86: Building a Meditation App- Ann Adams, MS, RN

86: Building a Meditation App- Ann Adams, MS, RN Transcript

Nicole Vienneau  00:00

Welcome, everyone, to the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! podcast. My name is Nicole Vienneau. I am your host, and I’m also a board certified Integrative Nurse Coach, and I get the pleasure to interview inspirational Nurse coaches from around the world. And today, I get to interview someone who I know and love and am inspired by, and she just lives down the road from me.

So it’s even better. So we are welcoming Ann Adams, who is the founder and the creator of Crush, C, R, U, S, H, the Pain, and she has been doing some incredible work that I have been privy to and watching from afar and just enjoying as she’s stepping into this new role using her Nursing background, of course, and Nurse Coaching, Integrative Nurse Coaching, and creativity and mindfulness and so many things. And so I just gotta let Ann say hi. So welcome, Ann.

Ann Adams  01:20

Welcome. Hello. Thank you so much for having me here. Could have sat at a coffee shop across from each other.

Nicole Vienneau  01:28

Right? Totally true, totally true. I love it. So Ann, we love to take a little trip down history lane and talk about our reasons why and how we discovered Nursing. So what’s your story?

Ann Adams  01:47

Well, I had never really wanted to be a Nurse. It was the last thing on my mind. I just thought that Nurses took care of sick people, and I really wanted to take care of people, help them to stay well and help them to heal. And in high school, I got so lucky. I got to volunteer at a shelter for children that had run away, for high schoolers, that had run away. 

And when I sat with them and heard their story, I just felt like, oh my gosh, I don’t have the same story, but I feel that same kind of suffering. I wanted to help work with them to decrease their pain and suffering. I think of… I didn’t know about him at the time, but I think of Gabor Mate, who said, you know, when he was working with these addicts that he was working with in Canada, he said… 

He just understood, like he felt like he belonged when he heard about this. And I thought, so, you know, that’s how I felt. Like, I get this. There’s a lot of places I didn’t feel like I belonged, but I felt like I belonged. So. But then I thought, you know, how can I help? How can I work with this? 

So I went to college, initially for social work, but then I changed my major a little bit. And, you know, maybe it was just the atmosphere or people telling me other things were more important, but I got a degree in nutrition, and then a master’s degree in exercise physiology. But because of my background, then I got to teach this class called Wellness. 

So this was back quite, quite a few years ago, but I got to teach this class called Wellness, and I was able to teach nutrition and exercise and stress management. So I didn’t really know much about stress management then, except like to suppress or hide or ignore your feelings, and that was the best thing to do. So I got to teach that. 

And in there I learned the importance of relaxation skills, stress management skills, coping skills, and the importance, really, of mental health as part of this big picture of wellness. So it wasn’t nutrition and exercise. So that was really, I think, kind of a key point for me there. And then my first job out of grad school was in this cardiac rehab program. 

And I was, again, really lucky. I worked with people that we were teaching nutrition and exercise, but we were also… somebody named Dean Ornish came up with this plan, and so we were teaching Dean Ornish in reversing heart disease. And in his second book, though, he said, and haven’t read it word for word in a long time. 

So sorry if I’m saying this exactly wrong, but this idea that nutrition is really important, exercise is really important. But this emotional piece and this connection to others, and this managing feelings of anger and isolation was what was really important. So that was pretty cool. And then Candace Pert wrote this amazing book called Molecules of Emotion. 

And again, just kind of summarizing what I took away from it is that what we think and feel is really important to our health, and there’s not just this top down approach, but there’s also this bottom up approach. So we have some control and some impact on creating emotions, what we feel, which can then kind of wash upwards and kind of affect our thoughts. 

So these were kind of pivotal points for me as I’m thinking about really what I want to do and what I’m learning. And another thing I was learning there, one thing we were teaching was “I” statements, right? So as you’re managing your emotions, like when you blank, I feel blank, and I realize I don’t know what I’m feeling. 

