Stress, Overwhelment, Anxiety…Spirituality Isn't An Immunity Pass, But Does Seed You With The Alchemy Of Awareness To Shift It
Posted by Tania Marie's Blog
Me In Peru at the Dimensional Gateway – Amaru Muru
A couple of days ago on Facebook I shared a post about "overwhelment" and the personal messages that later came in to me, said to me that this is a topic that really hit home for people. So I decided to repost it here and to expound upon it to support everyone that is currently experiencing this or has felt it at some point, as I know we all have. 
To begin with, I am actually quite well-versed in stress. Stress, nervous anxiety, overwhelment, feelings of pressure….all of that was my expertise not only in experiencing, but in being quite well-adapted in repressing it so that no one knew. That can actually be even worse, as you don't get it out like others do and it can reek havoc on your health and well-being, little by little internally attacking yourself to a slow, soul death, not to mention can be trickier to unlearn.
But unlearn I have, which is a process of identifying the root of all of these self-created ways I was choosing to be, learning what my triggers were, understanding why I was allowing myself to get emotionally worked up and what I thought I was appeasing or making up for with all the crazed drive, realizing what I was missing and not allowing in my life, and coming to realize who I was naturally and what things would help me return there.
I had to understand my processes, as well as the ingenious self-sabotaging ones. And once I could see it all and responsibly claim it, it was then a day-by-day, moment-to-moment practice of gently reprogramming the conditional me back into reboot of the real me.
When you start integrating a spiritual approach to living, this doesn't automatically make you immune to stress. Stress isn't isolated to nonspiritual people, as many people who are spiritually focused stress over all the things they think they still "have" to do or "need" to learn and accomplish, stress over being perfect or expert about something, still stress over performance, stress about keeping up appearances to match the spiritual lifestyle they appear to be living, and even stress over comparing themselves to others….
If you haven't uncovered your patterns and processes, as well as core motivating factors behind the stress, then you are likely to repeat creating stressful experiences, but they will just appear in the guise of different clothing. I know many people, including myself, that can and have worked on overdrive even when being of service.
The reason for this, is not fully understanding what it means to be of true service, which is walking an authentic and fully integrated life of balance within divine flow so that you have the ability to give from your own well. Teaching love, compassion, and balance must start within you. Knowing how to always get back to your center is something we have to reteach ourselves, but it isn't unnatural to us, contrary to the limited times you may feel it in your busy life.
I saw this in my own process in the beginning, where I was living a spiritual life for the most part, but there were core patterns that were still operating out of the old, which would manifest as doing things the same "old" way, but just substituting in a new life. I had woven in an overlap of the old foundation into the new ways and the two don't work together – at least not in the flowing, freeing, balancing way we desire. There must be consistency, which means fully releasing the old and firmly rooting the new.
That being said, when you do choose to practice spiritually conscious awareness, you can learn to shorten the time gaps in which you experience the "seeming" pressures, anxiety, and tension. So it's not that stress never creeps up again for you, but you become well-versed and well-equipped to know how to allow and move the energy through naturally, so you can regain your sense of centered balance and empowerment rather quickly. In this way, learning to emulate nature and how things just cycle through.
Once you tune in to you and begin to understand your personal patterns and triggers, you become aware of the processes to rebalance yourself and can sometimes instantly shift the experience, or at least decrease the length of time you are out of flow.
The key is to put to practice, repetitively and consistently, habitual expression of your awareness every day and commit to the process of responsibly regaining your center through implementing the tools that you know work for you. Then remember to be gentle and nonjudgmental with yourself as you allow your soul to guide you into experiences that are in alignment with your individual growth needs.
Remember, life challenges are the ones we choose and are there to support the transformational evolvement that we knew would assist us in being that which we are and always were behind the illusions and fluff. Varying degrees of stress are not bad, but our perspective and approach can shift them into being the natural parts of human experience that they are.
