Once upon a time, our world consisted of our close family, friends and neighbors, even our local community. But today, life is no longer local…it’s global. Television brought the world of news into our living rooms. The internet and skyrocketing technology is now bringing the whole world literally to the tips of our fingers. Live streaming news and social networking keep us bombarded moment by moment including all the trouble and strife both locally and from around the planet. Life has gone global – and there’s no going back. The stress all of this brings into our lives is unprecedented. For some, it’s killing us!

As I overhear the conversations happening all around me, stress is undoubtedly the most common theme I hear. People talk about feeling stressed about their work, the economy, global politics, deadlines, their relationships, what they have and what they don’t have and just about anything you can imagine. As a result, many of us suffer from the emotional and physical consequences of chronic stress.

Chronic stress includes such ailments as accelerated aging and increased rates of heart disease, anxiety, cancer, depression, migraine headaches, and other serious disorders. In fact, it is known that up to 90% of all doctor’s office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints. Even headaches, high blood pressure, diabetes, skin conditions, asthma, arthritis, depression, and anxiety can all be the result of chronic stress.

What is there to do? While stress is considered an epidemic problem today, it does not actually exist in the environment or in external situations. Stress is not what’s happening, it’s our response to what’s happening. It’s not the overdue payment, the traffic jam, or fight with our spouse that causes stress. It’s our thoughts and the story we tell ourselves about an event or circumstance that triggered the emotional upset, racing heart rate, shallow breathing, surging adrenalin, and other symptoms of the stress response.

Life can be likened to the sport of sailing. If you have up to date charts that show you the dangerous shoals and you know how to read them, sailing can be a joyful pastime. However, without knowing where the dangers lie and how to avoid them, sailing can be a terrifying experience and potentially disastrous.

Fortunately, learning how to deal effectively with stress doesn’t require advanced nautical chart reading skills — it’s a skill that anyone can learn. With a little practice, instead of continually being triggered into a stress response by external situations and thoughts in your mind, you can learn to spend more time sailing into your own natural state of wellbeing – peace.

Although there are many practices with which you can begin your day to anchor your intention to remain balanced and in harmony with life, it is important to get to the root of what is keeping you mired in stress. To ensure your mind, body, and spirit sail smoothly, you might exercise, practice yoga, meditate, complete a series of breathing exercises, or pray. These activities protect your physical health, nervous system, and wellbeing. Yet, with the enormous rise of unrest and violence in the world, you might find it challenging to stay centered in spite of all these.

The real way to navigate through life and to avoid the dangerous shoals of stress, is to maintain your connection with the universal flow of nature, the universal flow of life. In short, to be in alignment with your own true nature. To do that you must get to the root of what holds the reactivity of anger, worry, anxiety and all manner and forms of fear-based experiences in place.

If you would like to ease your stress and experience the joy, peace and fulfillment that’s possible in your life Contact Us. We’d be happy to help you explore what is holding you into your stress-responses and move beyond them into the life of ease and grace you deserve.