I do this crazy stuff in my life, and I don’t know why. So I learned along the way, what my emotions were and why I was doing these things. And I realized that it’s really important to know your emotions and feel your emotions. And that expression, you have to feel it to heal it, you know. And the depth of that, yeah, so I just kept absorbing all these things. 

And then about that time, my son was born, and I decided all you people that are out there, like starting your own business, realize how naive this was. I decided to start my own business so I’d have more time and flexibility for my son. So, yeah, so I started a bakery back then, right? 

Low fat was really important, but I also learned about vegan and also gluten free stuff. So I learned about that, but then that was just too much. But I learned a little bit about the business side, what I did want to do in the future and what I didn’t want to do in the future. 

So with this business, it was really overwhelming, and I went back, I got another job in cardiac rehab, and decided when I was working there, I was working then alongside Nurses who were making more money than me. So that’s how I got into Nursing. Like hey, I need to support my son. I need a flexible job. Let me get into Nursing. So that’s really how I got into Nursing school.

Nicole Vienneau  07:47

Wow, I so love your background. It’s like the roundabout way to get to be a Nurse.

Ann Adams  07:55

Very roundabout way, and also a really roundabout way to discover Nurse Coaching too. I finally made it.

Nicole Vienneau  08:05

You finally made it. Yes. And at the same time, how much you learned in the process of, you know, going to school, thinking you want to be a social worker, ending up, you know, learning about nutrition, realizing that’s important, then moving into exercise physiology, getting your masters in that. 

And then working in cardiac rehab, and all of those influences of learning about Candace Pert and Dean Ornish, and how that builds your foundation of how you’re moving closer and closer to really aligning with your beliefs. And then opening a bakery, girl?

Ann Adams  08:53

Aligning with my beliefs, but also kind of figuring out my beliefs. What did I really value? What were my core values? I think I was really discovering that along the way, and luckily, I had, like, these key experiences. And yes, opening the bakery, realizing that running your own business, as rewarding as it is, is a lot of work, right? So, very, very important lesson there. Not always for everybody, I mean, it’s amazing, right?

Nicole Vienneau  09:25

Right, it’s amazing. And there’s a lot of things we don’t realize that we need to know, but maybe that’s the benefit, is you don’t know, so you may as well just try it and see what happens.

Ann Adams  09:37

Would you have done it if you knew? Right? 

Nicole Vienneau  09:39

Well, yeah, yes, probably yes, yes, probably so. Okay, so now you’ve become a Nurse, and then what?

Ann Adams  09:49

So, well when I was in Nursing school, another thing happened. I was super lucky. I started volunteering at an integrative medicine program. So that was fantastic. So I was learning so much in that program. But then your final semester of Nursing school, where I was at, you can choose where you wanted to kind of be precepted, and where you wanted to do your clinical. 

So I was offered the chance to precept with the medical director there because I had gotten to know her in this integrative medicine program. But I went to my Nursing supervisors, and they said no, because there wasn’t a Nurse there. So I, you know, I think back and I think that was too bad. 

What could I have done differently? But I also think that maybe at that time, I wasn’t ready to kind of take that role, whatever that could have been. Because there’s, you know, there’s this saying that you teach from your scars and not from your wounds. And I think along the way, I was still doing a lot of healing of my wounds. 

So, anyway, that disconnected me still a little bit from Nursing, so I was still kind of on the outside. And I would say, yes, I’m working here in the role of a Nurse, but I’m also this. So coming back around, it took a little while, but I found a job where I could practice holistically. And in that job, I got to learn so much. 

I was in an integrative medicine department with doctors that were doctors and dietitians that were practicing functional medicine, and I just got to absorb so much. And that’s where I learned to do healing touch, and that’s where I learned about heart rate variability and really just this importance of breath to regulate your nervous system. 

Of course, I don’t think I thought of nervous system regulation in those words back then, but we knew that that was important, and managing this underlying stress in different ways was really important too. So I’ll just always be grateful for that, and just really experiencing all different kinds of alternative and complementary and integrative medicine and modalities back then. 

