~ Lao Tzu (c.604 – 531 B.C.)

When was the last time you felt unsafe?

Was it when you were bullied in high school for being different?

Was it alone in a dark alley on the way home?

Was it in broad daylight in the midst of a crowd?

Or, is it something that is always with you, like an uncomfortable attachment, due to your skin color, age, gender, health status, religion, disability, or sexuality?

We have all felt unsafe at one point or another.

But, what about those times when you feel so overwhelmed by constant fear that it prevents you from living your best life?

On a physical level, our “stress hormone” known as cortisol gets activated when we are stressed. In addition, another hormone, called adrenaline, is our “fight or flight” hormone. They’re meant to be used on a short-term basis. But, when there’s an eternal cascade of stress hormones, due to constant stress, it drains our beautiful adrenals. This directly results in adrenal fatigue, or even a belly bulge that won’t respond to exercise and diet (especially if it’s the only thing on you that is bulging, and you’re not pregnant). You may also start to shallowly breathe, which limits the oxygen going to your brain and the rest of your body. When there’s less oxygen going to the brain and body, performance at work and in life suffers. The stress that constant fear brings can also lower the immune system, raise blood pressure, and effect your sleep patterns.

On mental and emotional levels, enduring constant stress makes you more susceptible to panic attacks, you may have less mental clarity, your short term memory is shot, and you may operate from a place of victimhood, which limits how you move through the world, since you end up taking less risks towards the things that bring you joy. Because of this, you end up not reaching for the kind of life you really want to create. This can easily lead to anxiety and depression. Your emotions may be very much on the surface, where you are susceptible to crying easily, or bursting into anger, at the drop of a hat. On the opposite extreme, you may feel apathetic towards the situation, and numb towards your own feelings. And, when you’re disconnected from your feelings and who you are, you don’t make the most sound decisions.

On an energetic and spiritual level, living in constant concern of personal safety is a warning to your spiritual body, particularly your Root Chakra. Since this is the first chakra in your body’s system, totally based on your existence in the world, and the primal needs of food, water, shelter, and tribe, survival instincts will be triggered. People in this mode live in constant fear that they will not survive, whether it be because they do not have enough food to eat, a family or tribe to depend on (remember that our ancestors back in the day equated being ostracized or abandoned from the tribe with death, since that was the case back then), or other threat to their existence. When we move through life with deep fear, our vibration becomes more dense, and since we attract those who vibrate at the same level as we do, we also attract others who vibrate with lower vibrations. Not the best company to keep! In addition, for those who can see auras, your aura may appear dark or cloudy, have holes in certain vulnerable areas that create easy access for denser energies, look like spikes in other areas, or may be very shallow and close to the body by a few inches (vs. a more radiant, healthy aura that extends outward about 4-5 feet from the body).

Acupuncture and Reiki are very effective on stress and anxiety, as are breathing exercises, crystal work, essential oil therapy, smudging your personal and living/work space, cultivating mindfulness, and eating foods that soothe the liver (since in Chinese Medicine, our Liver Qi gets stagnated when we’re stressed, and being that it’s in control of the smooth flow of Qi in the body, that could pose a problem to the physical and spiritual bodies), among some helpful methods!

There are many ways to do this physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Personally, when I feel the need to protect myself, I invoke it.

Sometimes it’s in the form of meditation, prayer, affirmations, Reiki, calling in my Team of Light (such as Spirit Guides, Angels, Ascended Masters, Ancestors, and others), or whatever I feel is fitting at that time.