314. The Radical Practice of Relaxation with Tracie Braylock

Tracy Braylock, holistic nurse and well-being advocate, joins us in exploring the revolutionary concept of relaxation as a radical act of faith. We discuss how believers can engage their God-designed relaxation response to exist in a state of peace regardless of external circumstances. In this episode, Tracie and I discuss:

• Understanding radical relaxation as removing stress from its root like a radical medical procedure.
• Learning to identify our divinely designed relaxation response and intentionally engage it daily.
• Recognizing when we've misidentified ourselves by our stress or health conditions rather than our God-given identity.
• Teaching children relaxation practices through breathing, meditation, and mindful moments.
• Viewing relaxation as a spiritual practice that requires trusting God with our productivity and deadlines.
• Addressing the compounded stress our bodies have stored over years or decades.
• Practicing self-awareness by noticing when we participate in our stress response.
• Finding personalized relaxation triggers through nature, writing, aromatherapy, or play.
• Embracing the counterintuitive truth that "a calm life is a strong life."

Visit Tracie's website and order her new book: Radical Relaxation

Learn more on Tracie's Substack: The Remedy

Learn more about Aromatherapy: A Beginner's Guide

Chapters

• 0:00 Introducing Maternal Power & Relaxation
• 6:35 Meet Tracy: Holistic Nurse & Wellness Advocate
• 15:23 Understanding Radical Relaxation as Faith
• 28:58 Engaging Your Relaxation Response
• 40:56 Involving Children in Relaxation Practices
• 48:10 Misidentification & Breaking Stress Patterns
• 54:18 Discharge Instructions: Self-Awareness & Faith

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:07

As I've listened to the stories of thousands of women of all ages in all kinds of stages through the years, I've kept their stories locked in the vault of my heart. I feel as if they've been walking around with me all through these years. They've bothered me, they've prodded me and sometimes kept me up at night. Ultimately, they've increased my passion to reframe and reimagine the powerful positions of mother and matriarch within the family system. I'm a problem solver, so I set out to find a way to perhaps change the trajectory of this silent and sad scenario about a dynamic yet untapped source of potential and purpose sitting in our homes and churches. It is time to come to the table, heartlifters, and unleash the power of maternal presence into the world. Welcome to Mothering for the Ages, our 2025 theme. Here on today's Heart Lift. I'm Janelle. I am your guide here on this heartlifting journey. I invite you to grab a pen, a journal and a cup of something really delicious. May today's conversation give you clarity, courage and a revived sense of camaraderie. You see, you're not on this journey alone. We are unified as heartlifters and committed to bringing change into the world one heart at a time. Tracy Braylock is a holistic nurse, educator, writer and wellness consultant. As a former operating room nurse, she advocates for mind, body, spirit well-being, holistic wellness experiences and liberating relaxation. Her work has been featured in the American Holistic Nurses Association, new Beginnings Magazine, proverbs 31 Ministries and Hallmark Mahogany. Tracy teaches workshops, leads retreats and lectures on issues related to nursing, writing, self-care and healing lifestyle. She lives in Ohio with her family, but today, heartlifters Tracy is all in at our table. We are having a conversation, much needed in my life for sure, on relaxation as a radical act of faith. Yes, you heard me right and I will repeat relaxation as a radical act of faith. Oh goodness, you know, heart lifters, we do not have to continue suffering with the slow poison of stress. With the slow poison of stress, we can take our focus off the problem of stress and turn to the solution relaxation. The relaxation response is a God-designed bodily function. Tracy is going to tell us all about that. I had no idea this was an actual thing. I know we continue to peel back the layers of the onion when it comes to caring for our minds, our bodies, our hearts. She writes as a believer. You know that, follower of Jesus, engaging your relaxation response can be a radical act of faith, requiring you to trust God and believe in his promises more than your circumstances or what you're seeing and experiencing in the physical world. In the physical world, doing so will help you and me exist in a state of peace, regardless of what's going on in the world, and cultivate an internal environment. You, heartlifter, are the interconnection of your mind, body and spirit, each influencing and being influenced by the other. Taking a holistic approach, tracy ensures that parts of you won't be neglected and all of you is being cared for. All of you is being cared for. She's going to help us use a variety of integrative practices that will help us heal and relax.