So I left there, though, and started working in hospice. And in hospice, I learned so much about the importance of core values and really being able to be with somebody in the way that they wanted to be with at really this important time in their life. So getting to know my values as a Nurse, I was more able to honor their values because I wasn’t struggling. 

I think like when we really understand what our values are, we can support other people’s values, because we don’t have that internal resistance. So that’s what I learned. I really value that lesson, and I learned that lesson from the patients and the patients’ families, and it was just a wonderful experience. 

Then my daughter was born, and I started working in a clinic that worked with people with addictions. And so at this time, I wish I could say it was at the peak of the opiate epidemic, but, you know, we know now there’s been ebbs and flows, and that’s still a struggle. But I was working with these people that had so much internal pain and struggle, and I had an amazing boss who let me do healing touch there. 

But I also thought these people, the people that I was working with, had really limited resources. So that’s really where I started thinking about what’s really important, what’s the key for healing that people can do independently if they don’t have very many resources, right? 

So that’s where I really dove into meditation and mindful meditation, so that people can learn to sit with their pain, honor their pain, help heal their pain, kind of independently. Now, of course, there’s other… it’s fantastic to be able to work with other people and therapists and do all other kinds of treatment. 

But at the core of this, I think mindful meditation is so important. Nervous system regulation is so important. But I really wanted to see, what can I teach people, that they can do on their own, that they can take with them, anywhere, anytime, with such limited resources. The other thing that was happening at the time— 

I was struggling, I had a new baby, and I was going through my second divorce. So I was feeling that my heart was turning black and it was not open. And so as I’m learning to teach meditation, I’m practicing myself, and that was a huge gift. And I would sit with this woman, my meditation teacher, as I went through all this pain, and she wouldn’t tell me, oh, it’s gonna be okay. 

Don’t think about it. It’s not your fault. It’s his fault. She made me, like, sit with my emotions and ask, like, what part I was playing in this freighted, and she seemed pretty nice, but, man, that was difficult. So I really, truly learned just the value of mindful meditation in those moments. I really think it just saved me. 

And so at that time, also, I was learning about more about addiction and suffering and Gabor Mate and Peter Levine and Steven Porges and this role that trauma plays in pain and suffering. So going back to the hospital then, so kind of keeping all that in the back of my brain. 

I was back in the hospital working with patients with addictions and suffering and physical and emotional pain, and I was seeing that all these providers were giving them input or discharge instructions, but there wasn’t a lot of time for them to do teaching or really understand what was of value to the patient. 

And without that, and without the providers getting together and collaborating and helping the patient come up with a care plan or a treatment plan, and without much follow through, the patients would keep circling back and through. And so I thought, you know what I need to… what I want to do is develop a place where they can go and get resources for free on how to manage pain and suffering. 

And so that’s where I thought, well, I’m going to develop this website Crush the Pain, so that all these resources would be available for people to C.R.U.S.H. “C”—be compassionate. So work with their pain and suffering in a compassionate way. Relate: so that’s the mindfulness piece— how are you relating to this pain in these situations? And mindful awareness really helps with that. 

Understand: so we’re not taking away the biomedical piece. Is there something going on biomedically and psychosocially. What is going on. Really, for you to understand and for you to find a care team that will collaborate with you, that you will be the main part of the care team. Seek support: so that’s, you know, all this nutrition and exercise and sleep hygiene, and supportive people. 

Is that a therapist? Is it a masseuse? Is it I didn’t know Nurse Coach at the time, right? So who is that? All the support systems to help you heal, so the H of heal. So I was doing that, and then as I was putting this together, and I had to put my bio up there, I thought, you know, I need something else. 

I know I have this background of knowledge, but something else that really gives me credibility. Like, who are you to give this information out to people? So that’s when I discovered INCA, and I discovered Nurse Coaching, and so I signed up, because I wanted to put this on my website that I was a Nurse Coach. 

I was a certified Nurse Coach. And I was just not prepared for how much I would learn and grow and develop with this. So there were people out there, there were Nurses out there that were doing what I that I was doing, that were like minded, that had the same values. 

