IntuitiveBridges - Alan Bridges

I don’t know about you, but I can hardly believe that November is here. Where has 2008 gone? At the risk of sounding like my mother, time really does fly the older we get. It seems like just yesterday that we were picking the fruit and harvesting vegetables we planted this Spring and only the day before that it seems like we were toasting and singing (badly I might add) Auld Lang Syne.

To be sure, the year is whizzing past. So, now is the time to think about the season that is fast approaching. Whether we celebrate Christmas, Chanukah or Kwanza, the end of the year festivities can be amongst the most stressful.

Some of us will find ourselves returning to places we worked so hard to leave. Others of us will accompany our other halves to spend time with their families. And others of us will spend time by ourselves. The one thing that all of these situations have in common is that these times are sure to be fraught with stress.

How we deal with this stress is all too often left to a spur-of-the-moment in situ decision. How many of us have gone for another plateful or reached for another glass to make ourselves feel better about the situation we were in at the time? You’ve been there. I’ve been there. Frankly, I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t.

The trick is to recognise that the season is going to be stressful BEFORE it starts. It’s all about taking action BEFORE we get into those situations that cannot help but be stressful. In a military context, we’d say that what we need is a pre-emptive strike.

Most solutions that I’ve come across to handling stress or the kind of stress-induced behaviour that we no doubt later regret involves changing the situations we’re in. However, I don’t know about you, but trying to tell my mother that I’m not coming home for Christmas is something that I’m simply not prepared to do – and live. So then, if we cannot change the situations, are we powerless? No, not at all.

The first step is to recognise that it’s not the situation that is actually the source of the stress. It’s not the memories. And it’s not Uncle Randall and his inappropriate instruction to “pull his finger”. The source of stress is energy. As soon as we understand that, we take a giant step forward. You see, stress is scary. But energy is neutral. We can work with energy.

There are all sorts of techniques that are so easy to learn but incredibly powerful when it comes to managing our energy to reduce, if not eliminate our stress altogether. For example, the easiest is to remember to keep breathing. It might sound counterintuitive or even silly, but most of us forget to breathe when we get stressed out.

The next time you find yourself in a stressful situation, take a second to notice your breathing. I bet you’ll find that it’s shallow and quick. If you can stop and start to take some deep, protracted breaths while listening to the sound of the air coming in and then leaving your lungs, you will instantly pull yourself back in the moment. Just like that you’re a sane adult again and can start to conduct yourself as such.

But it’s not simply a stressful time of year, it’s also a time when we are told to think about others more than we do ourselves. Sweeping our own needs under the carpet, however, can be another quagmire, another source of stress. How do I handle this? I personally subscribe to the philosophy that if I don’t treat myself well, then I cannot treat those around me well.

To that end, I encourage you to consider treating yourself as this holiday season gets underway. What would I suggest? How about something that could change your life forever? How would a life without stress, anxiety, fear or any other kind of self-limiting thoughts be? It might sound like a pretty tall order but every day people are learning not just to cope with stress but to overcome it entirely by learning to control their energy.

We’ve all heard that we cannot change a particular situation or other person; all we can change is how we react to that situation or person. As we all know that’s much easier said than done. Well actually, it is if you don’t know how to control the energy that produces your emotions – and in turn your stress.

This is my aim with my Intuitive Life Coaching. As a certified energy healer and meridian energy therapist, I work with people every day, teaching them that their stress is energy and only energy. By mastering the flow of energy in our bodies, we master our stress. It’s not about learning to live with stress; it’s about learning to eliminate it altogether.

As you find yourself buying gifts for others, I encourage you to consider buying one for yourself. Consider a session with me to learn how you can free yourself from negativity and move forward with confidence and optimism. Find out more about the coaching sessions I offer here.

My clients have chosen to empower themselves to make the changes that they need to live a healthier and more authentic life. Through my Intuitive Life Coaching I provide one-on-one sessions to guide and inspire my clients to do it for themselves, whereas my Medical Intuitive Assessments help identify the spiritual issues underlying illness. If you are ready to accept that challenge and behold the awesome potential of your own powerhouse, then let’s get started today!

Don’t forget about my Journey to Power forums. Please join me there and tell me about how you plan to manage your stress during this upcoming holiday season. I look forward to your postings!

And finally this week over at PsychicBridges, I consider why there's been steady increase in requests for Relationship Readings. Who do you turn to when you need advice on matters of the heart? Read my article here!

I always welcome your thoughts and feedback on IntuitiveBridges, so let me hear from you by clicking here.

Until next week,

Kindest regards,