We all encounter stress in our lives. Stress can lead to feeling anxious, depressed or both. It can lead to addictive behaviors such as drugs, alcohol, sex, shopping, or food. It can have a negative effect on relationships with family, friends or partners.
It’s been my experience that stress can and will build up over a period of time and cause an imbalance in my mood. I can become anxious for no reason at all, simply because the chemicals in my brain are imbalanced. If I am stressed, it affects my ability sleep. I toss and turn with racing thoughts and cannot seem to shut my brain off. I wake up tired and unrested. When I am tired, I am less likely to cook healthy for myself, eat regularly, get to the gym or my support groups that feed my soul. If I don’t sleep properly, then I become irritable and sometimes even depressed, which affects my relationships.
So how do we overcome this chemical imbalance and break the cycle that stress can lead to so that it doesn’t have such a negative impact on our mood, behaviors and relationships? The answer is learning how to balance the body, mind and spirit through intuitive living and practicing self-care.
Intuitive living means learning how to connect to our spiritual self and honor our mental, emotional, phsycial and spiritual needs. It includes adopting a self-care practice that nurtures, restores, rejuvenates and rebalances our mind, body and soul.
For Today
Take a moment to reflect on stress and how it impacts your life. The first step in making any kind of change, is awareness. In order to change the ways we respond to stress and manage it, we must first be aware of what stress is, including what it looks like and how it impacts our mood, behaviors and relationships. Practice self-compassion by allowing yourself to have awareness without judging or trying to fix anything. In time, your awareness will turn into action.
Peace and blessings,
Katie
RENEWED 