Lindsey Pace, LCSW

Is anxiety bossing you around and determining every decision or step you take? In the most basic sense, anxiety is a physiological state in our body that is set off by an area of our brain known as the amygdala when our body or our mind perceives some kind of a threat or danger. Before modern times, this internal alarm system would've saved us from predators and prehistoric dangers. If our ancestors didn't have the instinct from anxiety to run or fight we would not be here. In this regard, anxiety deserves our gratitude and respect.  The way anxiety feels in our bodies varies person to person but typically one can expect to feel the following: tightness or heaviness in the chest, butterflies in the stomach, light-headedness, shallow and rapid breathing, tightening of the muscles, increased heartrate and palpitations, sweating, dry mouth, etc. This physiological process is honestly amazing because it allows us to be at peak alertness and readiness to make the next right move tha

I'm so excited to share some beautiful words with you from one of my very talented co-workers. Shanae Cartwright, M. Div, is a hospice chaplain, co-pastor along with her husband, and founder of Triple B, a business that seeks to empower women in business. I have had the privilege of working alongside Shanae for the past three years. She is always a calming presence for our staff, patients, and families and speaks with confidence and grace to encourage and equip people for whatever challenge they are facing. Enjoy! Recently, I was listening to Judy Garland's, "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." The words of the song are so vivid and stirring, full of hope. Songs have a way of evoking emotions such as love, joy and even pain. You can be full of excitement and happy one moment and then reaching for a tissue to dry your eyes in the next. With some songs you even remember where you were, what the fashion of the day was, if you experienced a difficult breakup, or what president w

My family welcomed a new Aussiedoodle puppy into our home and family last week. On the one hand it was a very planned and researched addition and on the other hand it was somewhat impulsive. Although we had been considering getting a dog for months and were talking through all the logistics of this, we had been looking to make this move in the Fall of this year. Unexpected loss in combination with a series of fortunate events prompted us to go ahead and make this leap sooner than anticipated. So, here we are with an 11 week old puppy and ALL the responsibilities and lifestyle changes that go along with that. Much like changes that occur with the addition of a child or having to assume care of an aging parent, our proverbial plate has quickly gone from full to overflowing. So often we add to our plates (whether by necessity or choice) and continue to push forward and expect the same level of engagement and performance from ourselves when in reality we need to take these opportunities t

I went to a stupid spin class at the YMCA the other day. I call it stupid for many reasons but mainly because spin does not yield to my natural athletic skills and therefore I love to hate how challenging cycling is. I much prefer a bootcamp or yoga class. Also, I can’t for the life of me figure out why people just tolerate these teeny tiny little bike seats instead of advocating for a bike with a soft and wide cushioned bench. Seriously, if you have to buy diaper butt shorts to protect your bottom on your bike doesn’t that sound like a manufacturing error??? I guess it's just me. Anyways, I’m glad I went to the class because it was a blaring object lesson on resistance. As a therapist, resistance is something that I must be highly attuned to in order to have any hope of effective therapy. Resistance is something that we could all benefit from paying closer attention to because resistance represents an area of our life that we hold dear and a pattern of protecting ourselves, for be

I have a confession. I am conflicted about returning to pre-pandemic church activities and involvement. This is a particularly off-limits confession for me because I am married to a Pastor. Yet, I feel compelled to share this because I know that there are so many people who have a similar hesitancy and reluctance to jump back into the level of church involvement they had pre-pandemic. With restrictions loosening and vaccinations increasing, we have a decision to make (actually we have many decisions to make and if you struggle with decision-fatigue please check out Emily P. Freeman with The Next Right Thing podcast).  Easter Sunday 2021 marked my first Sunday back in church in over a year. Some people might read this and wonder if I haven’t been going to church because I’ve been scared of the virus or assume our church hasn’t been having services. I did not stay home because I was afraid of the virus and our church started back with services last summer on a smaller scale and with al

At the time when I wrote this, I had just gotten off the phone with one of my dearest friends who is going through what we adoringly call a season of suck. This friend has been one of my ride-or-die partners for almost 10 years now. She is what I call my "move-a-body" friend (a term I learned from Brene Brown  one that I will happily share with you). Move-A-Body Friend:  noun "a friend who will hide your crimes and save your ass" Yep, this is the friend I would call if I murdered someone and needed to hide the body. Sorry if that was too dark for you but that's the truth of the matter (not that I would murder someone, but this is the depth of security and loyalty I find in my friend). Without this type of friendship or intimate relationship, I would manage, maybe do well at times, but I would be far worse for the wear. For this reason, it is absolutely essential that we have a friend or community in which we can share all of us- the bold and the beautiful and th