When one is in adrenaline mode, the heart is “turned forward” or is “facing forward” as if to be prepared to resist the threat of an attacker. This is a subconscious fear-induced position, and the heart needs to be “repositioned” inward toward the middle. To work this through, I place my right hand over my heart and as I slowly move it toward the middle of my breastplate I say, “Tune out the fear in my heart radio.” I continue this hand movement and meditation until my body relaxes and tells me to stop.
Then I do a gratitude exercise. I read that, “Gratitude has nothing to do with logic. Gratitude is a feeling. And the feeling of gratitude has been one of the most direct keys for unlocking the brain’s trove of dopamine.” Also, it said: “For those who have told us that they have nothing to be grateful for, we invented the following exercise: Lie down and try to relax. Next, imagine something mildly yucky that did not happen to you, recently or in the past. Now, think of another unpleasant thing that did not happen to you. Keep this up for ten minutes. That’s the entire exercise. It can be very powerful.”
Although I have many things for which I am grateful, I do this exercise from the “mildly yucky” perspective and I lay down and think, “I am grateful I did not get run over by a car this morning” or “I am grateful that the opossum that eats our cat food did not bite me today”…I think you get the point. I feel that doing the exercise in this manner relaxes my adrenaline mode and makes room for dopamine release. I will let you know how it progresses — so far, so good.
All my best,
Howard
