate, care for, admire, and it starts with you. 

We must care for ourselves first before we care for others. 
We must put our Oxygen masks on before putting masks on for others. 
We must fill our cups before filling the cups of others. 
We must respect ourselves before we respect others. 

I often use the Depletion to Renewal Grid as a tool in coaching sessions. I learned it from a HeartMath course I had taken a few years back. It first introduces the concept of our body as a battery.  It then goes on to demonstrate how our organ systems - specifically the Nervous, Endocrine and Cardiovascular Systems - work together to charge and deplete our body battery. 

And our emotions serve as an external representation (and reminder) of the charging and depletion taking place internally. 
To put it simply - we have renewing emotions and depleting emotions.

Renewing emotions include excitement, happiness, calm and relaxation. 

Excited/Happy → Heart Rate Increases → Sympathetic Nervous System Activates →
DHEA Hormone Produced → The Body Battery Charges

Calm/Relaxed → Heart Rate Decreases → ParaSympathetic Nervous System Activates →
DHEA Hormone Produced → The Body Battery Charges

Depleting emotions include anger, frustration, depression, sadness and stress. 

Angry/Frustrated → Heart Rate Increase → Sympathetic Nervous System Activates →
Cortisol Hormone Produced → The Body Battery Depletes

Depressed/Sad/Stressed → Heart Rate Decreases → ParaSympathetic Nervous System Activates →
Cortisol Hormone Produced → The Body Battery Depletes

F**k that sh*t, do you! Take time to renew your battery and respect yourself this holiday season. Your community will love you for it. If you need help getting started, I’m here for you.

Love You Long Time,
Coach Kari