And then there was this program that had it outlined so well and researched so well. Because when I’m going in talking to people at this big medical center that I want to do this or that, or meditation or breath work, it’s easier to get in the door when you have all that background and the science and the research. 

And INCA and Nurse Coaching was so good about just having that there and really helping me to understand why I was doing what I was doing. And then that support piece of having other people in your community that are supporting you, that are cheering for you. And people like you, Nicole, that are like— 

I’m used to being very quiet and reserved, and I work with people that are pretty quiet and reserved and, you know, maybe a little bit grumpy, and to have people around that really honor you and want to support you and build you up, it can be a little uncomfortable at first, and just learning to take that in and take that on is just… it was wonderful. 

Though, I still keep in touch with my one to one partner, my duo partner, and we’ve developed a wonderful relationship, and we sit together. She’s on the east coast, but we sit together and watch nerdy education videos, some things that we started to learn in class, in Nurse Coaching, about non violent communication. 

So it’s just been a really wonderful support system. And for me, part of the healing was being able to open up and depend on other people and really let other people lift me up, so that was a huge part of the program for me. So glad, learned so much more and gained so much more than I ever thought I would.

Nicole Vienneau  20:52

A reminder of the things. You know, sometimes we think that we need another certification to support something else for credibility, and then we had no idea what we’re going to get from it, all the benefits of additional education, yes. 

Part of me was thinking, though, as you were like, okay, here’s you with all of this vast knowledge of your background, having a master’s in exercise physiology, your nutrition degree, then you get your bachelor’s in Nursing, and you still felt like you needed to have another certification to support you for credibility in Crush the Pain and growing your business. What do you think about that? What are your thoughts around that I should say.

Ann Adams  21:42

I know everybody’s experience is different, and your experience is colored by your history and your background and what happened to you as a child, and so that’s colored by the experience. So I don’t want to say this for every Nurse or every healthcare system, but I think it is part of many healthcare systems that they don’t honor what Nurses bring to the table. 

And I was great at helping to support other providers and interpreting what the doctor said to the patient, and helping the patient understand that, but for all those many, many different reasons, until I joined INCA, right, until… I didn’t absorb and I don’t think it’s the fault of my Nursing school. 

It’s just that all this stuff that I brought with me, which I don’t think I’m the only Nurse out there, that brings this, this idea that we’re the helper or the support. I just didn’t think in myself that my voice was enough. But again, every class in INCA in Nurse Coaching was, yes it is, and just a reminder of what a Nurse is. 

Oh my gosh, yes. We are the ones that have this amazing background to help people with chronic illness. We have that ability to touch on all these aspects of health and healing. We’re the ones that should be doing that, and I was just so grateful that I found Nurses with strong voices to kind of lead the way in that.

Nicole Vienneau  23:28

Thank you. I love that. I love that so much because you’re right. There are some times when we’re… whatever we’re doing, doesn’t matter if we’re, you know, if we have PhD in whatever, there’s still maybe a need somewhere inside that will help elevate us, that will help support us. And sometimes it is taking another education program.

Ann Adams  23:54

Yeah, or a retreat or whatever. And I know… I think it was Eleanor Roosevelt, right, that said, nobody can make me feel… maybe you know this quote, because I’m not saying it exactly right, but nobody can make me feel unworthy, except myself. 

But your life history and what’s around you and the community you’re in can sure have an impact. So it is really important for you to learn it internally, for sure, but surrounding yourself with supportive people is so helpful to get that constant reminder.

Nicole Vienneau  24:31

Yes, yeah. And in the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy’s, Nurse Coach certificate program, integrative Nurse Coach certificate program, it is like connecting to other Nurses where I once felt like, well, I guess I’m on my own doing this thing, until I became involved with the Integrative Nurse Coach Academy’s Nurse Coaching program. 