Speaker 1: 5:21

I wanted to bring Tracy to the table after last week's conversation with Britt Piper on Body First Healing. With Britt Piper on Body First Healing this year, we are all in as mothers, matriarchs, caregivers, women who are giving and mothering to those in our spheres of influence, and in doing so, we have to make sure that we are tending to the garden of our own mental and emotional health first. We have to put the oxygen mask on first. I know it seems impossible. Many of us never learned to do that and are just now getting it. The aha moments, the light bulbs are going off over our heads and in our hearts. Take care of yourself first. Yes, take that in for one little moment before we get into this conversation.

Speaker 1: 6:30

So we're building in this year's episodes, building brick by brick, layer by layer, of a strong, sure, healthy foundation in you know what? Three areas a healthy sense of self, healthy behavior patterns and healthy communication skills. When these three practices are in their rightful place in our lives, we will move through our families, our homes, the hallways of our homes as a wholehearted being. That's our goal. I won't stop reaching for that goal or setting a standard for all of us to reach for that goal in our lives. So let's welcome Tracy to the table as she blows our minds on the fact that we can relax as a radical act of faith. Heartlifters, we have an opportunity here today to experience a radical change in our lives, and I am already experiencing it because I'm privy to uh, pregame show information. But we have with us tracy braylock. I say all that right. She has just written Radical Relaxation Releasing the Stress you Were Never Meant to Carry. Well, tracy, this title, the subtitle tell me why and how you are writing this book now and releasing it into the world.

Speaker 2: 8:22

Oh boy, radical relaxation. Radical for many reasons. Radical because, in the midst of the world we live in, to make the choice to relax amidst the chaos, the turmoil, is a radical thing to do. It has to be an intentional practice. And also radical because you are tending to the stress that's present. We're not going to pretend like it doesn't arise. But in healthcare, in nursing, in the operating room, where I'm from when you do a radical procedure, you are cutting out something. You're taking away everything from the root and all the surrounding tissue. And so you know that's what we want to do with stress. We want to get rid of it. We don't want to manage it or play around with it or, you know, expect it to. You know, stay in our back pocket. We want to get rid of it, and that's a radical thing to do it.

Speaker 1: 9:28

We want, and that's a radical thing to do. That's what blew my mind, because you do. You say in health care to have a radical procedure means to remove the dis-ease, its root, and, as in skin cancer, I've had so many skin cancer surgeries and most surgery you know it's all the peripheral, all you know, and anyone with who has experienced cancer or anything, you know you've got to get, you've got to know that you've gotten every little minute portion of the dis-ease right. And so you said this application of radical. Oh, the point that really got me. I underlined it so many times. You have to get out the root and all the surrounding tissue that's diseased or potentially diseased. I thought that was it made me stop. So you're there, you're in the operating room. How does a doctor perceive potentially dangerous disease?

Speaker 2: 10:24

potentially dangerous disease. Oh wow, well, often you take a sample, you have to sample the tissue and then we send it off, and sometimes we have to sit and wait and wait until you hear the result Is this, you know area of concern. The lab is working on it while you're still in the operating room and so if they find you know, yeah, there's some something there, then they have to address that and they can go work their way around the area until they're for sure that you know they've gotten everything.

Speaker 1: 10:57

Which really begs the question for me anyway, because my heart lifters know. But now I really know that God is inviting me into a radical relaxation, Like you gave me a word, because that word radical you know, you just don't play around with it. And I think now I'm getting that I'm supposed to release the stress I was never meant to carry. I don't even know. I wish there was a procedure to go in and biopsy the peripherals of that perhaps, and then I can just cut them out. But this takes a process of discernment.

Speaker 2: 11:46

I would think, oh, absolutely yes, it is a constant exercise in self-awareness.

Speaker 1: 11:52

Okay.

Speaker 2: 11:53

It is a constant welcoming of God into your life and all of those icky spaces that you know you'd rather not address and being willing to. You know you'd rather not address and being willing to. You know, receive information from God, receive information from those who are very close to you and can kind of monitor your progress and, you know, have seen you transition over the course of time. You know those people. They probably have some valuable insight. I'm not taking you know information from every source, but correct, but from the wisdom the wisdom voices.

Speaker 1: 12:34

yes.

Speaker 2: 12:34

And understanding that. It's that you know the critique isn't meant to harm you. It's the area that you may just need to explore, and so it's being open to those things. It's being aware, holistic, nursing, that it is part of our role to be in constant self-awareness, constantly addressing what's going on in my life, so that I can be present when I'm with someone else to care for them to you know whether I just need to sit by their side. You know, dealing with your own stuff.

