Ways to Calm an Anxious Spirit* By Phylameana Lila Desy
Everyone feels anxious, nervous, or uncomfortably edgy sometimes. Here are a few suggestions of things you can do to help ease emotional upsets. Having a calming spirit can be achieved by noticing the imbalances in your body and mind and bringing them back into balance through changing your thoughts and actions.
1. Quiet Your Breathing
Observe Changes In Your Breathing - Whenever you are feeling the least bit anxious or nervous try to take notice of any changes in your breathing. Stress can cause hyperventilation (over-breathing). Quiet any rapid paced breaths by replacing them with steady and slow breaths. A daily meditation practice is helpful for maintaining healthy breathing and is also a good preventative measure for repressing anxieties.
2. Give Your Mind a Time Out
Clear Your Mind from Troubling Thoughts - Any time you are feeling anxious or suffering mentally it is helpful to temporarily clear your mind of all thoughts that are upsetting you. It is simply not healthy to focus on your problems 24/7. Guided visualizations are excellent mental escapes that can help you to switch your focus away from anything that is troubling you. Picture yourself in a special dream sequence where you can relax and recoup your coping skills. Choose an ocean view, desert oasis, or garden path.
3. Pamper Yourself
Pamper Your Mind, Body and Spirit - Remove yourself from the chaos and give yourself some quality alone time. Lock yourself in the bathroom and take that much needed soak in the tub. A bubble bath is your ticket to serenity. Enjoying a rejuvenating soak is just one of several ways you can pamper yourself. Try taking a solitary walk in the park, or curling up on the sofa and reading an entertaining novel.
4. Slow Down Your Responses
Get Your Ducks in a Row Before Reacting - Everyone has made the mistake of being over-the top reactive at one time or another. We compound our conflicts by responding without getting all the facts first. When it seems that the whole world is out to get you and you feel like lashing out right away... Wait! The situation at hand probably does call for a response of some kind, but please slow down your response. You'll handle a trying situation in a calmer state, and come to a resolution sooner if you take time to fully assess the situation. Get all your ducks in a row before you decide on a response.
5. Create Boundaries
Keep Your Distance from Others - You may need to step back and create some distance between yourself and anyone who is making you feel anxious. It is important to pull back from others when you are feeling overwhelmed so that you are able to reserve your energies. Having protective boundaries in place can also give you a different perspective in order to help you more fully understand and better cope with difficult situations.
6. Nurture Your Inner Child
Be a Loving Parent to Your Inner Child - Oftentimes when we, as adults, are experiencing situations that make us feel anxious or powerless our thoughts will turn to memories from our childhoods when we experienced fear or loneliness. When children feel small and helpless they look to their parents or guardian for protection. Take a moment to be a caring and loving parent to your inner child. Let her (or him) know that you will get the two of you through this rough period. Give yourself a hug. Don't feel silly. You know you want to, go ahead, just do it.
7. Hush That Critical Voice
Hush That Critical Voice Inside Your Head - Sadly, we can be our own worst enemies. Don't berate yourself for not being able to meet your goals or falling short in some way. You're doing the best you can. Just relax. Refuse to listen to that critical voice inside your head that says you're not good enough. Resolve to transform any nagging words into praise for those things that you have accomplished. You're doing just fine. Affirm yourself daily. You are PERFECT!
Cultivate the Postive!
8. Lean on Somebody
It is OK to Ask for Help - Trying to take care of everything all alone can make anyone feel anxious, not to mention exhausted. It can be more of a struggle never asking for a hand than you might have realized. Seek out that soft shoulder to lean on and give yourself a rest.
9. Take a Spiritual Retreat
Treat Your Spirit to a Spiritual Retreat - Taking a few minutes out of your hectic day for a mental reprieve or taking a half-hour bubble bath each evening are good stress relievers. But they are probably simply not going to be sufficient for easing those larger anxieties that are slowly eating you up inside. Everyone needs a change of pace to help bring balance to their lives. You may need to take an extended vacation from work, or feel you need go off by yourself away from family members for a few days to find solace. Whereas an ordinary vacation can bring about its own stresses, a spiritual retreat feeds the spirit. You'll come home refreshed and more readily able to face your day-do-day stresses.
Letting Go Affirmations . Release Yourself from Whatever is Holding Your Happiness Hostage
Let's face it, letting go can be hard to do. We try to hold onto people or stuff to feel important, to be loved, to ease our fears, or to hold tight to the illusion of being in control.
Are you are having difficulty letting of something, emotionally or otherwise? Are your possessions holding your happiness hostage? Are you trying to move past a hurtful relationship or situation? Perhaps you realize that hoarding "stuff" is no longer making you feel good yet you cannot quite get out of the habit of collecting more and more things.
Here are a few affirmations you can use to help shift your vision and set you onto a path toward a happier life and personal empowerment. Choose an affirmation that fits you, write it down on a sticky, plaster it onto your bathroom mirror or computer. Recite it at least once daily! Good luck "letting go" and freeing your inner being.
Letting Go Affirmation Statements
• I am worry free.
• I release all fears of not being perfect. I am good enough. I am perfect in my own way.
• I let go of all expectations. I am free to live the life I've dreamed.
• I let go of the need to control others. I allow others to make their own way.
• Possessions do not feed my spirit. I am liberated from the desire to hoard things.
• I give things away freely.
• I say goodbye to things in my life that are blocking my spiritual growth.
• I leave go of past relationships with love and clear my spirit of chains to the past to make way for new love to enter my life.
• I hold on to the positive memories from past relationships and leave go of the dark memories with love.
• I release! I let go! I coast along with my hands off the controls.
• I breathe freely without constraints. My energy flows without care alongside the wayward winds.
• The past is gone, the future uncertain. Today is now and I face it head on.
• I let go of my regrets. I am grateful for lessons my past missteps taught me.
• I release my chaotic monkey mind. My mind is clear of distractions. I am focused.
*http://healing.about.com/od/stress/tp/waystocalm.htm
Photo: bbc.co.uk
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