When Everything Feels Like Too Much: Practical Ways to Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Reclaiming Calm

In this episode of Reclaiming Me, host Ariana Reinhart addresses the pervasive issues of stress and anxiety, offering listeners practical, actionable steps to manage and reduce these feelings in their daily lives. 

Highlights include the importance of incorporating play and fun, the benefits of journaling and meditation, the power of movement and nature, setting realistic goals, and taking care of your physical and emotional wellbeing. Ariana also discusses the significance of shifting perspectives towards gratitude and changing up routines to combat the monotony of daily life. 

This episode is filled with compassionate advice, relatable stories, and real strategies to help listeners support themselves without feeling overwhelmed.

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Resources Mentioned:  

• EFT Tapping for Worthiness

Connect with Ariana:  

• FB & LinkedIn: Ariana Reinhart  
• Email: heal@balancedsoulawakening.com
• Coffee Chat: https://BalancedSoulAwakeningScheduler.as.me

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Transcript

Ariana 0:00

Hello, lovely and welcome back to Reclaiming Me. I am so happy you're here today and if you've been feeling constantly stressed, anxious, or like you're always on edge lately, then this episode is exactly what you need. The world is a crazy place right now, so I want you to remember to offer yourself grace, maybe even a little more than you're used to. I promise that there is nothing wrong with you. Your nervous system is just feeling very overwhelmed with everything taking place right now. But it's ready for peace and calm, and you have the ability and the power to create that for yourself. Most of us are living in a way that asks our bodies and our minds to do far more than they were like really ever designed for. And then we sit there and we wonder why we feel exhausted or irritable, disconnected or anxious all the time. So today I want to walk you through some simple real ways to lower stress in your daily life. And there are quite a few of them, so just take them one at a time. And these are not by adding more pressure or like they're not gonna be another impossible routine to add to your day, but it's by learning how to work with your body instead of against it. And I just wanna give a quick shout out and thank you to one of our amazing listeners, Shelley, for suggesting this topic. Stress and anxiety is something that we all deal with on a regular basis, so it is incredibly beneficial to learn how best to navigate it in our daily lives. It's a fabulous topic to discuss. I am so grateful for her reaching out and letting me know that this is a topic that would be beneficial and like given the chaos that many of our are experiencing right now, I think it is highly, highly needed. By the way, if you can't wait to hear more from this podcast, hit that follow button or share your thoughts with me on Instagram at Balanced Soul Awakening. It truly inspires me to hear your stories and your aha moments. Like I am serious you guys, please reach out. I am always happy to hear from you. Now it's time to grab your favorite drink, settle in and let's get started. You are not too much. You are not too sensitive. You are not too late. Welcome to Reclaiming Me, the podcast for the woman who's ready to stop shrinking and start coming home to herself. Whether you're driving home from another long shift, walking your dog under a quiet sky, or trying to outrun the voice that says You're not enough, this space is for you. I'm your host, Ariana Reinhart, speaker, coach, and your guide on this journey of undoing the noise, shedding the pressure, and rising into who you were always meant to be. This show explores what it really means to heal from toxic patterns, rebuild your confidence and reclaim the love and life you actually deserve. Here we talk self-worth, healing, boundaries, power, and the sacred process of becoming. Because you were never meant to fit in. You're on the journey back to who you were before the world told you who to be. This is your invitation. Let's begin. Okay, so the first step I'm gonna talk about is something that I feel like so many of us fail to like remember to do in our daily lives, and we kind of get on this train where, you know, we need to be adults and everything. And so, um, this is just like childish or something like that, but it is so, so important, and that is bringing play and fun back into your life. Somewhere along the way, many of us learned that life is supposed to be serious. It's not. We learned that it was supposed to be productive and we have to be responsible. But play is not frivolous. It is regulating, and it is incredible for our nervous system and for helping to heal our inner child. When you do something just because it excites you, your nervous system actually relaxes. Your body remembers safety, your creativity opens up. You'll find that you're a lot more creative when you just allow yourself to play and to have fun and to try things and not to be too hard on yourself. And that stress like softens in your body. And this might look like picking up a new hobby. It might look like going out with a new friend and just having some good laughs, dancing in your kitchen. It might be painting or drawing or writing poetry, riding horses, hiking or doing something, anything that just makes you lose track of time. And like I said, this can be so incredibly beneficial for that inner child as well to help to heal him or her and to just show her that like that part of us is still alive and she is allowed to come out and she is allowed to play and be spontaneous and show us the fun sides of ourselves. We are not too old for it. I mean, you see, like literally think about it. You see these like TikTok videos and everything of these 80 or 90 year olds like woman and men that are dancing and having fun or just being goofy. And it makes you laugh, right? It brightens your day, it makes you happy and you're just like, oh my God,

6:38

I love that they're feeling that way and allowing that fun and joy to just come out and come through.