Speaker 1: 13:12

Yes, we all have it.

Speaker 2: 13:15

Yes, and not pretend like it's not there, but really just confront it. Be willing to confront it, yeah.

Speaker 1: 13:22

And, as you said, it's almost like these wisdom voices, these intimates that have earned our trust, are the ones who are going to biopsy and put our life under the microscope. In a sense, right, it's like a people biopsy.

Speaker 2: 13:35

I love that.

Speaker 1: 13:37

And you know you have to wait and give space for that and I really love that. I am very intrigued with the subtitle. I mean releasing the stress you were never meant to carry, because I just can't wrap my head around how to rest. I am in a season as I'm saying now I know God is actually. It's okay, janelle. This is radical relaxation because your body has kept the score and it's falling apart and I don't know if I even understand into a alcoholic home or a home where there is trauma present little T, big T, middle T. I mean it's just rare that people are born into securely attached homes, which is my heartbeat. It's what I do with my work and so I'm not sure I understand that I was never meant to carry stress. Is that a fair question? Can you help me with this? Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 14:53

Yes, because you're absolutely right. You're like I was born into this.

Speaker 1: 14:59

I was born in distress.

Speaker 2: 15:02

Right, I didn't voluntarily participate in it, but it's here, it's present, and that's that's realistic, that's honest. So what does that mean? As a believer, you are developing your relationship with God and you want to continuously rely upon him. You have to take him at his word. You want to continuously rely upon him. You have to take him at his word when you're saying the word, and you can't go both ways. It's like either God I trust you, even though it's a work in progress, not saying it's like it's an instant transition. God, I trust you. So be honest, I'm struggling with this or this is the stress I feel in this moment, or in this situation. So show up for me, or, you know, go to that scripture and figure out. What does it say? How does that apply to this particular situation that I'm going through? Um, it's, it's reality is, people do feel stressed.

Speaker 1: 16:04

Okay, the reality is people do feel stressed.

Speaker 2: 16:04

Yes, but solutions are in the word. If we truly believe in our beliefs, that's so good they're there we just have to excavate it. Sometimes it's like trust him, do not fear, don't be anxious for anything, and it can be very counterintuitive.

Speaker 1: 16:35

You know what are you talking about. Yes, I think it's very counterintuitive. To be very honest, I mean this work of radical relaxation and, you know, I think stress. Yes, we live in a different world with all the digital content, but imagine when Alexander Graham Bell brought the phone and imagine when, you know, Henry Ford brought in the car. I mean, this evolution of distraction and stress is not new. I don't think it's a new spirit. I think it's been present always. I think it's been present always. And so I think the idea of radical relaxation, it's so counterintuitive for me and so, even receiving it, it becomes disoriented.

Speaker 2: 17:22

I feel disoriented yes, that's a good word for it. Okay, that's okay being disoriented because you're attempting to leave behind what you're familiar with. You're attempting to turn to face god and to focus solely on him and what he has promised, what he has asked, and that's not without challenge.

Speaker 1: 17:44

Because there's just so much space.

Speaker 2: 17:46

Yes so much space, One thing at a time. You know you have to give yourself some grace in there. You know you could write a list of 100 things that are stressing you or that you're anxious about, or you know, whatever it is, my light switch isn't working today. That's a problem, you know.

Speaker 1: 18:04

I couldn't find a parking space yesterday I was like, so stressed out, write it all down.

Speaker 2: 18:10

You have to begin somewhere, so write it all down. Okay, today I couldn't find a parking space. But tomorrow, when I can't find a parking space, what am I going to do about it?

Speaker 1: 18:20

Am I going to let it?

Speaker 2: 18:21

worry me. Am I going to pray ahead of time before I go?

Speaker 1: 18:25

Am.

Speaker 2: 18:26

I going to have my scriptures ready as I'm circling the lot. You know, what I mean as I'm circling. I'm repeating those words you have to have whatever it is that's going to show up and it's about being intentional intentional about addressing that stress. Let's not pretend that it's not there and that it's not bothering you. Okay, but what are we going to do about it?

Speaker 1: 18:57

I love that you talk about the relaxation response. Okay, never have I heard that and I'm very hopeful You're bringing all of us hope that my body has a relaxation response. That's a God-designed bodily function. You're right as a believer. Engaging your relaxation response can be a radical act of faith. Well, yes, it is my relaxation response. Okay, uh, instead of reading on, ask you to respond, how do I engage my relaxation response without that causing even more stress?

