The Calm Code: Transform Your Mind, Change Your Life

By Annie White and Jack Canfield

The Calm Code is a revolutionary step-by-step method to minimize your stress and maximize your happiness.

Have you ever wondered why some people seem naturally relaxed and happy? They handle stressful situations in a balanced way. Seems like their mind is wired differently, right? Would you like to be one of th

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilson Ridge Publishing
• Release date: Sep 9, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986680651

Annie White

Annie White is a children's illustrator and artist who has drawn from her childhood growing up on Norfolk Island to inform her whimsical watercolour illustrations depicting her fondest memories. Annie is a trained patisserie chef and pottery lover who applies a magical lens to everyday events. Her other works include a series of books depicting native Australian wildlife.

Book preview

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My biggest complaint when it comes to self-help books, especially on anxiety, is that the advice they typically give is too superficial to make real or lasting change. Dr. Annie White has written an important book that can actually bring you to calm. That’s no small accomplishment in a world whose biggest problems can readily be blamed on our faulty response to stress. Combining her training in Eastern medicine with the latest research in neuroscience, she offers us the HAPPIE method, a breakthrough in understanding how stress works and what to do about it. What’s more, the book is written in a particularly engaging, easy-to-read and fun style. Be warned, however: once you start reading, you may not be able to put it down until finished, eager to glean all the nuggets of wisdom like I was. Well done, Annie!

Todd Pressman, Ph.D., author of Deconstructing Anxiety: The Journey from Fear to Fulfillment

The Calm Code

Copyright © 2022 by Anne White

Library of Congress Control Number:

LCCN: 2022915452

ISBN: 979-8-9866806-2-0 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 979-8-9866806-9-9 (Paperback)

ISBN: 979-8-9866806-5-1 (Ebook)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions at [e-mail]

The content of this book is published for educational and informational purposes only. The content of this book should not be used for the diagnosis or treatment of any condition or disease. The case histories presented are provided for illustrative purposes only. No express or implied guarantee of results is made. If you are currently being treated by a physician or any healthcare practitioner for any condition or disease, consult with that provider before changing or modifying any treatment program.

I have tried to recreate events, locales, and conversations from my memories of them. To protect privacy, I have changed the names of individuals, and I have changed identifying characteristics and details such as physical properties, occupations, and places of residence.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes responsibility for any errors or changes that occur after publication. The publisher and author do not accept any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

Wilson Ridge Publishing 16105 Swingley Ridge Road #815 St. Louis, MO 63006

Ordering information:

For bulk orders contact: [e-mail]

Printed in the United States of America

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To my husband, my love, my rock, my everything.

To Pops, I feel like we wrote this book together. I love and miss you every day.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Stress Can Break Your Brain

The Solution

Set Yourself Up for Success

Happy Sparks — Week One

The Appreciably Tools — Week Two

Phive (Five) Breathing Method — Week Three

Peaceful Habits — Week Four

Imagine It, Be It Technique — Week Five

Emagica Visualization Technique — Week Six

Your New Calm, Happy Life

Endnotes

Appreciation

Get in touch

Foreword

Congratulations! You hold in your hands a book that can completely revolutionize your life. Most people today live stress-filled lives at work and at home. If you are reading this, you are probably one of them. As research and experience have shown us, today’s high level of stress can kill your happiness, kill your relationships, and ultimately even kill you. But here’s the good news — Dr. Annie White has developed a powerful step-by-step method to simply and quickly rewire your brain and eliminate the feelings of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm and replace them with a steady state of relaxation, balance and happiness.

What I love most about this book is that it offers you a wide variety of simple yet effective techniques based on solid scientific research with lots of examples and details so that you can completely understand why you are doing them and exactly how to do them correctly.

While many of these concepts and ideas were familiar to me, as I was first reading this book, I kept thinking, Wow, there are so many subtle nuances I wasn’t aware of in terms of how to apply these principles and techniques.

One of the main ideas of the book is the concept of neuroplasticity — the idea that the brain can constantly be remolded through conscious intention and repetition no matter how old you are. Whether you’re playing the piano, thinking positively, feeling grateful, or looking at pictures of things that make you happy, when you continually think the same type of thoughts, the neurons in your brain are making new and stronger connections. Thought upon thought upon thought strengthens those new connections, and therefore, your brain can be molded into a new brain by creating new neural pathways and reinforcing them through repetition. And this easily readable book shows you step-by-step exactly how to do that.