Ariana 6:47

So why do we feel like we're too old to do it? Why do we feel like, no, we need to be adults and we need to be serious? That's not what it's about. Why do we always see things as being great when someone else does it, but we don't allow ourselves to do it. So I want you to take a moment to ask yourself, when was the last time that I did something just because it felt good? And if your answer is more than like yesterday or a couple days ago, or today, like if it's for sure, if it's more than a week ago, then go out and do something that makes you laugh. Go do something that makes you have fun. Go do something that you love. Try something new. Try something you've been wanting to do, go have some amazing food, and just do mindful eating where you close your eyes and just enjoy every bite of it. Whatever it is, go and do that thing and start to bring that play and that joy back into your life because that is a huge, huge, huge reason why we feel so stressed. We often focus on the seriousness and the negative, and everything that can go wrong and we don't take the time to truly enjoy life. So that's number one. The next thing I'm gonna say is to journal and meditate to get outta your head. Journaling and meditation has honestly changed my life. Like I can get into a meditative state very, very easily now, and I can get into that place where like I'm almost in a hypnotic state very quickly. It is incredible. I feel so much lighter. I'm not kidding. My pain goes away when I do it. Like it is, I have chronic pain and it goes away. Feel a million times better, and I will often journal after I meditate, but you don't. It doesn't have to be after you meditate. It can be at any point in time. And those two things have been game changers for me. Because stress thrives when everything stays trapped in your mind and journaling gives your thoughts somewhere to go. You don't need like fancy prompts or anything like that. You can simply start with like getting into alignment. Take a few deep breaths, sigh them out, and just allow yourself to feel into your body and to feel into the present. And imagine this like cord going through your crown of your head and all the way down through your body, the center of your body into the earth, and imagine that you are on axis. Get into that state and then ask yourself, write down, what am I carrying right now? And then you can ask like, what am I ready to let go of? And what do I actually need today? Or what is my next best step? And those things can make a huge, huge difference. They can give us clarity. And even just sometimes journaling, sometimes you just, if you're having a bad day, you need to just get that shit out on paper. And you might crumple it up and throw it in the garbage or something afterwards. But sometimes we need to just get all those scattered thoughts out of our head and on to paper because it doesn't need to live rent free in our heads. And meditation doesn't need to be perfect or long. It can be a few minutes of sitting, breathing, reciting a mantra, envisioning something like whatever you feel called to do. And I am going to be creating a very short meditation that you could listen to and follow along, um, within the next week or two here. And it is going to be on releasing some of the shit and then inviting in abundance and prosperity and wealth. So please reach out to me if that is something that you would love to have or would be beneficial for you, because I will send that to you. No problem. And meditation, just like noticing your body while you sit there and spending those moments breathing. It can interrupt anxiety patterns and it brings you back into the present moment. Once I started to meditate is where I started to be able to sit back and see things from other people's perspectives and I was calmer. I was able to respond rather than to react, and it was incredibly life-changing for me.

12:16

Anxiety comes up because we are either focused on what can go wrong in the future, or we're focused on what happened in the past that we didn't like.

Ariana 12:26

And so being in meditation allows you to come back into that present moment and you can teach yourself and say to yourself like, I am safe right now. I am fine right now. Everything is fine. In this moment, I am okay. And then tell yourself that you're gonna have a good day. It's gonna be a great day.

12:48

Meditation has so many health benefits. It has physical, emotional, mental, spiritual benefits, and each time you practice meditation, your body gets to experience these benefits. So a regular meditation practice can decrease your heart rate, decrease blood pressure, regulate your digestion, increase your immune system, increase metabolism. It can help to give you greater clarity, greater memory retention, a greater sense of peace, and to create brain coherence. It is an amazing practice to incorporate into your life.

