Stalled and Staring at Your Screen? Why Tuning into Your Heart Brings Your Brain Back Online
Have you ever been in a meeting, or perhaps just trying to navigate a tricky conversation at home, when you feel that tell-tale "buzz" of adrenaline?
Your internal "Reasonable Adult" is whispering, “Stay calm, refocus and listen”, but your body has already decided you’re in a high-speed chase. Before you know it, you’ve snapped, or you’ve gone completely blank - and you’re left wondering why your decades of experience just evaporated into thin air.
If you’ve spent your life being the "capable one," it’s maddening. You know the theory. So why can’t you just think your way back to calm?
Your Engine, Gears, and Screaming Revs
I recently worked with a client - let’s call her Stephanie. Stephanie is a smart, capable Executive Director. She came to me because of repeated bouts of overwhelm. She was exhausted, reactive, and found herself staring at her screen for twenty minutes at a time, unable to make a simple decision.
I asked her: "Stephanie, have you ever been driving and realised you’re still in second gear, even though you’re doing 40mph?"
We all know that sound. The engine is screaming. The whole car is vibrating. You aren't "broken," and the car isn't "bad" - you’re just in the wrong gear for the speed you’re travelling.
That is exactly what’s happening in your body when you’re stressed. Your heart and nervous system are screaming in second gear, but your brain is trying to cruise down the motorway. That "vibration" is what we call Incoherence.
Heart Rate Cohrence Graph - Showing heart rhythm and its effects on physiology and mood - https://www.heartmath.org/
What is "Coherence" (And Why Should You Care?)
In the A.G.I.L.E Stress Method, we talk a lot about Coherence. It’s not about "being happy" or "thinking positive." It’s purely about the mechanics of your engine.
Incoherence is when your heart rhythm is jagged and irregular. It’s like "stuttering" the clutch. It sends a "Danger!" signal to the brain, and the brain reacts by shutting down your logic centres to save energy for survival.
Coherence is when you finally shift up. Your heart rhythm becomes a smooth, rolling wave. The engine stops screaming and starts humming.
When you’re coherent, your heart sends a "Safe" signal to the brain. Suddenly, the "Intern" (your thinking brain) can access all those files again. The "stalling" stops. You don't have to try to be calm; your biology is simply doing the work for you.
What we resist persists
We’re world champions at "Keep Calm and Carry On." But emotions are literally e-motion—energy in motion. If you don’t shift the gear, that energy doesn't just go away. It stays under the bonnet, causing heat, wear, and tear. For Stephanie, it showed up as "brain fog." For others, it’s a permanent knot in the shoulders or a short fuse with the people we love most.
Ancient traditions didn’t have heart-rate monitors, but they knew this secret: The heart leads, and the head follows. If you want a clear head, you have to soothe the heart first.
A Quick Gear-Shift for Your Day
The next time you feel your internal engine light "flashing red," don't try to argue with your thoughts. That’s just poking the intern. Instead, try a bit of Heart–Brain Coherence Breathing to change gears:
Place a hand over your heart: This physical touch pulls your attention out of the "mental traffic" and back into the "cabin."
The 5-5 Rhythm: Breathe in for five seconds, out for five. Smooth and steady. Imagine the air is flowing in and out of your heart space.
The Smooth Road: Think of someone or something you genuinely appreciate. A pet, a great cup of tea, and the way the garden looks in the morning. This isn't about "fixing" the world; it’s about giving your heart a smooth road to drive on.
When Stephanie started doing this for just three minutes before her board meetings, she stopped feeling overwhelmed. She didn't have to work harder; she just learned how to shift gears.
Electromagentic fields of the heart and brain in sync
Take the Next Step
Does your "engine" tend to scream in high-revs, or do you find yourself "stalling" out of sheer exhaustion?
If so, please don’t think you are the only one. The first step to making a change is awareness, and then taking one step towards getting the support you need.
Here are three ways I can help you find your "Higher Gear" today:
Check your Dashboard: Find out exactly where your stress levels are with my [Free Stress Score Quiz].
Tune the Engine: Calm your nervous system in minutes with the [Free Heart-Brain Coherence Guided Breath Practice MP3].
Book a Pit Stop: If you're ready to move from "pushing through" to performing with ease, let’s chat. [Book your free Discovery Session here].
Success shouldn't feel like a permanent state of emergency. Let's get your brain back online and in sync with the rest of your system.