Then I see, oh, there are actually a lot of Nurses who are interested in what we’re talking about here, and what I was feeling so alone with, and now I have a whole troop of Nurses who are doing what I’m doing, maybe not like, exactly like I’m doing, but that’s the unique thing. 

Or the beautiful thing is that we’re taking our own passions, expanding upon them, giving ourselves a platform where we can utilize the language in a different way, perhaps, to support what we are doing, and using our own uniqueness to elevate Nursing. And in the end, that elevates our communities, our world, our universe, in truth, as we’re practicing the ways that we really want to show up and how we want to show up.

Ann Adams  25:45

Yes. And again, I’ll say again, it is great, like I am always taking a class, so having that extra certificate is so great. But also like realizing that internal wisdom, right? Like we have so much knowledge out there, but understanding that that wisdom and that really feeling stuff internally for yourself and for the person that you’re working with across from you, that is so important. 

So I’m trying to slow down on my education part and really reflect on the honoring that wisdom. And knowing that, yes, extra education is so important, and at the core, this is what Nursing is, right? It’s helping people heal in all those aspects which is so important now with chronic conditions, you can look at, you know all those environment and nutrition and sleep and movement, and Nurses have such a unique position to play in being a key component of that as a Nurse Coach.

Nicole Vienneau  26:54

Well said. So you’ve had this experience with INCA. You’ve added that board certification to your website, Crush the Pain. And now next, next, what’s happened? 

Ann Adams  27:11

So next, then, as I’m thinking about the website really, and where my passion is and what truly helped me heal, I started thinking, yes so at the core of all of this, of all these healing modalities, I think, and going back to working with those people that had limited resources and what they can do. 

So at the core of this, what people can do anytime, anyplace, anywhere, is practice mindful awareness, to learn to sit with those difficult emotions and manage them and change and maybe change them. They’re all good. All the emotions are telling us something, but what do we want to do with that? 

And then balancing that with these supportive practices. Because sitting with yourself can be hard. Anne Lamont says, like, my mind is like a bad neighborhood. I never want to go there alone. Supportive practices are so important, and there’s so many wonderful supportive practices out there. 

But two that are really accessible to anybody is their breath— that can help regulate their nervous system, just by learning different ways to breathe. And gratitude. So a gratitude practice is free, and that helps you not ignore what’s negative, but help you scan the horizon for also what’s good, right? 

So if we have a dysregulated nervous system, we tend to look for what can be threatening, because that will be what saves our life. So gratitude practice kind of helps balance that out, that intentional practice of looking for the good. 

So we have this balance of being with what is, which can be difficult, and these supportive practices of which, there are many, but a couple ones are breath work and gratitude. So with that, I decided I’m going to develop an app. So that was a really…. 

Nicole Vienneau  29:07

A what? What did you do? 

Ann Adams  29:09

I developed an app. A kind of fun, creative way to bring these things together for a simple place where people can have a guided meditation practice, have some journaling prompts, and have a place where they can log their gratitudes and do into paced breathing. So that was the last fun thing I’ve been working on here.

Nicole Vienneau  29:32

So okay, so for our listeners— now, developing an app. So, I am just blown away by this, because I’ve learned a lot of stuff, you know, a lot of behind the scenes stuff, and doing the podcast and edits and all that jazz. 

But now I’ve always thought, wow, to develop an app, that’s a whole other ball game of devotion and creativity, and, you know, really thinking about the population you are trying to serve, right? Something that’s not expensive, that people with limited resources that could easily pick this up, work with my own breath, think of things that I’m grateful for, but to do this in a place that’s safe. 

And so creating an environment within the environment is an app. So it’s just to me, it’s just mind blowing that okay, so Ann wakes up one day, let’s create an app. I know it wasn’t like that, so just kind of share some of the background of why, how, not how to do it, but just kind of the foundation for that, maybe.

Ann Adams  30:45

Well, I think first goes back to that naïveté about starting your own business, oh, an app that sounds easy. Well, it’s not. There’s a lot of steps to it, but I enjoyed the learning process and I think honoring what I value and what I need was part of the development of the app. Because I love to teach meditation. I love to teach groups. 

