Freaking Out
Is something freaking you out?
It’s the season! The trick is to find ways to get through the “freak out stage” whether the upset is a result of being in overwhelm, information that you just received and can’t wrap your brain around, feeling not listened to, or any number of other reasons.
The trick can easily become a treat. Your body doesn’t like being freaked out so it will easily make good changes when you try to correct the episode by bringing a special treat into the mix. It’s like being offered your most favorite and yummy chocolate or dessert and getting that “oh, my, I’m in heaven” result.
Instead of freaking out when an upset occurs, retrain your body. When you are in stress mode, your breath is often impacted. It becomes constricted and causes your lung and diaphragm capacity to be lessened. So it’s all about helping your body rediscover breath. Then the next step is to re-pattern your breathing, which will also create more fluid movement, even affecting mobility and flexibility. That’s where “the change has taken place” is experienced.
Treat Your Body
Here’s a super easy way (treat) to help your body let go of any unhappy experience and get back on an even keel.
- Give yourself a hug by crossing your arms and gently touching your upper arms. This will open up lung capacity.
- Move one hand to the base of your ribcage (keeping the other hand on the upper arm). This hold will help open up the diaphragm.
- Move the hand that is on the upper arm to the outside of your knee. That connects with helping ease of movement.
- Move the hand that is on the ribcage to the outside of the other knee. You’re now holding the outside of both knees. THAT is all about the re-patterning and helping your body accept the change.
Hope this helps you get through ANY “freaking out episode” you might be experiencing. Just know that it’s a moment in time and the trick is to help your body not take it on as “real.”
Wishing you a super Halloween! And hoping that the season is all about freaking out because of the haunted house, not because of an upset or stress!
Halloween Shouldn’t Be Stressful!
Halloween Shouldn’t Be Stressful!
Halloween is supposed to be fun! Do YOU remember the decision process of what to wear for Halloween? Chances are good that it didn’t matter if you chose a costume that someone else was wearing, or one that wasn’t quite as spectacular as your friend’s costume, or even one that you wore last year. It was all about the experience of dressing up, being in the costume parade at school, and then, the very exciting time of going trick and treating. And it very seldom was anything but a safe experience.
I thoroughly loved Halloween. It was the holiday that allowed me to fully be out of regular character and act the part of someone entirely different from the normal me. Decorations didn’t play a big part when I was a child, but when I became an adult, my kids informed me that I went a bit crazy creating a Halloween go-to destination for trick and treating.
Halloween Was Indeed Fun
I do believe I made it lots of fun for all the kids in the neighborhood. Is it fun for your kids? I hear from way too many children in today’s world that they’re stressed about what to wear, about what group of kids they can hang with that night, whether they’ll be invited to THE party, and whether this Halloween will be better than last year’s holiday. They want something better than what they perceive is not okay and in that place of wanting something different, they’re stressed.
Stress and Halloween Are Not Supposed To Go Together
That’s not okay! If you notice your children are feeling anxious or nervous about the events of Halloween consider helping them by showing them how to be calm and relaxed. It’s all about discovering that breath is the key. Have you ever noticed that when YOU are anxious your breath gets blocked and congested? The trick is to open up the energy so breath expands. Here’s an easy energy tip to help your children breathe, to be calm and to let go of anxiety.
Your Halloween Treat
With one hand — hold your fingers on the upper back near the shoulder blade
With the other hand — hold your fingers on the upper arm
Then move those fingers to the outside of the wrist
You can do it for yourself too. And teach your children how to do it for themselves.
Right hand — hold your fingers on your left upper arm
Left hand — hold your fingers on the base of the right ribcage
Left hand — hold your fingers on the right inner thigh
Feel how the breath opens and everything in the body relaxes. And experience a whole new way of feeling, including being excited about Halloween. Enjoy!