You are a luminous being seeking to know and express yourself and sometimes the rate of expansion you go through can be overwhelming at times. The key is to make a conscious choice to perceive the reality before you as a perfect set of divine experiences working FOR your highest good, not AGAINST it. Take a deep breath and remember how you moved through these challenges before and put to practice the things that have worked and the things you have learned. We learn to grow through it and find that our heart light shines brighter because of it all.
And if you haven't yet discovered what works for you, start implementing things to find your golden ticket to freedom.
I do realize that stress causes confusion and emotional turbulence, so when you are in the heat of a stress attack, it is challenging to even see your way out of it clearly, let alone think rationally. So this is why taking a step back and perhaps even enlisting the help of a trusted expert to help, can allow you to start seeing with different eyes the way you currently approach things vs. the way you could be approaching them.
In my own journey of learning how to move through stress, I also learned it was helpful for me to have a heart-to-heart with those near and dear to me to share with them what my protocol is when I get stressed and that it isn't personal. I also shared with them the things that I feel and how that makes me act, as well as shared the things in that moment that would be helpful for me and asked if they were willing to assist me with the process. Things like not reacting to the momentary stress I am blowing out of proportion, just listening to me, helping me to stop and encourage taking a different approach, etc. That coupled with the things I was putting into practice, all would help me to be able to shift my process and speed up the time in which I could do it.
While it is up to us to make the changes, we aren't islands unto ourselves. Remember that your stress is also felt and experienced by everyone around you and there's no reason you can't ask help from your loved ones for some of the supportive ingredients that can assist you. Chances are, they would love to help out, as they don't want to see you stressed and they don't want to react in ways that they feel bad about, or that add to your stress. And when you engage them in your process, they will also learn more about their own, feel more open to sharing things they go through and how you might support them, and in totality a closer connection and depth to your relationship is created.
Some other things people find helpful when feeling stressed are: meditation, breathing exercises, talking it out, chanting mantras, creating your own personal mantras, listening to calming music, singing, physical exercise, being out in nature, doing something that you love, yoga, aromatherapy, Reiki, being still and quiet, time alone in your sacred space, working with crystals, spending time with your animal companions, creative expression, writing….whatever it is, remember that these are tools to remind you of the space you can enter into by "will", even without these things, but they will be supportive ways to help remind you that nothing you feel is out of your control.
And one day, you will find that you don't "need" any of these things anymore, although may now find them to be a natural part of your preferred way of life, and that you can become your own alchemy for centering yourself.
And then, life becomes a walking meditation in and of itself.
Feelings of overwhelment are not actually natural. They are created by unrealistic and unauthentic ideas, as well as self-imposed pressures that do not take into account the natural flow of energy. It is instead a need or way of controlling energy rather than listening to it, feeling it, and riding the wave of it. Unrealistic pressures merely create stress and anxiety, which produces unhealthiness.
What is it that makes you feel the need to rush anything or unduly impose such limiting and unnatural parameters on yourself?
When you stop trying to "make" things happen, you can actually "relax" into what is for your highest good and the highest good of all others, which will reveal itself in supportive guideposts along the way. Doing things faster or harder isn't going to make the results any better and you just might bypass an opportunity, as well as risk your well being along the way.
It just isn't worth it to force anything. Try committing to feeling, rather than thinking your way through life. Then use your mind to make wise discernment rather than make unwise demands.
It is possible to become more balanced and when you do, your life shifts exponentially and actually becomes more magickal.
I'm not just someone writing or talking about what can be achieved, without having lived it. My life has transformed into a reflection of the me I always knew myself to be, but had accepted a different alternative version of, which left little joy, but a lot of frustration.
Now, if I experience a moment of stress, I instantly or within minutes can shift it and redirect so that the real source of energy behind it is able to flow and I can then be with the clarity of listening to what is true to my heart.
What is available to one is available to us all. You too, have the ability to find the key to your balance and heart center, and to realize that nothing in life is as serious as you think. When you take care of you, you not only are an example of your life working for others to emulate in their own way, but you will also be universally supported because of that recognition you have come to own.
