Stress and Anxiety

By Christina Scalise, LightSourceWithin.com

Stress and anxiety …ugh! Just saying those words out loud can cause a person to cringe and moan. Unfortunately, life can be full of stressful situations that produce high anxiety, with some situations being much more stressful than others …not fun! Keep in mind, however, most stressful moments are often meant to teach us life lessons. Some of the most common life lessons are learning how to be patient and kind, relax, work on self-care, stand up for ourselves, be safe, or learn how to react properly in high stress situations. So, for every stressful moment you’ve been through, try to look back on each one and figure out what you may have learned from those situations. Oftentimes you will notice a pattern of the same life lesson repeating itself over and over again, until you’ve fully mastered it. For example: Patience is often a big one! When being tested on patience, remind yourself to just relax, breath and work on being patient in that moment. When I’m feeling impatient and stressed, I often repeat the motto, “good things come to those who wait”. I also remind myself that everything happens for a reason; maybe that slow traveling car you are stuck behind on the road slowed you down just enough to avoid an accident ahead. Or, arrive to your destination at just the right time so you didn’t miss running into that one person you needed to hear from that day. Or, maybe you just need to keep working on being patient.

Still, once the stress and anxiety has kicked in, you should always try to rid yourself of it. There are many ways to release stress, anxiety and negative energy to ensure a healthy mind and body. Keep in mind though, each person is unique and must find their own way of handling each situation in a way that works best for them!

Ways to Destress…

Play fun, upbeat music.
Find something to laugh about.
Get outside into nature. Go for a walk.
Try meditation or yoga.
Wrap yourself in a warm, cozy (and/or heavy) blanket.
Spend time with your pets.
Visualize a white light coming down into your head and moving through your body like a warm wave of healing, positive energy.
Start at the top of your head and work your way down your entire body, relaxing each and EVERY muscle as you go. Spend at least a few seconds or more relaxing each muscle group. Go back up and down the body doing this exercise as many times as necessary.
Wear your favorite scent. Burn a candle or incense. ***Lavender and pine can often be very relaxing!
Write out what you are feeling and then burn the paper as you visualize all of your anxiety floating away.
Talk to a friend, therapist and/or other medical professional.
Ask yourself what is the cause of your anxiety? Fear can often be the culprit. If it is a fear of something, try talking yourself through the fear using your mind and not your emotions. Work on reducing that fear over time.
Come up with a positive mantra to start and end your day.
Learn your triggers and avoid them if you can.
Avoid caffeine as it is a well-known anxiety inducer.
Use crystals to help ground your energy such as… Black Tourmaline, Hematite, Black Obsidian, Selenite, Amethyst, Rose Quartz & Smoky Quartz. ***For more information on crystals, please visit LightSourceWithin.com to read the article How to Use Crystals and Stones.

***For information on Cleansing, Grounding, Protection, Stress and Negative Energy, please visit LightSourceWithin.com to read the article… Taking Care of Your Energetic Health

How to Prevent / Stop an Anxiety Attack

Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Visualize sending all negative energy down through your body and out through the bottom of your feet into the ground.
Slowly look around you and find...

5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell (or smells you like)
1 emotion you feel

This is called GROUNDING – it can help when you feel like you’ve gone too far in your head and lost all control of your surroundings. ***Note: if you are still a little stressed after this you can also try finding things of similar colors or shapes… for example: how many blue items are in the room? Or how many round items can you find?

You got this! You CAN overcome your fears, anxiety and stress and take on the world! ;-)