Speaker 2: 19:39

Oh boy, oh well, that's a good question. Okay, tell me something what's your favorite vacation? What's your favorite thing to do?

Speaker 1: 19:48

Well, I love a good European city. My daughter lives in Belgium. I love to travel. It doesn't matter where my other children are, in Kansas and St Louis, and those are just where I've been the last three years, with five grandbabies coming in 2.5 years. I can travel more when I'm relaxing than I can when I'm home, which I think is typical, and because I don't have. I have a space, a hotel room or something you know in a long stay apartment and I love to just meander.

Speaker 2: 20:22

Yeah Well, how do you feel when you're meandering so happy?

Speaker 1: 20:26

So happy, so fun. I don't have to spend any money, although sometimes I do, but I just love, particularly in a European city. I think it's just a different vibe and it's chill. So just talking about it makes my shoulders go down.

Speaker 2: 20:41

Yeah, so you feel relaxed just talking about it.

Speaker 1: 20:44

I do.

Speaker 2: 20:45

That's how that's exactly what you do. That's exactly how you tap into your relaxation response. You go to those moments and those experiences that cause you to relax. That's so good, and you engage with that. You don't feel guilty about it. You practice it. You do it often. You don't need anyone's permission. Whether you're stressed, and here's something that's important You're not waiting until you feel the stress to do that.

Speaker 1: 21:18

Yeah, say it again, because that's a strong coaching, counseling, therapeutic modality. That's preparation right.

Speaker 2: 21:27

Okay, say it again, and that's how you practice. You do not wait until you're feeling the stress in order to tap into your relaxation response.

Speaker 2: 21:36

You are practicing with intention, every day in your own way, or whether it's two minutes, whether it's 20 minutes, you are actively engaging your relaxation response so that, when you come across a stressor, you begin to realize that you have a choice. You have a choice whether to continue to engage with the stress response or to turn it off and go to that relaxation space that you are called. It's like building a muscle that you are called it's like building a muscle. Yeah, you are strengthening it every single day as you practice, and so the more often you do it it you know, like I said, it's counterintuitive. However, the more often you do it, you realize it's getting stronger and you're getting better at it and you're realizing what works for you. You know those thoughts, those ideas, what you said, those experiences and, oh, my shoulders aren't as tense anymore and, oh, my goodness, that's my happy space and you're smiling Right. You need to welcome more of that into your everyday life. That's how you engage your relaxations.

Speaker 1: 22:51

What's yours?

Speaker 2: 22:52

What's your happy place? Oh boy, I have so many.

Speaker 1: 22:54

Oh, just give us one.

Speaker 2: 22:57

Just one Today. I'll go with today's Aromatherapy.

Speaker 1: 23:02

Oh.

Speaker 2: 23:02

Aromatherapy yes, I'm a certified practitioner in aromatherapy.

Speaker 1: 23:07

That's amazing. Exactly so today you got the diffuser on back there. Oh, yes, that's amazing, exactly.

Speaker 2: 23:13

So today. Diffuser on back there. Yes, I have a couple of them going around lavender. Right now, lavender is my go-to yeah okay, love that.

Speaker 1: 23:21

Okay, so you utilize your senses? Yes, which will immediately go into the limbic and calm you down.

Speaker 2: 23:27

Yes, I use them all. I use multiple.

Speaker 1: 23:30

Give me a couple more, then this is great.

Speaker 2: 23:32

Writing. Writing is I write every day.

Speaker 1: 23:37

Every day.

Speaker 2: 23:38

Writing pages, or just a journal with intention, or yes, I often post, I post every day on Instagram. That's my moment to pause, okay, to connect with God, to say what am I processing today, today, what do others need to?

Speaker 1: 23:57

hear and I just write. So everybody get there, get on Tracy's. Is it just at Tracy Braylock? Yes, okay, I love that, because that's what I do now and I used to do that in a journal. So I'm like, how do I bring Instagram, like, because that's content that I want to keep. So, yeah, I love. Thank you for giving me permission, in a sense, to realize that does bring me joy. I love that connection and it's not just for the sake of growth or numbers or it's joyful.

Speaker 2: 24:26

Okay, good Love that. It's a personal practice. It is personal Spiritual practice, okay.

