anxiety
Using Crystals To Reduce Stress And Anxiety
We all live with various amounts of stress in our daily life, and the last few years have been especially trying. But stress doesn’t have to be overwhelming for the spiritually conscious person. Apart from meditation and similar spiritual practices, an especially powerful ally can also be found in the use of various types of crystals. Whether you choose to keep them in your pocket, wear them as jewelry, or use them in your energy work, there is a crystal for everyone based on your own needs and affinities.
Among the most popular stones for crystal therapy and relieving stress is quartz. It’s easy to obtain and comes in different types. Clear quartz (what many people might think of when they visualize a crystal) offers clarity and vision when things seem muddled. Like a prism, it also brings out the hidden qualities of other crystals.
But quartz is also available in other colors to support us with life’s many challenges, such as rose (pink) to settle turbulent emotions and find solace when broken-hearted, and smoky (grey) to bolster our courage.
Another popular clear stone is citrine. As its name suggests, it is orange or yellow in color. Carrying a citrine stone is like having a drop of sunlight in your pocket; it wards off the gloom on even the worst ‘rainy,’ stressful day.
Blue agate (available in different shades) is useful when clearing up stress related to miscommunication. It is a recommended to keep one at the office or take it with you to school.
Almost as popular as quartz, amethyst (opaque purple) is a go-to if you tend to suffer from nervousness, anxiety, or panic attacks. It can be used while reciting mantras to invoke deeper serenity and calm.
The Universe Knows If You Just Need Your Hair Brushed
A spiritual teacher and metaphysical writer was waiting to board a plane. She had a spiritual book in her lap and was very intent upon what she was reading, until she felt summoned by Spirit to look up. When she did, she saw such a strange sight she had to try to keep from staring.
Humped over in a wheelchair she saw an elderly man. He was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier. His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones.
The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long and clean, but strangely out of place on an old man.
Beth looked down at her book as fast as she could, discomfort burning in her face, and tried to imagine what his story might be. She found herself wondering if she had just had a Howard Hughes sighting, but then she remembered that he is dead.
So, who was this man in the airport…an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on them somewhere, she wondered. There she sat; trying to concentrate on her book, to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served on a wheelchair only a few seats from her. All the while, her heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling of concern for him. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, but suddenly Beth was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre looking man.
She had worked with Spirit long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. Beth had learned that when she began to feel what the universe feels, something contrary to her natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen…and it may be embarrassing. She immediately began to resist and started arguing with Spirit in her mind. “Oh, no, Spirit, please no,” she thought, but asked, “What are you calling me to do?”
Take Some Time Out To Embrace The Silence
I see now, more than ever before, parents busying their children with this and that sport, and this and that activity. I sometimes wonder if they ever have time to just be children.
I see how fast time flies these days and I think we actually make it go by even faster by overloading our lives with so much activity. We over commit ourselves way too much. I have been carefully watching my world lately, and I have seen the busy lifestyles of my friends and family. I see how frantic everyone has become. Such a commotion!
I find it disturbing how we over-busy ourselves and our children, and our lives. We really miss out on what I deem as the ‘finer things’. We need to get that connection back. It’s never too late.
We need to take it down a notch. I understand there are things we have to do – go to work, pay the bills, chores to do, people to see. Sure, I get it! But there are those additional things that we sign on to do when we really shouldn’t, or don’t have the time for, and when we do it has a domino effect. Chaos. Anxiety. Stress.
We need time to unwind more, and not just when we give ourselves six or less hours of sleep. We carve time out for our kids and for our friends and family, and often there is really no time left for a few blissful moments of silence. It’s in the silence that we can know ourselves and truly learn to live with a glass half full mentality.
We are filling our days with so much unnecessary activity these days just to keep up with the Joneses. What is wrong with staying home once in a while? I think staying at home is underrated. I don’t know about you, but home is where my yoga mat has its place and I don’t have to pay a gym membership to be active in my own home. It’s also where my library is, and my family, and most of the things I love and enjoy.
You Are Never Alone
I receive many calls from clients who are feeling terribly isolated and lonely. And ‘lonely’ does not automatically imply being alone. Even while we may be constantly surrounded by people, one can still feel extremely alone. Having lots of people around does not guarantee meaningful connection or a sense of belonging.
I always remind my clients that if they only consider how much spirit is constantly around us, they will never feel alone again. Tuning into these soul energies around us is a great comfort and can even be a life saver.
Our departed loved ones and our spirit guides are around us all the time, but especially present when we are going through a challenging or painful time. Whether we are aware of their presence, or not, they are there.
