Since we just talked about the 6 Top Tips for Coping with Stress, we thought it also important to talk about the effects of emotional stress on our energetic bodies, as well as what we can do to combat it.
If you have experienced emotional release or energy work with Tara then you’re familiar with energetic boundaries. If you haven’t, please read the section on Tara’s specialty, Emotional Release and Mindful Life Coaching, to get a better, more in-depth understanding of how this powerful energetic work is performed and what can be done to help you balance and harness its power.
Energy Work: A Quick Recap
We have fields of energy in and around our bodies that keep our physical bodies healthy. Everything is, of course, made up of energy, but the few areas of energy that we can easily work within are the meridians, chakras, and aura. For the purposes of our discussion today, we’ll just be dealing with the first two — Meridians and Chakras.
Meridians
One energy field inside the body is called meridians. Meridians help to maintain the health of the organs and functions in the body. If energy flows freely through them, unimpaired, then the body is healthy and balanced. If this energy is blocked or weakened, it can lead to emotional, mental or physical ill-health. Acupuncture and acupressure are just a couple of modalities used to restore balance in these meridians.
Chakras
The other energy field that originates inside the body is the seven wheels of energy, referred to as the chakras. The locations, how many there are and descriptions of these chakras do vary, depending on the culture.
There are 7 (sometimes more) chakras or vortexes of energy located mid-line on the body. The aptly named “crown” is at the top of the head and opens up, connecting you with your higher self (cosmic awareness.) Your “root” chakra is at the base of your spine and flows down towards the earth, helping you to feel grounded and secure. The rest of the chakras go through the body, front to back and all have properties pertaining to different areas of your body. These have a direct connection to your emotional, spiritual, physical, and psychological well-being.
For more in-depth description of chakras and their meanings, I highly recommend Caroline Myss’ site. Myss is a medical intuit, author of many books and has a profound understanding of the energy bodies and a very cool informative flash presentation of the chakra model.
Stress and Energy
So now that we’re up to speed with the energetic forces within our body, we’re ready to talk about the effects of stress on these systems. We know that stress does adversely affect our body, mind, and spirit from the chemicals released in stress response to full-blown inflammatory or immune reactions. We can see that with all of these systems of well-being influenced and affected by stress, that it is safe to presume so is our energetic realm.
But what can you do about it?
Change your Perspective, Change your Energy
As human beings, living on the physical plane, things will happen throughout the course of your life that will appear or feel, at least in a reactionary way, stressful. The loss of a job, getting stuck in traffic, moving to a new home or city, an argument with a loved one, a death in the family — these are all considered stressful life events and all of them have something in common — fear.
Fear is often the common underlying emotion that triggers stress and its biochemical reactions. Often, fear accompanies change for most people. While fear and those “fight or flight,” chemicals induced by stress, were crucial to our survival when being chased by that bear thousands of years ago — they’re not so useful today. But, since we can’t change our biochemistry (at least without a few thousand years of evolution) what can we do to stop the ill-effects of “fight or flight” response in our body and energetic fields?
It really all comes down to how we decide to view and react to these life changes and challenges. Sounds easier said than done, right? Not really. Changing your reaction is easy when you first change your thinking — or more accurately, your beliefs about the event.
A fan of Byron Katie’s Work, Tara can help to guide through how to change or defuse these ill-fitting beliefs that may be keeping you in a pattern of stress and dis-ease. When you learn how to simply accept what is — not what you imagine, believe or wish it may be, you will find a sense of calm and peace that will help you face life’s most stressful challenges. It is when you are in this “clear” state that real solutions can be found and true health and well-being flourish. Armed with just a few simple questions (you can get this on an easy to print off worksheet that you can keep handy for those stressful moments) you’ll find that most any stressful event can be diffused or resolved, clearing your anxiety and the stopping the release of those “fight or flight” chemicals.
We encourage you to check out any of Byron Katie’s books, her simple straightforward questions will change your life and help you to diffuse feelings of anxiousness, stress, or fear.
Watch this great video by Dr Mark Hyman on the subject, too!
Then, come back for Part Two: How to Clean Your Energy Fields Up and What About that Aura?
