Show notes
Suzanne Bracci prayed for a sign. She was a school counselor who sensed God pulling her somewhere new, and she told him plainly that it would have to be unmistakable because she was not going to move on her own. A few weeks later she opened a door at work and found a man pointing a rifle at her.
She still did not leave for six more months. And years before that, her body had already tried to tell her the same thing, when chest pain and a family history of heart disease sent her to the hospital and every test came back clean. In this episode Suzanne shares what it cost her to ignore both, and the practical, faith rooted tools she now teaches Catholic women who cannot hear much of anything over the noise of their own lives.
What we cover:
- Why chronic stress shows up as chest pain, headaches, heart palpitations, and exhaustion long before it shows up as burnout
- How saying yes to good things, one at a time, is what actually put her in a hospital bed
- What happened the night she prayed for a sign, and why she still took six months to act on it
- How to tell the difference between environmental stress you cannot control and the stress you are generating in your own mind
- Why rest is holy, and how to stop treating self care as something you have to earn first
- How to build a stress purse, a written toolkit of physical, mental, social, and spiritual strategies you can reach for in the moment
- A guided diaphragmatic breathing technique you can do in the car or between meetings
- How thought reframing turns a spiraling thought into a prayer instead of a headache
- Why self pity keeps you stuck, and what she did every morning to walk back into that building
Connect with Suzanne Bracci:
Website: https://suzannebracci.com
Book: Hope for Struggling Catholics: A Path to Spiritual and Personal Renewal (available on Amazon) - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DHJC3683?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/suzannebracci.speaker.author/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SuzanneBracci.Faith.Hope.Love/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuzanneBracci
The Catholic Woman Podcast:
Substack: https://substack.com/@realmariehanson
Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecatholicwomanpodcast
Thank you to our sponsors:
- Helena House Therapy, a virtual Catholic integrated therapy practice specializing in perinatal mental health. Currently serving CO, MO, MI, PA, MD, VA, NC, and WA. Your first consultation is free. https://helenahouse.janeapp.com/#/staff_member/1
- Black Cassock Coffee, Catholic owned and veteran owned, roasted to order, and every bag supports Catholic education. https://blackcassockcoffee.com/CWP
- Mission Way Moving provides free relocation services to individuals and families in crisis. This is not a paid placement. https://missionwaymoving.org
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