Speaker 1: 24:29

One more Personal practice. It is personal, spiritual practice. Okay, one more.

Speaker 2: 24:32

Absolutely One more.

Speaker 1: 24:36

I like to play. Oh Tracy, help us.

Speaker 2: 24:38

Whether it's coloring in a coloring book, whether it's playing a game with my children.

Speaker 1: 24:44

Which you have four right, I have four.

Speaker 2: 24:46

I have four, yes.

Speaker 1: 24:47

What are their ages? For all the mamas listening, because we're talking about motherhood this year- yes, yes, yes, 14, 12, 10, and seven. You are a busy woman, okay.

Speaker 2: 24:57

Yes, and so you know, I try to be intentional about teaching them these practices as well, you know. So sometimes we sit on the floor and we're going to meditate or we're going to practice our breathing yeah, because you got to start somewhere.

Speaker 1: 25:15

Okay, we have a lot of mamas listening, and this year is I'm focusing on from mother to matriarch. So you just said very something very important to me that I did do as a mom and now I've got grandkids, so this is fun you include them. Oh yeah, we are going to sit in a circle or sit on the floor and meditate, so what might that look like? Just to give us a real visual picture.

Speaker 2: 25:42

Well, okay, we have these little pillows, so that makes it a little bit more fun. You know, everybody gets their little pillow and sometimes we sit in a circle because there's six of us, so sometimes it's a large circle or sometimes we're just wherever we are. Some days it doesn't look pretty.

Speaker 1: 26:01

Correct Everybody on the floor.

Speaker 2: 26:05

I love it, thank you. It doesn't always look pretty, and so I'll turn on an app. I use the Calm app.

Speaker 1: 26:13

Oh, my daughter writes for that my oldest. Yeah, great Tons of things on there, yes.

Speaker 2: 26:18

And so you know I'll set a timer and we just close our eyes, listen to the music. Breathing has been very important reminding them, especially when they're frustrated Okay, let's breathe, breathe. Reminding them, especially when they're frustrated okay, let's breathe, breathe. And trying to get them to see that they don't think as clearly or can't make a decision as effectively when they're frantic or when they're upset. So let's not even try to do that, let's just breathe.

Speaker 1: 26:52

What is something you would say? Do you say those words like you don't think as clearly when you're frantic? Now, I know they all are further along than the toddler preschool age, but I have a feeling you've been doing this for a long time. So if there's a mama of a two and a half year old and a one year old and things are going crazy, would you just say let's take a moment, put your hand over your heart and then Sometimes let's, let's breathe, and it's been important for me to get down on their level and to do it with them.

Speaker 1: 27:26

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 27:27

And you know, inhale, exhale and just continue and you can sometimes see it falling off of them. Yeah, the stress, the, the chaos. You can, and maybe they'll ask for a hug.

Speaker 1: 27:42

Or maybe?

Speaker 2: 27:43

Yeah, it's, it's a trigger. It is something that you have to practice with them too, so that they realize, oh, they do have a couple of tools there that they can use themselves to calm themselves down. Now the explanation, you know, for a two-year-old, you know no point in wasting your words at that time, but as they get older, I'm, you know, very intentional about explaining. This is why we've been doing that good this is how this helps you.

Speaker 2: 28:14

You know, um you know, reminding them in school if you're about to take a test or somebody's picking on you or something. These are the moments when you can use this you know, so that they feel empowered to do it on their own as well.

Speaker 1: 28:32

Because what I hear you explaining then is you're already training them that we have a stress response and we have a relaxation response. So, as I was just saying, you are informing us as adults now that, because I didn't learn that as a child, but it's never too late to understand I guess this is what I'm really taking away from you. Well, one of a million things actually, but the bottom line is okay, I have a stress response and a radical relaxation response. As Viktor Frankl said, in between, the stimulus and response is that millisecond. I call that the sacred millisecond to make a choice. So to choose or not to choose. But that all involves training and your children are very blessed and fortunate to have you as their trainer. But for those of us now that I, like myself, I'm reparenting, right, that's what I'm doing, that's what they would call it. I'm remothering myself and I think it has. It is so counterintuitive even for your seven year old I'm sure to not give in.

