A note from the heart 💙…I was a dead woman walking…

Or at least, that’s what it felt like…

In 2008, I was walking into an operating room to have a routine procedure, pre-cancerous thyroid nodules removed. As a nurse practitioner, I knew exactly what was going to happen… Yet, I started shaking uncontrollably, my palms were sweating, my heart was racing and I couldn’t catch my breath. I rationally knew I was going to be okay, but my fears, and irrational thoughts told me differently. My professional knowledge didn’t calm me…it fueled my fear. I started to spiral into a full panic attack.

That moment changed the course of my professional and personal life and ultimately led me to create a program called Peace in the Process. 

But more on that in a moment. First, let me ask you: Has medical or health anxiety been or become a part of your life?

Do you or someone you love have an upcoming surgery or procedure?

Are you navigating chemotherapy, chronic pain, or ongoing medical treatment?

Because here’s what I understand, both clinically and personally:

Anxiety increases discomfort. Fear amplifies pain… And a calm, supported mind can reduce that anxiety and facilitate healing.

Peace in the Process is an integrative mind-body preparation program designed to help reduce anxiety, ease discomfort,  support recovery before, during, and after medical care and facilitate healing.

It gently integrates:

• Evidence-based mindfulness • Therapeutic guided imagery • Clinical hypnotherapy techniques • Tools for regulating the stress response • Compassion-centered support.

People often experience:

• Reduced pre-operative anxiety • Improved pain management • Greater steadiness during treatment • Smoother recovery • A deeper sense of inner empowerment.

This is not “positive thinking”...it’s not “WooWoo”...It is intentional preparation, so your body isn’t fighting fear while trying to heal. 

Now back to that operating room...The nurse caring for me had a name like Mary Margaret. In my panic, I asked, “Would you mind praying a Hail Mary with me?” She did...Within moments, my breathing slowed. My body softened. The panic released.

The following year, while attending a mind-body medicine conference at Harvard, Dr. Herbert Benson guided us through a simple meditation practice, repeating a sacred word or phrase. After just minutes, I felt that same shift. And I realized: This wasn’t a coincidence; it was physiology. Dr. Benson’s years of research and clinical experience led him to what he termed and taught as  “The Relaxation Response.” His work helped explain why meditation, guided imagery, prayer, and similar practices measurably reduce anxiety and support healing. That discovery sent me on a path of deep study-mindfulness, hypnotherapy, guided imagery, spiritual direction-all woven together with my medical training.

Peace in the Process was born from that intersection. You don’t have to walk into the operating room, or any medical season- bracing for impact. 

If you or someone you love is preparing for or currently going through medical treatment, I would be honored to support you. You can contact me through email, or schedule a free 30-minute inquiry. Peace is possible in the process.

With care, 💙 Angela