Have you noticed extra stress or anxiety this Fall season?
How is this uptick related? In the Fall, many people go back to routines that got released for summer, however, the season itself also has natural elemental shifts that can increase your stress and anxiety. If you are already prone to anxiety, you might notice during this drier and windier time of Fall, that your stress and anxiety shows up more intensely and more often.
Start thinking about how your Mind and your Body mimics nature’s behavior throughout all the seasons. What qualities does the Fall season bring?
The air is drier creating more dryness inside of us. In addition, the wind, corresponding to the air element, is more prominent with lots of movement. This can show up in the mind as stress or anxiety, and in the body as gas.
Think about a windstorm and how it could relate to stress and anxiety? Our thoughts may be all over the place, and the mind can become scattered, as well as our movements. We may have lots of thoughts all at once, taking us out of the flow of life.
Stress is the body’s reaction to a threat, whereas anxiety is the body’s reaction to the stress. Under stress, we can experience shallow breathing, digestive troubles, and difficulty sleeping. This is usually triggered by something temporary and external.
Anxiety is usually an internal trigger from our thoughts. When you experience anxiety, your mind is in the future making up different scenarios that haven’t happened yet. Anxiety can create the same symptoms in your body as stress, and more if the pattern continues for long periods of time.
What do you do to help lower your stress and anxiety?
Let’s try this tip to slow down your mind by being in the present moment.
One way to do this is to use your 5 senses.
What do you smell?
Good or bad, get the olfactory senses going.
Can you smell the flowers? The ocean?
What does the breeze send?
What do you see?
What colors are around you?
Do you notice anything you don’t usually see?
New plant growth? The scenery around you? Children playing?
What do you taste?
Are you thirsty?
Try eating a piece of fruit and tune into everything about it, including the texture, juiciness, and sweetness.
What do you hear?
What is happening around you?
Are there any birds you can hear?
Can you hear the ocean or a river flowing?
Listen for the tree branches swaying from the wind.
Welcome back to the present moment!
We would love for you to share
What similarities do you notice between the qualities of Fall and those of your Mind and Body right now?