 Have you ever imagined what your life would be like with more energy? What if you had less stress in your life? Think of a time when you had plenty of energy. What qualities did you notice naturally emerge for you? Were you more appreciative, more vital, and were you more kind to yourself? Was it easier to care for people or to handle situations that were challenging for you? How would you like to have more energy and experience those qualities more often? But there's so much stress in our lives. From not having enough time, too many tasks, jarring communications, and serious emergencies. Science shows that when we're stressed or overwhelmed, our life is just a little too chaotic. It can affect our physiology in immediate and debilitating ways. Our heart rhythm patterns become chaotic, and that inner chaos affects our brain function and our overall experience of life. If that inner chaos becomes our norm, we can feel burned out, experience compassion fatigue, and become more and more disengaged and drained. It can feel like we're grabbing onto the back bumper of life being dragged along instead of sitting up in the driver's seat in control. Sometimes we just want to stay in bed and close the blinds. But if we can learn to notice our stress on the spot and make a meaningful intention to shift from that imbalance to more inner balance, our experience of life can shift quickly, too. But if we're stuck in stress, how can we shift out of it? The HeartMath team research that one of the most important keys is to re-experience positive or renewing emotions. By choosing to activate renewing and regenerative emotions, such as love, kindness, and compassion, we can positively affect our conversations, our relationships, and even the way we view and treat ourselves and feel about our circumstances. What are some renewing experiences you've had in your workplace? For example, how you feel while holding a patient's hand, or when you see someone heal, or when your team comes together in a harmonious way. Appreciating and focusing on these things helps us make that inner shift to a state of being that is more self-caring and renewing. Experiencing the feelings associated with heartfelt emotions can remind us why we are grateful to be alive and remind us of our purpose and the fulfillment of caring for those in need. It can give us the energy that replenishes our system to keep going and to thrive. These regenerative feelings also help us think more clearly. They produce harmonious heart rhythm patterns that send signals to the brain that facilitate our thinking, our creativity, problem-solving, and situational awareness. This helps us make fewer mistakes and do our job with more ease and effectiveness. And receive more fulfillment in the process. Who wouldn't want more of that? Based on this research, HeartMath created the quick coherence technique to help anyone make the shift from drain to more resilience. In alignment with Kaiser Permanente's vision, we want to ensure that you have tools to care for yourself and thrive. Here are the two simple steps of the quick coherence technique that you can use anywhere. Step one, heart-focused breathing. When you start to feel overwhelmed or upset, simply focus your attention in the area of the heart. Imagine your breath is flowing in and out of your heart or chest area, breathing a little slower and deeper than usual. You can inhale for five seconds and exhale for five seconds. Just find a rhythm that is comfortable for you. Step two, while you're doing heart-focused breathing, add a positive or renewing feeling to it. Just make a sincere attempt to experience a regenerative feeling, such as appreciation or care for someone or something in your life. This may be a feeling you have for someone you love, a pet, a special place, or an accomplishment, or just a feeling of calm and ease. Just keep breathing that renewing feeling through your heart area for 30 seconds to a minute. Remember, if you can only do step one, heart-focused breathing, that's fine. Just doing that can save you from lots of wear and tear on your body and can add more balance to your system. And if you can integrate a regenerative emotion, it helps sustain this renewing shift. It's like giving yourself an inner spa break without waiting for a vacation. Think of two or three times each day when you can practice this simple inner maneuver, perhaps in the car before you go to work, or when you return home, before a meeting, during a unit huddle, or while washing your hands between patient visits. Committing to practice helps create a new healthy baseline in your life. As you give this gift to yourself, you bring the shift in yourself to your work, your friends, your family, and co-workers, to those you serve and beyond. A shift in you helps create a shift in everything around you. Adding heart to your life is a gift that keeps giving. Produced in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente Nurse Scholars Academy and HeartMath, caring for you well into the future.