Most of us are not aware that the brain is plastic and can be molded by intentional practice. We weren’t taught this in school. And as result, we are unaware that our brain has a default mode, and for a majority of us, that default mode is negative. But now, with the simple practices outlined in this book, we can quickly create a new state where it defaults to the positive.

The two main reasons that you probably don’t already utilize these simple practices that can revolutionize your life is because first — up until now — you were unaware of them, and second, you think they will take too much time. But as research in the field of neuroscience has now proven, you can have a new brain and a new more positive state of being by devoting as little as sixteen minutes a day for twelve weeks or less.

Because of this book you no longer have any excuse not to be happy, relaxed and fulfilled. Enjoy the journey!

— Jack Canfield, Coauthor of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series and The Success Principles™: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

Introduction

You are not stuck where you are unless you decide to be.

Wayne Dyer

Thunder clapped in the distance as a car passed on the wet pavement, mirroring the storm that had just passed inside. My cheeks were damp with regret. Again.

I don’t think I can do this anymore, Annie.

Do what? What do you mean?

This. Us.

His words unleashed a dam as my heart liquified and poured out, leaving me empty. Feelings of guilt and shame had become familiar friends. This was different. He’d reached his breaking point, and I knew it. What’s worse is I couldn’t blame him.

I didn’t recognize myself. I felt like I was spinning out of control. Hurtful daggers flew out of my mouth before I could stop them. This man was my rock, my everything, and he was slipping away. No, not slipping; if I’m honest, I pushed him. But I didn’t mean to. This can’t happen — I can’t lose him.

I’m so, so, so, sorry.

"I know, Annie, but that doesn’t make it better. I don’t feel like you want to be married to me. Why would you want to stay with someone who never does anything right? Do you even like me anymore?"

His words were a jackhammer of truth, driving to the core how I had treated him over the past months. I could hardly whisper. "I love you more than my own life. You do all the things right. I don’t know what’s happening; the problem is me, not you."

He reached over and gently tried to wipe my tears. It’s breaking my heart, too. I miss the real you.

Please, please, please give us another chance. I’ll fix it. I’ll get the girl you fell in love with back.

Annie, I need some time. I’m going away for a few days, maybe longer. I can’t live like this, and neither can you. You’re not happy, and I feel like I’m making you more miserable. I’m trying my best and always letting you down.

"You’re not letting me down. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Please don’t go. Please."

As he was packing, I followed him around the house, realizing my heart was about to walk out the door. When are you coming home?

I don’t know, Annie. I need to think, and so do you.

As my husband walked out the front door, I dissolved onto the floor, hyperventilating, desperate. I had to fix this; I had to fix me. He drove away and the reality set in that I could lose everything.

I have to find a better way

My marriage couldn’t end like this. A barrage of past comments assaulted me as I weakly tried to justify them in my mind.

Is it THAT hard to put them into the dishwasher? No, Annie. You could have asked calmly instead of screaming that dishes don’t have feet and indentured servants are illegal. And you’re sick and tired of having to do EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME — which isn’t true. And did you call him a lazy a**hole? God, I hope not, but maybe, oh cuss words, I did.

Who’s marriage dissolves over dishes? But I know it wasn’t just that; many episodes snowballed and brought us here.

My mind was broken. I’d become like my patients who focused on the negative side of things, like a woodpecker searching for bugs for breakfast. My patients were overwhelmed, stressed to the hilt, unhappy, and had lost touch with their sane, balanced selves. Wait that sounds familiar. Little things set them off. Their emotions and reactions felt out of control — yep, check those boxes, too.

And I had helped them.

Oh my God, how could I not have seen it?

My relationship was at a mission-critical point, and it was time to admit I needed the tools I’d created for my patients. I knew they were game-changers because they’d worked so well over the years.

I’d never put my tools into a step-by-step formula because they were so potent on their own. Now I needed the most powerful and quickest path to the best version of myself. That’s what it would take to save my marriage. I combined my tools, and the Happie Method was born.

You may not be at a low point; maybe you simply want to be happier and more relaxed. (You’re not alone!) Or perhaps you wonder why some people seem naturally happy, balanced, and have it together — and you’d like some of that, too. You don’t have to get to a dire spot for this book to benefit you.