I teach groups where my official job is now, and group… healing in group is so powerful. I absolutely love that, but I know for me, energetically, I could not do that on a full time basis. So partly for me, it was like, how can I get what I think is really important out there for healing, out to people and also protect my energy. 

And then on the same side, there are people… there’s a lot of research that healing, you need to heal in community, and I get that, but there’s a lot of people that were also harmed in community. So create, for one, creating groups where there’s a lot of safety and trauma informed language and interactions is important, and then even taking a step back, if that doesn’t feel okay, let’s have this app. 

So this is a starting place, and start with this, and then hopefully soon, we’ll develop a community that has… that’s this app, that you can interact on the app, but that’s a safe place. And then when people calm and balance their nervous system and learn to kind of feel their emotions— I feel anxious and I can go to this outing with other people, and I can do this. So then that’s part of… so that was part of the reason I developed an app, per se.

Nicole Vienneau  32:49

That makes sense. Create the things you wish existed.

Ann Adams  32:53

Yes, and I know there are many apps out there, but again, I think back to what you said and about Nurse Coaching. What gave me kind of the confidence or push to do that was everybody’s voice is unique. Somebody may appreciate my voice and the way that I discuss things. So we’re all unique, and somebody’s going to need your uniqueness.

Nicole Vienneau  33:24

Someone is needing your uniqueness, and my uniqueness, and listeners, your uniqueness. Yes. Okay, so tell us a little bit more. So what’s the name of the app? How we could find it. And something to expect. 

Ann Adams  33:44

Yes, the app is called Meditation Crush, so you can get at the app store or on Google Play. A lot of the stuff is free, although you can upgrade, but there’s basic information and basic talks about what is mindful meditation. 

Because we use the word meditation a lot, and we use the word mindfulness a lot, but Jack Kornfield said, saying you meditate is like saying you sport, because there’s so many different intentions and so many different ways to meditate. So this is mindfulness meditation, or you may say, insight meditation, a bit of what that’s about. 

So if you don’t know anything about meditation, you could go in and for free, listen to those talks about the basics of it. Of course, there’s a lot more depth, but that’s a great place to start. And then you’d get a weekly… I put out a weekly meditation that will be a mindfulness meditation or a supportive practice. 

Like this week, I did a progressive muscle relaxation. So sometimes people just beginning in meditation or meditating a long time, they still have a hard time, like sitting in that silence. So let’s create those supportive practices as well. So this was a supportive practice, progressive muscle relaxation, which also can help you sleep, something that a lot of people do to sleep. 

And then also, there will be some guided prompts that you can journal on. Then there’s a breath pacer. You can go in and adjust your breathing. There’s a little bit of information about, oh, if you’re feeling low energy, what kind of breath pace would you do? If you’re feeling that you need to calm down, if you need to balance. 

Just a little bit of guide on there so you can go in and adjust so you have a pacer to follow. And then there’s a gratitude log that you can log your gratitudes as a place, just a reminder that this is important to kind of look for the good as well. 

And there’s, I think, one of my favorite parts, it’s simple, but a little place where you can document your emotion for the day. So really, getting to know and understand what am I feeling today, let me explore that. So that’s what you would see on the app. 

Nicole Vienneau  35:58

So listeners, this is such an easy thing to do to support another Nurse, yes, and to support Ann, to support yourself is to just go in and download her app. It’s called Meditation Crush, and you can get it on Apple through the app stores, or go to Google Play and download it there and see how supportive it is. 

It’s free version has so many unique things. I get a little alert every day to do my gratitude reminders. And I sometimes log in and I sometimes don’t, you know, I choose. However, this pops up on my phone and I’m like, oh, there’s Ann. She’s reminding me. She’s reminding me about gratitude. 

So that, just in itself, has said, oh, there’s a loving reminder to think of something I’m grateful for, even if I just don’t go in. That’s been my experience with it, and just hearing another voice to, one, help me learn a little bit more about mindfulness, and what that could mean for me has been lovely, to hear education and know that it’s for me. 