Speaker 1: 29:48

I was going in to see a surgeon. About my hand now that is now tingling and I kept driving around and I couldn't find a parking space because these orthopedic surgeons are overloaded and I really I sat, it was raining, it was a miserable day weather-wise and I thought I don't even need to go in here Because I know why this is happening. I have allowed stress to take over my body for years, again, again. This is like third slap in the face, third breakdown. So that's how I came to reckon with that yesterday. It was like you know, you already know, you know. And then here we are today talking about radical relaxation. So you are just affirming Okay, let me say this. You talk about misidentification of a patient.

Speaker 2: 30:57

Oh my gosh.

Speaker 1: 30:58

I mean, I was like, help me, I've got chills everywhere because you talk about nonconformity and I wrote down in big purple letters am I blindly following false narratives? Help us, help, help. What is misidentification of a patient and how might all of us who are listening be misidentifying?

Speaker 2: 31:29

Oftentimes we assign things to ourselves identifying. Oftentimes we assign things to ourselves we hear a catchphrase, or whether it's something we're experiencing physically, whether, let's say, somebody has been diagnosed with diabetes. And so my concern is when we show up to a new meeting, to a new interaction, and one of the very first things we identify with is oh, I'm a diabetic. Yes, you have diabetes in your body, but is that the totality of who you are?

Speaker 1: 32:09

You are so rare, tracy. You know how rare you are, you are. You are so rare, tracy, you know how rare you are.

Speaker 2: 32:21

You are so needed. Okay, keep going. Sorry, thank you, but that that has always concerned me. You know, you are not, whatever that diagnosis is, and so when you continue to label yourself this way, it kind of maybe you haven't stripped away the labels that God has given you, but it kind of stuffs them down, you know they're no longer your focal point, you're no longer thinking I am healed, you're no longer thinking.

Speaker 2: 32:50

I'm safe. I'm safe all of those things because you're identifying yourself by these conditions, and so I also think that, getting to the root cause of things, you know, I think you are aware of the stressors that have impacted you over your life and you're doing something about it. But, sometimes people aren't aware or they are not willing to address it.

Speaker 2: 33:16

And so I think that's a part of the identification as well. Once you know it's there, it doesn't become who you are, but it is something that you can address and you can begin to walk it back a bit and get to those root causes, because oftentimes it's not just one thing, it's not just one?

Speaker 1: 33:39

Oh, most definitely.

Speaker 2: 33:41

Correct Compounded. You have to go back Right, and that's another thing about stress. Stress compiles, stress just stacks, okay, stack stack, stack. You mentioned. You know the body keeps the score. Your body, if you haven't addressed that stress from 30 years ago, it's still there.

Speaker 1: 34:01

Your body still remembers.

Speaker 2: 34:03

For sure, Implicitly right, subconsciously. Packing the new stuff on top of it, and so we do have to methodically go back and address as much of it as we can. Some of it, you know, might be tough, but make an honest attempt, you know, to confront those things, because it's just layer upon layer and it just gets worse and your body can often begin to respond in a stronger way. Oh, because, because it's it knows, your body's like hey, hey, what's happening here? And you know, I just woke up this morning why?

Speaker 1: 34:52

do I feel this yes, yes, and it is aging on my behalf. I'm 65. Yes, I am organically aging. That's a normal thing. You know to be shrinking a half inch here and there, and I just had a bone density test, you know. So she's like but you're great, look at you know, you're just, you're great, it's just normal aging. I'm like uh, yes, so what I hear you saying again and again and again, I can't get away from the word counterintuitive. So I also feel like it can be counterintuitive because on page 22 you say this is a plea, I'm pleading, you're tracy ple. This is a plea, I'm pleading, you're Tracy pleading. This is a plea for you to get help, you know, because if we don't have a mama Tracy, you know putting the pillows on the floor and training us in this we have to reparent ourselves.

Speaker 2: 35:47

This is not when you mentioned the relaxation response. You know I had gone to nursing school. I have two nursing degrees. I'm working in the operating room. I had never heard of it either, right?

Speaker 1: 36:00

what really?

Speaker 2: 36:02

really until so it was eye-opening for me is where were you when you heard? It tell me, oh boy, I was. There was a bookstore that I loved. It was a, a bookstore I think many of us are know about, okay, and it closed nationally and so I would visit every day because I was, I knew it was going away and I was sad and, honestly, there was a one book on the shelf, see one there you go by itself by the only book on that shelf.

Speaker 2: 36:38

do you have a picture of that? Oh, I don't. I wish it was so long ago it was pre-device.

Speaker 1: 36:45

Every single thing. Yes, okay, all right, go ahead. This is just amazing. There's one book You're there.

