Three Holistic Ways To Dissipate Tension

No matter where we are in the world today, we may be feeling rising tensions around us: whether it is a bombing in Syria, mass shootings in a mall or a peaceful demonstration that turns into a violent riot.  It can feel hard to escape what is going on around us or to us.  There are healthy ways we can cope and unhealthy ways. Here are three holistic modalities we can use to get ourselves into a calmer state of mind in order to better problem solve and avoid the hazardous side effects to our health that stress causes.
 
1. Awareness, also known as mindfullness: the simple act of stopping ourselves in a tracks to check in with how we are feeling and deciding is this how we want to be or do we want to invite something better, more helpful into ourselves.  For example: Anger gives us energy.  Think about the last time you were FURIOUS!  What did you do with that energy?  Was it productive or could you have channeled it in a better way?

​2.  Nature: One of my favorite modalities to calm down and reassess what is going on inside.  Taking a walk in green space has been shown to relieve stress.  Getting on, in, on top of or near water can achieve a state called, Bluemind.  A term created by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols.  Water is so powerful for our well-being that a new initiative,  Bluemind Rx, #WaterIsMedicine , was recently presented at the #OurOcean conference in Washinton, D.C and shared with over sixty countries.

​3. Energy healing: we are made up of a very complex set of interacting parts.  Energy being a very big one.  Growing information about how our cells react to different energy is showing that unless we are trying to run away from a tiger in the jungle trying to attack us, it doesn’t do us any good to be churning in negative energy.  Reiki healers, therapeutic touch and many other energy healing modalities can reset our nerve system.  Even drumming circles have been shown effective in taking a group of people and connecting their energy to a calmer, collective state.  This process is known as entrainment. 
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There are a lot more options, more of which I will discuss in upcoming blogs.  In the meanwhile, maybe you want to try one of these if you are feeling stressed by all the chaos around us.  Even stopping for a few minutes to close our eyes and take some deep breathes will help. Imagine what a more peaceful, cohesive world we all could live in.

If you have a favorite holistic stress remedy you would like to share, please do in the comment section below.  The more we have in our healing toolbox, the better we all will be.