The Antidote to Anxiety, and How to Use It in Our Everyday Lives
This past week was a first for Beck and I, twice over.
The “first first” was co-leading a wine tasting in North Carolina, and the “second first” was co-presenting a mini-workshop to teenagers and parents on how to manage anxiety.
Know what they had in common?
Taking a pause.
Sometimes that pause lasted 30 seconds, as in the wine tasting exercise that’s inspired by Kevin Zraly that I wrote about way at the beginning of ABG. There are three benefits, I wrote then and still believe today, to pausing for 30 seconds to consider a sip of wine: it’s actually restful to give something 30 seconds of your undivided attention, plus it develops a taster’s trust in their own opinion, plus pausing gets us out of kneejerk-react mode and into a more considered response.
That’s quite a lot of benefit to pack within 30 seconds. But sometimes 30 seconds is all it takes.
In other situations, like the mini-workshop on managing anxiety and stress, the pause lasts 60 seconds. Doing nothing – just pausing – for 60 seconds runs so contrary to our go-go-go culture that it seems a little bit radical, so it’s worth considering a little more closely.
Here’s an example. My team at work has started taking a 60-second pause at the beginning of our daily check-in meetings: we jump onto Zoom, say our hellos, and set a timer for 60 seconds before we dive into the meeting agenda. Not gonna lie. At first it was weird, and it still can be a little awkward especially when one of us is impatient to review an issue that’s come up.
But pausing anyway for 60 seconds signals a variety of things.
It signals that it’s time to take a breath (and maybe acknowledge the sense of impatience without reacting to it or spiraling off). It signals that we’ve gathered, here in this place at this time together. It signals that it’s time to transition from everything that’s already happened that day in our respective lives, and focus instead on the matters at hand for the people involved in the meeting.
Pausing for 60 seconds signals to our bodies and our minds that we are here now. It encourages us to be present in the moment.
That is I think what made the 60-second pause such an effective technique during the mini-workshop that Beck and I led for teenagers and their parents. It’s an antidote to anxiety. I’ve never done a 60-second pause, alone or in a group, when I haven’t noticed that at some point I’ve taken a deeper, slower breath.
Slower, aware breathing grounds us. It coaxes us away from anxiety by coming into our bodies.
We are here now, not in some future state with its worries and fears fueling our anxiety.
The “here now” is what the pause reinforces instead, whether you go for 30 seconds or 60 seconds.
Wanna give it a try, even if it’s a “first first” for you too?
Please do, and let us know how it goes.
Namaste,
Cathy
What We're Reading:
Here's what has piqued our interest this week in the world of wine and mindfulness.
Getting Started with Mindful Movement – Mindful.org
A short guide to how physical practice can easily be a mindful practice to help you breathe and move in a way that helps you move from feeling busy and distracted to feeling strong and capable.
Resilience is Not a Luxury: It is Critical to Our Survival – MindfulLeader.org
Resilience is simply no longer a luxury. It's becoming essential and even critical to our very survival.
Over 80% Of Leaders Admit They Don’t Know How To Reduce Employee Burnout – Forbes.com
In the new study from Leadership IQ, called Employee Burnout In 2021, 81% of leaders readily admit that they don’t really know how to successfully reduce employee burnout.
5 Tips to Never Lose Your Cool at Work – Entrepreneur.com
Work can be stressful, especially if you’re in a management position or in a field that really stretches you thin. Here’s some ways you can help keep your cool when temperatures soar.
How Too Much Routine Suffocates Your Brain – Markham Heid for Elemental.com
Habits and other automatic behaviors — even healthy ones — fail to train some critical cognitive muscles.
Meet the Community!
Here we meet some of the talented folks who make our community profession so dynamic.
Stephanie Peachey, Growth Marketing Strategist and Consultant (Montana, USA)
Years in Industry:
Eleven years, including the few months when I convinced an Upper East Side, Manhattan wine shop manager to let me loiter a few evenings a week. I wanted to listen in on their conversations with customers, learn more about wine and how the industry worked, and determine if I really wanted to leave a cushy B2B corporate job for the wine industry. Clearly, the answer was “yes,” and I decided to marry my love for marketing with my passion for wine, travel and the most complex CPG product there is.
In Jan of 2011, my extremely supportive husband and I left NYC for Sonoma County, where I started the SSU Wine Business Institute graduate school program and shortly thereafter welcomed our eldest son. While completing my masters, I joined the Vintage Wine Estates team where for almost six years I led their DTC business, which led to executive roles with Kosta Browne and Fetzer.
The chaos of COVID has since changed my career trajectory in the most wonderful ways. In the summer of 2020, when we began preparing for the start of “remote school” for my then first- and fourth-graders, while trying to balance the demands of work, I knew something had to change. My husband and I decided to take our show on the road. I left my full-time role and our family loaded into our travel trailer and set out to explore some of the most stunning and remote places in the Mountain west.
That time allowed us to add real-life curriculum into the kids’ school work, and it gave me a chance to re-evaluate what I really wanted from my career. (Check out our road trip adventure here.) Today, the view outside my window shows the mountains surrounding Glacier National Park, and I am fortunate to consult with incredible wineries, companies and people that I genuinely enjoy and want to help grow. But the most rewarding part is that I get to be involved in the day-to-day moments of my children’s lives. This is my new form of balance.
My Top Three Challenges to Wellness
Accepting seasonality. I dream about having a set schedule. You know the one? With the perfect workout routine, sleep schedule, set meditation, disciplined meals, etc. I am learning to embrace that that is not my personality nor is it my life. My family thrives on action and spontaneity. A schedule that works during the kids’ hockey season will look vastly different during summer or whichever season is next.
Food & Drink FOMO. I excel in the areas of eating and drinking. I love the rituals, the complex flavors and the richness that comes along with food and wine. This goes for dining out or eating at home, and I have a hard time saying “no” because I simply don’t want to “miss out.” Thankfully, in our industry there is usually a next time to experience something wonderful. But man, I have to constantly have to remind myself that it's okay to sit one out.
Creating the time and staying motivated - for wellness. In my professional and volunteer life, I am a very motivated people pleaser who always tries to say “yes.” Success and productivity during the “work day” brings me great joy. It also often leaves me ready to chill, and less motivated to tackle the workout which by then can feel more like a chore.
How I Keep It Together to Stay Well
Grace & Appreciation: Grace on the days when I succumb to my food & wine FOMO, and appreciation for the days when balance is actually achieved.
Prayer & Faith: Both are a tremendous source of strength for me.
Getting Outdoors: there is nothing more rewarding or clearing than hitting a hiking trail, the slopes or even a walk around the block.
What Inspires Me
Seeing those around me thrive and being able to support their success and joy.
A Quote I Love
It’s not a profound, but I love the song lyric: “The road goes on forever and the party never ends” - Robert Earl Keen
You can connect with Stephanie on Instagram and LinkedIn, and reach her via email.
NEW Episode: The Fine Line Podcast - Episode 23: Dr Todd Dorfman
For the latest episode of The Fine Line Podcast: Balancing Hedonism & Health, the team speaks with Dr Todd Dorfman. Dr. Dorfman is the Founder, CEO, and Medical Director of Cedalion Health, which he opened in 2002 in Boulder, Colorado, balancing a private practice with his role as an emergency room doctor.
The Fine Line Podcast is co-hosted by Lisabeth Danneels and Emily Gold. Even the sub-title (Hedonism & Health) indicates the commonalities with A Balanced Glass. Please check them out!