Speaker 2: 36:51

I picked up a book and it was the first time I encountered the wording, the relaxation response.

Speaker 1: 36:59

But that was your first time hearing it. And then you're awakened and you become aware.

Speaker 1: 37:05

So then I'm sure you're seeing it all over the place, and that's where you bring us so many stories of the operating room, which I really appreciate, because I've certainly been in many and I think it's just beautiful. What a gift you've been to the medical community. Okay, I think I wrote down this. We've normalized stress. Is that fair to say? Is that the language around what we've been talking about? Like I've normalized it? This is just normal, and I know a lot of my clients who have experienced severe trauma in childhood. They just normalize that Like they don't know anything different. So we need to awaken to the stress that we are experiencing. How then, tracy, can I improve I love how you say this Improve and influence my physical resilience? How do I do this? How do I awaken to the stress? Now, I'm aware I'm going to apply sensory things breathing, meditation, listening to beautiful apps. There's no shortage of those. How give me some, as you say? Hold on, give me the relaxation remedy the relaxation remedy.

Speaker 2: 38:30

Yes, the relaxation remedy is what we discussed. It is continuously engaging your relaxation response doing it. You know, whatever your practice may look like, I have decided I am going to practice all day long, whenever I need to, whether it's when I first wake up and I pray or I meditate or I write, whatever the practice is, and then, if I'm in the pickup line, I'm going to do something.

Speaker 1: 38:55

I'm so familiar.

Speaker 2: 38:58

Yes, whatever, it doesn't have to be a separate thing. You learn to incorporate it into what you're already doing being in nature. I love listening to the birds and, whether I'm by a river, you know, watching the water. Nature has a transformative impact.

Speaker 1: 39:20

Does it ever? Yes, we are.

Speaker 2: 39:22

And the fun part about it is it has the same impact even if you're looking at an image or if you're present in it.

Speaker 1: 39:31

And so we don't have to make this difficult.

Speaker 2: 39:33

You know if it's cold outside. Let's look at some images.

Speaker 1: 39:38

Say that again. We don't have to make this difficult. I think that's freeing. I also help me when I'm in the counterintuitive, okay, implementing these really new practices, and I'm not producing. So how do I balance? You know, because I was talking to my husband recently retired husband before I came up and he goes, yeah, that's, that's easier said than done, and I'm like, I know, and he's like, so I want you to ask, like, how do you counter? Or maybe how do you hold?

Speaker 1: 40:18

We love to hold things in both hands in this community joy and sorrow, everything has to exist, grief and joy, all of it. So how do I hold my mission to obey God in radical relaxation? And then what will that look like? Do I just stop doing everything, stop working, stop? No, I know that's not what you're saying. So what might that look like for all of us that are just type A or just all of all? It doesn't even have to be type A anymore, we're just in a productivity culture. What'd you do today? Oh well, I sat on my meditation cushion over there, I breathed in some oils, took a long walk in nature that oftentimes guilt and shame will arise.

Speaker 2: 41:24

Noticing that and then addressing it. Okay, you don't have a presence here. This is why I'm doing this. I am attempting to follow God. Okay, I am attempting to trust him that he has everything under control, whether or not I get this to-do list completed, even you know, I have a deadline this week, oh boy.

Speaker 1: 41:52

Yes, you do. You're launching a book.

Speaker 2: 41:55

But oddly enough, the words haven't been coming Right. But it's like, okay, they're not here today, but they're coming and I trust that.

Speaker 1: 42:04

And I love this so much, it's so wise. They're not here today. The peace isn't here today. For you, it's the words. I get that I'm a writer. The words aren't coming. I felt that way Monday all day. It was just like I just wanted to nap and I fought it, and fought it and tried to produce, and tried to produce, and it was just a disaster.

Speaker 2: 42:26

So I should have just listened. You have to believe Okay, this isn't the time, but it's coming, and when it gets here I'll be ready. I have my notebook. I have, you know, I have multiple. Will I be downstairs when the word comes?

Speaker 2: 42:40

I love this. You know, I have to believe that. I have to trust that, that, just, I love this, forget. You have to forget that you know someone's going to ask you for this thing and, hey, I'm not done yet. That's. That's the reality of it. It doesn't mean I don't care, doesn't mean I didn't try.

