Here’s the story of how I used The HeartMath® System to overcome burnout
The above image is courtesy of HeartMath Institute-www.heartmath.org.”
Twelve years ago I suffered a burnout so extreme that my whole life fell apart. I couldn’t work, and my relationship ended as my partner couldn’t cope with my extreme fatigue. I spent most of my days in bed and I felt alone, and desperate. I had no idea I had burnout. I knew something was terribly wrong with me and it was only through my never-give-up attitude that I eventually discovered I had Adrenal Fatigue, which can be called burnout.
The last twelve years have been the most difficult in my life, but now I am pleased to say I live a great quality life and look forward to every day. My education background served me well in helping me to spend whatever energy I had back then to research—what is this thing called Adrenal Fatigue, and what do I need to do to recover?
One of the most important things I needed to do was to reduce my stress from all sources, as Adrenal Fatigue is the result of where someone has been exposed to chronic stress from any physical, emotional, or biochemical source for a long time (chronic), to the point where they start to see changes in the production pattern of their stress hormones, particularly cortisol (a hormone produced by your adrenal glands).
There are different phases of Adrenal Fatigue. In the initial phase of experiencing chronic stress most people over-produce the adrenal hormone cortisol and then if the stress is constant and chronic, over time their adrenal glands may start to produce less and less cortisol, another phase of Adrenal Fatigue.
Both these phases are debilitating and have serious side effects. One of the main symptoms of the later phase, when your body is not producing enough cortisol, is fatigue so extreme that often the person can’t even get out of bed—sadly, this was me.
According to Dr. Wilson.1 Adrenal Fatigue is a massive, invisible problem. Up to 80% of adult Americans suffer some level of Adrenal Fatigue during their life and it is one of the most under-diagnosed illnesses in the US.
Why? Unfortunately, most doctors are not trained to recognize Adrenal Fatigue, and only test for the end stage or later phase, which is where your adrenal glands are not producing enough cortisol and sometimes aldosterone to live, called Adrenal Insufficiency—this was me too.
Cortisol
Cortisol has been referred to by many names, some being the “master hormone of the endocrine system” or the “wear and tear” hormone.
Both are valid names, as you will learn that much of your health and vitality, immune function, ability to recover from disease, energy levels, gut and brain function depend upon you producing the right amount of this incredibly important hormone.
When you are over-producing cortisol it has very serious side effects, including wearing down your muscles and your bone density, decreasing your immune system, and increasing your blood sugar levels. One of cortisol’s main jobs is to keep your blood sugar stable and when you are experiencing stress you release glucose into your bloodstream to give you energy to deal with your stress.
So if you are in a constant state of stress, which most people are these days, and over-producing cortisol, this causes higher blood sugar levels, which may lead to gaining weight, damaging your blood vessels, inflammation, insulin resistance, and diabetes. High blood sugar levels are incredibly inflammatory to your body.
If, however, you are at the stage where you have very little energy to do anything and are spending a lot of time doing absolutely nothing, you are most likely not producing enough cortisol. Why? Cortisol along with insulin is responsible for controlling your blood sugar levels, and if your blood sugar levels are low, because of declining levels of cortisol, you will be extremely fatigued. This was me, and most days I found it challenging to get out of bed. Looking after myself was a challenge.
So my challenge back then became how do I reduce my stress from all sources so I can recover? One of the answers was to start using the HeartMath® system, which is the only scientifically validated system of stress intervention techniques and objective biometric feedback that quantifiably—and dramatically—boosts the health and performance of individuals and organizations. The Institute of HeartMath®’s twenty-five years of scientific research reveals that our hearts have amazing power that we can tap into.
According to the research conducted by The HeartMath Institute®, when you generate feelings of love, care, gratitude, and compassion, you change your heart rhythm to a more coherent pattern. A more coherent heart rhythm is associated with improvements in blood pressure, brain function, creativity, and immunity, helping your body to function at its optimum level. A more coherent heart rhythm ensures that virtually no energy is wasted, and you are more likely to thrive mentally, emotionally, and physically.1
Being in a state of coherence decreases stress hormones, blood pressure, and blood sugars, and increases things that are important for your thrival, like brain function and energy. The neural signal that is sent from your heart to your brain changes when you are experiencing coherence, which helps you to think more clearly, solve problems, and improve your emotional regulation. Being in a state of coherence can potentially decrease anxiety by up to 60 % and increase energy by up to 45%.2
Isn’t it wonderful how something so simple and free as gratitude, love, and care, can so profoundly influence your health and well-being? I was pretty desperate when I suffered my burnout all those years ago, so I did a lot of research to see how I could help myself. I had never heard of the HeartMath® Institute before, however, after a lot of research I decided to buy the HeartMath’s Inner Balance (an advanced app and sensor). This amazing device measures your heart rhythms coherence using biofeedback and teaches you to be in a state of coherence, so you soon start to feel more calm. I looked forward to using it every day, it was easy to use. I would clip the sensor to my ear and then practice the HeartMath tools and could see the impact of my thoughts and feelings on my coherence levels. Negative thoughts and feelings really do increase your stress levels!
After about a month of practicing every day I soon started to feel more calm, energetic and sleep a lot better. You may get results quicker than I did. You have to remember I was in a pretty bad state. The HeartMath® Institute have just released their latest device which they call “The Inner Balance Coherence Plus”. I highly recommend it if you want to reduce your stress levels and improve your energy. It’s fun to use and you will see results if you practise for 10 minutes every day.
The following results really speak for themselves. These results came from 1,400 people from six global companies.
Results sustained after six months of taking the HeartMath® Institute training:
- 60% reduction in anxiety
- 45% reduction in exhaustion
- 41% reduction in intent to leave the job
- 24% improvement in the ability to focus
- 25% improvement in listening ability
- 17% improvement in home/work conflict
If are you ready to:
- Feel better more often
- Boost your performance
- Find more work/life balance
- Expand your flexibility and resilience
- Enhance your decision making and creativity
- Refine your communication skills
- Strengthen your personal and professional relationships
- Reverse the negative impact stress is having on your health, work and quality of life.
Then I encourage you to purchase the Inner Balance Coherence Plus
Click this link to purchase the Inner Balance Coherence Plus – It’s a great investment in your health!
L1 McCraty, Rollin, Science of the Heart, Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance Volume 2, HeartMath® Institute, 2015, 27, 28
2 McCraty, Rollin, Science of the Heart, Exploring the Role of the Heart in Human Performance Volume 2, HeartMath® Institute, 2015, 27, 28
1 Dr. James L.Wilson ND, DC, PhD, Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome, Smart Publications, 2014
Learn HeartMath’s easy-to-learn, tools and technology with your HeartMath Certified Trainer and Therapist-Chenelle Lee Hitchcock