Through meditation and other spiritual practices, we can raise our vibration and make it easier for us to feel their presence, and even ‘hear’ them. All interdimensional communication is telepathic. We just need to tune in to a higher vibration to meet them halfway.
Spirit is in a different dimension. Their energy is very fast and ours are very slow. They need to slow their vibration down and we need to raise ours in order to meet in the middle and communicate.
Many years ago, a friend’s father passed. Her dad soon after came to me in a dream. He was giving me several messages he wanted me to relay to her, but I was having a very hard time understanding what he was saying. The messages were coming in too fast. To my shock and surprise her dad then became impatient with me! In fact, he was quite annoyed.
Sun Salutation For Opening Your Heart Chakra
Many people have an energy blockage or imbalance with their heart chakra, because this is where we hold our emotional wounds.
The heart chakra is where we hold on to every insult or criticism from our childhood. The unbalanced heart chakra can store the energy of every rejection, anxious moment, humiliation, and fear from our teen years, as well as every break-up and every disappointment in our lifetime.
Heartbreak is a very real phenomenon. For example, sometimes when the life partner of an elderly person passes away, they will also pass from a heart attack soon after. It is tragic evidence of a disconnection of the life-long energy bond between two hearts.
Blockage in the heart chakra can also cause various health problems, including heart palpitations, irregular heartbeat, breathing problems, and problems with the thyroid, back, neck and shoulders.
The sun salutation is a choreographed set of yoga exercises that can be used to open the heart chakra and move energy throughout the entire body. Lifting your heart chakra pulls energy into the center.
Stand with your feet roughly one foot part, feet parallel. Tighten your buttocks and push your pelvis forward. Contract your abdominal muscles.
Reach your arms out to the side and slowly move them upward, as if you re scooping energy upward. Keep the arms perfectly straight, with elbows locked.
Bring your hands over your head into a prayer position, with the arms as straight as you can get them. Visualize that energy you scooped up pulsing between your hands. Then, keeping the hands connected in prayer, bring your hands down to your heart and feel that energy you ‘captured’ filling your heart chakra. Do this over and over as many times as you want.
The Power Of Deep Breathing
It is not generally understood how important deep, healthy, mindful breathing truly is. In fact, shallow breathing is linked to all kinds of health problems, including panic attacks, dry mouth, halitosis, cardiovascular issues, fatigue, respiratory problems, and sleep disorders. When we breathe with our chests, we use the muscles in our chests, shoulders, and necks to expand our lungs, which can result in neck pain, shoulder pain and headaches.
Most importantly, shallow breathing also hinders our immune functioning. The chronic stress and strain it places on the body, results in lower amounts of lymphocyte – a type of white blood cell that helps to defend the body from invading organisms. Shallow breathing actually lowers the amounts of proteins that signal other immune cells. The body thus becomes more likely to acute illnesses.
Deep, diaphragmatic breathing, on the other hand, can lower blood pressure, calm the mind, and improve sleep. It also lowers our heart rate, relaxes muscles, decreases stress, and increases energy levels.
Deep breathing also grounds and centers us. It has been proven to have a profound calming effect on the mind and body. When you are anxious, you take rapid short breaths. When you are content, you take deep, long, full breaths.
The way we breath also affects our mental abilities and thinking. Programming your brain when inhaling can lock thoughts into your memory and can be a powerful tool in our daily spiritual practice. Thinking or saying out loud affirmations like, ‘I am love and light; God and I, me and God are one; I am able to accomplish anything I want; I am powerful;’ will lock those thoughts into your psyche.
Just Existing, Not Living?
Do you ever feel like you’re existing and not actually living? Well, guess what? You’re not alone. I think at some point in our lives we all do, especially after everything we have endured over the past two years.
In these difficult times, we worry about our health and safety, money, career paths and choices, the perfect house, the perfect partner or spouse.
Our children. Have we raised them right? Or, have we spoiled them? If you don’t know yet…two year olds grow up and teenagers grow out of it!
All of the above are legitimate concerns. But at some point we need to remember to worry only about the things we can control.
Stop focusing so much time and energy on the things you cannot control. All it brings us are toxic thought patterns, an anxious heart and a restless soul. Once we have learned to give all of that up, life seems a tiny bit easier.
There is a famous saying: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” How very true. You can fixate on all the frustrations, promise yourself that you’ll do this and that, or feel better once you get to wherever – but it doesn’t necessarily work that way. Because it’s easier to think about what you’d rather do, than to just going out and doing it.