Speaker 2: 43:14

It means if I'm truly partnering with God on things, I have to trust that when the time is right, it'll be here Right, and so it's an active, ongoing practice of walking with God. Our source of relaxation is Him. All the other things that we're doing, they're practices, and they help our bodies to react differently. They help the mental tension to go away, but it is an intentional engagement with God. I really love that.

Speaker 1: 43:53

Intentional engagement. Radical relaxation is an intentional engagement and practice in relationship with the Trinity. I love that. I really love that. Okay, so, nurse Tracy, wise woman, will you give us the discharge instructions? I love how you move through this like we're in a doctor's office. It's so fun. Move through this like we're in a doctor's office, it's so fun. So the last chapter is discharge instructions, and I am so eager for you to tell all of us what are discharge instructions today?

Speaker 2: 44:34

So the discharge instructions are maintaining your self-awareness, you know. Make sure that you are paying attention, taking notes. What are you practicing? When are you practicing? You know what's working, what's not. Make sure you're communicating with those who support you in your life, whether it's your coworkers, whether it's your family, sure. Just knowing that you are really capable of being radical.

Speaker 1: 45:09

So good.

Speaker 2: 45:10

You're capable of it.

Speaker 1: 45:11

I'm hearing you, we're hearing you.

Speaker 2: 45:14

And utilize whatever's in front of you. Utilize it, yeah, and keep asking questions of yourself. Yes, I love that.

Speaker 1: 45:23

Yes. So I'm going to close and say that you told me, you told us, tracy, that life is not about managing stress. That's what is awe-inspiring for me is stress is going to be in the air we breathe. I say that a lot. It is in the air we breathe. You cannot get away from overwhelm. Some disagree with me, but I just think it's in the air you breathe, and so you're encouraging us, empowering us, that we can live without stress. Is that what I'm hearing?

Speaker 2: 46:12

Do? I believe that you can eradicate all stress all the time.

Speaker 1: 46:16

No.

Speaker 2: 46:17

However, I do believe that we can absolutely eliminate some basic things that we often just engage with because we think it's normal or because we've gotten comfortable with it or because we've become unwilling to address it. I do believe that we can have a whole lot less of it. I don't believe we were meant to carry it. It's not something we should put in our purse or our book bag or our wallet and drag around with this all day. However, I often say start with your own internal environment, yeah.

Speaker 1: 46:56

That's what you can work on.

Speaker 2: 46:58

Yes, you cannot control anything.

Speaker 1: 47:03

Nothing. No, we really really can't. We just think we do, and women particularly really think we can.

Speaker 2: 47:08

Yeah. And so, once you like, let go of that a little bit it becomes increasingly easier to recognize.

Speaker 1: 47:18

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 47:19

I'm engaging in this stress or I am participating in my own stress. Yeah, and you have to let those things go. I love that.

Speaker 1: 47:30

And get used to the feeling of rest and peace. Yeah, maybe for the first time. Yeah, you know, maybe for the first time. You know, maybe for the first time. So thank you for the invitation to sit with the discomfort of my relaxation response until it becomes my new normal. Exactly, thank you. We are so grateful to have had you here.

Speaker 1: 48:11

Tracy writes it's true that you can't choose where you came from, but you can absolutely choose where you're going. Even when you're experiencing an illness, you can take steps towards your healing. Even though others in your family have experienced a disease, it doesn't mean you're doomed to experience it too. So you must refuse to use this as an excuse to not try to improve your chances of healthy, vibrant living. Every other aspect of this world your thoughts, your behaviors and the characteristics your genes express can be changed. It all begins with what you believe. If you're already convinced that you have no chance, chances are you won't behave differently in a way that helps and supports you to achieve your goal of long, healthy living. This belief then becomes an internal limitation, resulting in excuses about why you cannot succeed in changing your health or any other area of your life. And this, tracy speaks, is less than the ideal God intended.

Speaker 1: 49:30

I, heartlifter, needed this message and I hope that it blesses you as much as it has me. It has challenged my belief systems inside of my brain and has challenged some strong negative loops that go round and round and round in my feedback cycle. I am trying to speak this intention A calm life is a strong life. In my own life, I am embracing radical relaxation. It's counterintuitive, but I'm moving through the opposition every single day. Will you join me? Let's work on this together. Meet me at Heart Lift Central on Substack, where I will give you even more beautiful resources and dive deeper into this subject of the relaxation response. It's really vital for you and for me to embrace this in our lives so we can offer it to everyone in our spheres of influence.