Nurses out there, this isn’t something that I’m learning so that I can support somebody else. I found that’s a new learning for me as of late, is like, hey, actually, I’m going to learn this thing to support myself. I don’t have to learn this so that I can use it for somebody else. So it’s been interesting to explore some of the things that I find valuable about Meditation Crush.

Ann Adams  37:47

Yeah, thanks. And that’s such an important thing I think for Nurses, what you just said, because I was in the same place, I think maybe I’m still in the same place, right? We learned to help others. Because if somebody said, Nicole, why don’t you take this class for yourself, I would have definitely said, I don’t have time, you know, I’m not going to spend the money on that. I don’t have the time to do that. 

But if I thought it was first to help somebody else, yeah. So I love what you said, do it for yourself, whatever it is. The app or not, like do it, find what works for you, find what you love, and do it for yourself. 

Nicole Vienneau  38:29

Yes. It doesn’t always have to be learning it so that I could give it to somebody else.

Ann Adams  38:35

Yes, yes.

Nicole Vienneau  38:37

Yes. So right now, in the world, there are… there’s a lot of noise. I’m just gonna leave it at that. So I’m curious how the work you’re doing, your app, your own personal work, and just kind of a nod to our listeners, of how this mindfulness meditation supports our world.

Ann Adams  39:07

I think you know there’s definitely this balance. If you want to support the world, that old saying, you put your mask on first, right? So, so we need to put our mask on first. And to do that, to me, putting on the mask is that nervous system regulation. Because if we’re acting out of fear, out of anger, to whatever that noise is, I don’t think we would be… we can be as effective. 

So I think a lot of people do… there is a lot of noise out there, and some people want to say, like, how can I quiet this noise? Or, how can I turn this noise into music? Or, you know, what’s going on? And I just heard something the other day. Think about firefighters, they don’t fight fire with fire. 

They fight fire with water. So I think that that water for us to be able to have the energy to do what we want to do and need to do in the world and to heal us and others, is really finding that soothing energy, that water. Yeah, so I think what’s so important is how to regulate our own nervous system. And if you would like, I have a reflection on that that I would love to read.

Nicole Vienneau  40:35

Oh, we’d love that, yes, please. 

Ann Adams  40:39

So, reflection for changing times. So, if you are feeling numb, honor this. Take care of yourself and nurture yourself. Take time to rest and prepare to feel. If you are angry, honor this. It means you care. Find what you value most and spend your energy working for this. Do not spend your energy fighting what you cannot change. 

If you are sad and scared, honor this. It means you love. Take time to reflect on what you truly love. Spend time and energy nurturing this. If you feel grounded and stable, honor this. Your work now may be to hold space for those that are exhausted, angry, sad, and scared. In all of this, take time for stillness, take time to see the beauty amongst it all, and take time to breathe. Thank you for letting me share that.

Nicole Vienneau  41:58

Thank you for sharing. So in our last few moments together, Ann, is there anything else you’d like to share? 

Ann Adams  42:08

No, I think just that appreciation for you, for the program, for having wonderful people out there that sometimes I think even though you feel like I don’t have anything to say, maybe there’s somebody out there that sees that you do. So Nicole, I really appreciate that in you. I think my plan is to really kind of heal myself right now, to kind of go inwards a bit and work on self care. And thank you for the conversation.

Nicole Vienneau  42:46

So listeners, you can find Ann. We’ve got her contact information, but just remind us of the name of your website and your app and how we can find that.

Ann Adams  42:57

Yeah, so the website is called Crush the Pain. So, crushthepain.com. And you can email me at info@crushthepain.com. Or the app Meditation Crush, and you can find that at your Apple Store or Google Play. Thank you.

Nicole Vienneau  43:17

Thank you so much, Ann, for joining us today on the Integrative Nurse Coaches in ACTION! podcast. So appreciated this time with you and you sharing just a little snippet of what’s been up for you. Thanks again. 

Ann Adams  43:30

Thank you, Nicole.