"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days
attack me at once." 
- Jennifer Yane

Hello Precious Souls!

I hope you are enjoying the splendid summer and making the most of this time when the natural world around us is in full bloom!  

For many, summer can be a wonderful balm to soothe all that ails you. However, if you're dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety in your life right now, then the frolicking summer and all its participants can feel like they are mocking you with their easy joy and carefree spirit. ; )

Whether it's still the after-effects of the recession or just the continual amping up of our work week productivity, so many people have been coming to me lately feeling so generally stressed and anxious. These frenetic qualities can be very insidious in the way they take up permanent residence not only in your life, but in your body. So much so that you find yourself not even being able to relax during "down" time or even...gasp...vacations!  Well, in my 6-Week Soul Coaching Program we work with a lot of tools for moving from anxiety to serenity, and I thought today that I'd pull out just a few of the simple and easy ones for you to try out right here and now to rescue your summer from the clutches of stress...

"If your teeth are clenched and your fists are clenched, your lifespan is probably clenched."
- Terry Guillemets
 

STRESS TO SERENITY: 5 Tools

1. Reality Check - Anxiety is usually only present if you're not. If you're feeling anxious it means your mind is stuck in the past or future where it's building big scary scenarios (that presentation you're going to blow, the inadequacies you must have that drove your ex away, etc.) So, today whenever you find yourself feeling stress or anxiety, I want you to stop for a moment and ask yourself: "Am I in grave danger right NOW?"  Then, I want you to ask: "What is so right now?" and take a moment to sink into the truth and experience of this very moment. For the most part you'll find that you're actually in a relatively safe place surrounded by potentially soothing or inspiring people/things. This little check-in reminds you that you're not really in any mortal danger even though your mind has just tricked your body into feeling that you are, and done consistently will start relaxing your fight or flight response.  (Caveat: If you actually are in mortal danger, you have my permission to feel a whack-load of stress and RUN!)

2. Mind Dump - If you wake up or go to bed feeling stressed, this is a great daily practice to do first thing in the morning or last thing at night (or both!). Grab a journal or have some loose paper handy and simply start writing whatever thoughts are whirling around your head...good, bad, or ugly.  Go for about 5 minutes of uninterrupted pen-never-leaving-the-paper writing -- no censoring, no pausing and thinking before you write, and remember that it doesn't have to be well-written or even that legible. Think of it as pouring all the stuff that's clogging up your brain onto the paper. Not only will this help to neutralize your mind for the day or sleep ahead, it will sometimes even help you to discover some deeper, less obvious underlying anxieties you weren't aware of or even solve a dilemma for you. You can also draw/doodle, colour, or paint instead of write.
 

3. Laughter - When I was little and in tears over some fleeting upset, my Grampa would look at me and say, "Oh! I see a smile... Here it comes... There it is!!"  As much as I tried to resist that damn smile, it never failed to come...along with full-blown giggles and a complete shift out of my momentary tragedy. So, today I want you to try some laughter to break you out of the clutches of anxiety, blow off some stress, and raise your vibration. Ask your mate or a friend to tickle you, watch one of the funniest scenes from one of your favourite comedies on youtube, tell somebody a joke that never fails to make you smile (even if you're a terrible joke teller -- that can be even more amusing!), or even try faking a great big ole' belly laugh! That's right – slap your knee, force some snorts, roll around on the floor... It may start off feeling way fake (and silly as hell), but after rolling around on the ground for a bit, you can bet you'll be experiencing the real deal in no time at all.  Oh, stop rolling your eyes and just give it a try already, ole' Stuffy Pants!
 

"Slow down and everything you are chasing will come
around and catch you"
- John De Paola

4. Say "No" -  Philanthropic tycoon Warren Buffet says: "The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say "no" to almost everything." So, start practicing the one little word that might have kept you out of this stressful mess to begin with!  Today I challenge you to say "no" once more than you regularly would during the day. Your "no" may be anything from not answering the ringing phone when you don't feel up to talking to telling your boss who asks you to work overtime for the umpteenth time that you have something else scheduled (yeah, your sanity!)  Even if you disappoint someone with your "no", let yourself sit with that, but then savour the idea that you just said YES to yourself for a change.  Remember, you will eventually not be able to say yes to anyone if you burn through everything you've got without a chance for rejuvenation.
 

5. Shake It Off - Close yourself off alone in a room, put on a powerful or frenetic piece of music (I love using Prodigy's "Breathe", for example) and start moving as if you're shaking all these feelings of stress and anxiety right out of your body. Stomp it out of your feet, shake it out of your head, wring it out your hands, pull it out of your center -- just start shaking those stuck sensations of heaviness, panic, fogginess, or frenzy loose. Allow your body to shake and vibrate from inside and out. Get wild and SHAKE FREE of this feeling that you've been feeling trapped in. See it leaving you and dissolving. When the song is over, let yourself drop to floor and savour your breath flowing freely and softly through the energetic space you've cleared in your body.

"Tension is who you think you should be.
Relaxation is who you are."
- Chinese Proverb

I wish to all of us a summer of love, freedom, and serenity...let's not let this beautiful season go by without fully tasting it, breathing it, and loving it!

Big Hugs, Kimberly

P.S. I still have a little room left in my Summer Toronto Soul Coaching Program starting Wed., July 13 -- 6 weeks to your most joyful, centered and powerful life. Would love to have you on-board for this incredible journey!

Kimberly Carroll
Certified Soul Coach
www.soulcoaching.org
416-963-9987

CONNECT. BALANCE. IGNITE.
 

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