How the tools came to life

Hi there. I’m Dr. Annie White; you can call me Annie. I have a doctorate in Eastern medicine — D.A.O.M, Doctorate in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, to be exact. The program is a four-year master’s degree plus a two-year doctorate. Many people don’t know the amount of education it takes to get this doctoral degree.

Eastern medicine has been healing patients for thousands of years. Yes, it’s considered alternative medicine, but don’t worry, this book (and Eastern medicine) isn’t a bunch of woo-woo ideas. Everything is based on solid scientific facts.

After hundreds of patient visits, I realized I had to figure out a way to help people eliminate their high stress, or they’d never be truly happy or healthy. It makes sense; stress has been dubbed the epidemic of the 21st century. That was before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

I wanted an update for our brains like they use for computers. We’d download the program and prepare for serenity — it would fix all of our faulty stress wiring. My dream was to find the calm code for our minds. In computer programing, the code is a set of instructions or a system of rules. My goal was to find the code or instructions that would make us relaxed and happy. Since our minds aren’t computers, the automatic update wasn’t available.

The dream wouldn’t leave my head. So I did a deep dive into neuroscience which gave me the nitty-gritty of how our brains work.

Once I found neuroplasticity, the amazing way our minds wire and rewire with every thought, action, and emotion, I knew I was on to something. It taught me that positive and negative thoughts have different pathways in the brain. And the more you think a specific type of thought, the stronger the corresponding pathways become. Wow, right? It explains why your mind can be wired to be more stressed and negative over time — and neuroplasticity is also why you can fix it. Now I understood why my patients were becoming more and more stressed. It was because they were rewiring their brains with every worrisome thought.

I mentioned my Eastern medical training because it was vital to figuring out the code to rewire the mind. You see, I wasn’t trained to treat symptoms. I solve the deep underlying reasons for them. I dig until I find the why. When you solve the reasons behind health issues, you can heal at the deepest level. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

I spent many years researching why stress can negatively impact our minds and lives. I made it my mission to understand how we got into this mess so I could work backward and help fix it. But I didn’t uncover anything that laid out the clear solution I had in mind. I wanted to offer a step-by-step method to rewire the brain, decrease stress levels, increase happiness, and change lives.

After almost a decade of research, I figured it out. Well, science and I did. The beauty of The Calm Code is that it’s based on scientifically proven ways to rewire your mind. I combined the research and created powerful tools with an instruction manual. It’s your calm code.

I’ve been giving the techniques to my patients for years, but it wasn’t until I hit a personal rock bottom that I learned for myself just how well they work. Now it’s my mission to help you rewire your brain and live your happiest life. I know what it’s like to be in a place of high stress, overwhelm, anxiety, fatigue, irritability, and unhappiness. I don’t want anyone to live in the neighborhood I call Stressville, so I created the map to Calmtown.

The Happie Method was my answer

I reached a point where I required something transformational. I needed a strong diversion for my stressed mind, and funny cat videos weren’t doing the trick. I began using my tools. Research showed it would take around four to six weeks to see improvement. Honestly, I didn’t see much change during the first couple of weeks. But the exercises felt good, which told me they were working. They helped me explain my broken brain and assure my husband I was working hard to repair my mind and save our marriage.

I was motivated by my marriage teetering on the cliff of failure. I had to claw my way back to genuine smiles and sanity. It was the only option, and nothing would stop me from getting there.

About four to five weeks after starting, things shifted — a lot. I was more positive, balanced, and relaxed than I’d been in a very long time. It worked!

Did you ever see the movie The Wiz? There’s a scene where the people trapped working in a factory are freed. I think they were making Oz-wear or something. The roof opens up, the sun shines in, and they all start singing Brand New Day as they dance out the door. That’s how I felt. I wanted to dance around the living room in the bright sunshine and celebrate my brand new mind.

I’d always heard that to teach something effectively; you must live it. I thought that was a bunch of horse malarky used for infomercials. (Granted, I bought the Total Gym after seeing what it did for Christie Brinkley and Chuck Norris, but I still didn’t quite get it.) Until I lived this method, saw how it changed my life, and wanted to teach it to you.

Every tool in this book will powerfully strengthen your new calm and happy mind. Remember that if you’re tense more often than relaxed, your mind is wired to default to stress. That’s why it can be easier to lose your marbles on a customer service rep than calmly get the silly late fee waived. Don’t worry; we’re going to change all of that.

Here’s how The Calm Code works

The Calm Code