I didn’t know what anxiety was when I was growing up because no one talked about it. Now I realize my twin brother and I have experienced it, especially social anxiety, from a young age.
We were seventeen years old when we were invited to a school picnic. Since we were introverts and often kept to ourselves, we didn’t know the group very well. I drove and as we approached the area of the park where the picnic was being held, and saw people playing volleyball and hanging out, I could feel a knot in my stomach. Scott, probably feeling the same, said, “Keep going!” Socializing with people we didn’t know would have been way too stressful, so we just drove home.
No wonder we felt like we needed alcohol at parties in our teens and early twenties to cope. Little did we know that alcohol and diet can make anxiety worse.
I also had no idea I was extremely empathic and absorbed other people’s energy, which contributed to the anxiety. I’m grateful I now know how to deal with it.
As an example, I recently felt extreme anxiety before leaving the house to go to the bank. It was much worse than what I normally feel, so I asked my guides of the Light, “What is this from?” I heard, “The person you’re meeting.” Knowing the cause, and that it was from outside myself, made it easier to deal with. Twenty minutes later, the banker I met with was nice and professional, but seemed exceptionally nervous. I sensed she was taking medication for anxiety and felt bad for her, so I sent her calming and uplifting energy. When someone is suppressing something, or it’s being suppressed by medication, I’ve noticed I’m more likely to feel it. I’m pretty sure others can feel it too, but may not realize the connection. After I left the bank, my anxiety vanished.
There are many ways to counter anxiety, yet some of the more popular methods have side effects. Below are four spiritual and side-effect free ways to ease anxiety that I wish I would have known in my teens and twenties.
1. Meditation. Sometimes even this won’t cut through extreme anxiety, but at least it can help take the edge off.
2. Direct your focus inward a different way. My sister recently told me my eight-year-old niece worries a lot. Kids that age might be too young to practice regular meditation. Instead, they can try an exercise that will bring their attention back to their center instead of feeling scattered from outside interference. This works for adults too. All you do is say to yourself the following in rapid succession: I feel (say how you feel or touch the surface of something and name it). I see (name something around you). I hear (name something around you). I taste (take a sip of water or name an imaginary taste). I smell (smell aflower, essential oil, or name an imaginary scent). Repeat a few times with different subjects. After a few minutes, you should feel calmer and more grounded.
3. Remove spiritual clutter. It’s easy to forget what a truly relaxed state of mind feels like when you constantly feel stress or anxiety, especially if it’s from a hidden cause. One common yet often overlooked cause is spiritual clutter and negative energy. The stress and anxiety you feel might not be only your own!
Reading my Spiritual Detox Script will remove a layer of spiritual clutter and negative energy and help you get back to feeling yourself; calm, centered, and confident. I included the Spiritual Detox Script in my book Your Soul Knows. Download the beta version free for a limited time here: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/sy4znbr1pc. (You’ll need to enter your email to sign up and download. BookFunnel is trustworthy and doesn’t collect emails.)
4. Gratitude. Gratitude has been proven to improve sleep, well-being, happiness, relationships, and more. Gratitude can also ease anxiety by changing your focus away from what’s wrong and connect you to solutions your soul knows.
Here’s a magical gratitude tip from my book Your Soul Knows: Instead of dwelling on fearful thoughts about your finances, career, love life, or other issues, have faith and feel gratitude that you will know what to do, and when to do it, to improve the situation. Replace the fear, every time you catch yourself, with faith and gratitude. Have faith and feel gratitude everything is going to be okay. Have faith and feel gratitude that you are being guided, and you have help from the Other Side. At the very least, it will calm your mind and ease the stress. At the most, it will positively influence the outcome.
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Copyright © 2022 Stephen Petullo
