Stress is a state of cold
When we experience inner turmoil and are overloaded, our muscles tense up. Our shoulders hunch, and the muscles in our neck go into overdrive. Blood vessels constrict, our jaw tightens, and our feet and toes often become cold. All of this happens because our sympathetic nervous system is active and keeps our stress hormones elevated. This state can be broken with deep breathing and warmth.
The liberating power of warmthHeat activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is a part of the nervous system that counteracts stress. When we are in a stressed state, we need to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which ensures the body finds calm and rest. Heat causes muscles to relax and release unhelpful tension.
The Cognitive Diamond
The cognitive diamond shows the interconnectedness of thoughts, feelings, behavior, and the body in humans.
”We are more than just a body and physiological processes. Our emotions, thoughts, behavior, will, and our consciousness are also crucial pieces in living a good life.”
Nanna Kirkebjerg, doctor and founder of Lucia Care
See yourself in the diamond's prism
Imagine a diamond. The prism's light makes the sun's rays dance on the walls in the most beautiful rainbow colors – and in an instant, the energy is lifted.
Download the cognitive diamond as PDF.
By looking at yourself through the prism of the cognitive diamond, you can become more aware of the connection between our thoughts, feelings, behavior, and body. For a stressed body and a restless mind, this can be the beginning of the way out of a negative spiral.
The Cognitive Diamond as a Stress-Reducing Tool
With her genuine interest in how health is affected by many factors, including physical, emotional, mental, and behavioral, Nanna explains how we should focus our attention on these interactions in our minds.
In the video, Nanna takes the cognitive diamond as a starting point and additionally adds important elements of observation and empiricism.
As a doctor, she draws here on her many years of experience in personal development with psychotherapy, psychology, philosophy, meditation, combined with courses in integrative medicine abroad.
Make yourself comfortable or prepare a foot bath or hand bath and listen to Nanna talk about the cognitive diamond. Duration: 18 min.