Ariana 13:31

So I highly, highly recommend giving it a shot if that is something that you're interested in. Spend time in nature and move your body. Your body is designed to move stress out, not to store it. So when I notice myself feeling like agitated, overwhelmed, or on edge, that's usually a sign that I have energy stuck in my system. And in the past I would numb that feeling with comfort food or some type of distraction. Now I know that I just need to go move the energy. Sometimes that looks like an intense workout. Other times it's a walk in nature, stretching yoga, or honestly, you guys, it might even mean screaming into a pillow. I have done that a few times. When I am like incredibly agitated, frustrated, I will take a pillow, put it against my face and scream into it three times, and I feel a million times better after doing it. There's no shame in it. Why do we feel like we need to suppress our emotions? They do not need to be suppressed. They need to be let out. And it might not be what you feel like doing in the moment. Like a lot of the times when, when we're in that low vibrational energy and when we're just like feeling gross or exhausted or agitated, we don't wanna go workout. We don't want to go meditate, move our body, go for a walk, any of those kinds of things. But that's exactly what we need and that's exactly what will make us feel a million times better. I promise that you will feel different after if you do that. Nature is especially powerful. Even a short time outside helps regulate your nervous system and lower the cortisol. I know that when I am really struggling, if I mean. It's winter here right now, and so it's been like minus 40 a lot of days. I'm not going outside, but when I can get outside in nature, that's where I feel the most alive. That's where I feel most like radiant and connected. And just like myself. I always feel better when I go out in nature. Another practical step is to set realistic goals instead of having that constant pressure. One of the biggest drivers of stress is unrealistic expectations. We set goals based on who we think we should be, but not like where we actually are. And then we feel like we're failing when we can't keep up with those goals. I have noticed this a lot lately, like I. I am in that place where I am trying to understand the balance between, you know, work in my career, work on my business, my personal life, taking care of my body, trying to recover from injuries, all of that. And it, it's hard, it's a challenge. But I'm learning and I've been realizing that like, you know, my goals and my expectations for myself were a lot higher than what's realistic. So I've been taking time to really tune into like what do I actually want, or what do I actually need and what is the right step for me to take? And then go out and do those things. Take the goal that I thought I wanted and break it down even more, or make it a bit lower, because things are always going to take longer than we think that they should take. And realistic goals are compassionate goals. Like you need to have that grace for yourself. They meet you where you are, not where you think that you should already be. So instead of asking like, how much can I do, try asking what is sustainable for me right now? Break things down and focus on one step instead of the entire mountain. Because progress does not require burnout. It's a great idea to create daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, and yearly goals. And when we write them down, we're light grounding them and we're also more likely to follow through with them. So you might even want to set them as reminders in your phone or plug some time for them into your calendar. You're more likely to do them when you do that. And just find what works for you and stay consistent with it. The consistency is key and it will make a difference over time. But just remember to give yourself some grace. Take care of your body first. Stress is not just mental, it is physical as well. Your sleep matters. Nourishing your body properly matters. Hydrating your body properly matters. Limiting caffeine and stimulants. They all matter more than we want to admit. And when your body is depleted, your nervous system cannot regulate stress properly. So taking care of your physical needs is not selfish. It is actually foundational. It is like the first thing that you should do. I always move my body and get rid of that energy and let go of that stress that I'm holding in my body before I ever do like my meditation and my prep the field work, and my connecting to my inner guidance and my intuition. Allow yourself to truly feel your feelings. This is a big one. So many of us have learned to push our feelings down and to compartmentalize'em. But if we don't allow ourselves to feel the emotions, they get stored in our body, and then they do either one of two things, they either eventually come out in a very strong way. And through triggers because they want to be released. Usually when these emotions and these things are coming up, it's because they're ready to be let go. Or they manifest into some kind of illness like cancer, in our physical bodies. I'm sure you've heard the saying your issues are in your tissues. This phrase means that like unresolved emotional stress, trauma, mental tension actually become physically stored in our body's muscles and connective tissue when we don't process and feel them. And when we release them, we can let go of chronic pain, tightness, trauma, triggers, illness, like the things that people have healed in their physical bodies by releasing emotions and doing a lot of these steps that I'm talking about today is incredible. People have literally cured themselves of cancer. Our bodies are incredibly intelligent. And the key is not to just like process it and those feelings and those emotions in our minds. We might need to actually get emotional. You might need to cry it out because it needs to be felt in order to be properly released. You can use tools such as like if you take a blank sheet of paper, a line sheet of paper, and you ask some type of question to yourself, so like. How am I feeling about blank right now, for example. And then on the left side of the paper, you put an arrow down and then you draw a line through the middle of the paper, and on the right side you put an arrow up. And so when you think about these certain things, the emotions and the feelings that come up, I want you to write them down. And each emotion or each feeling goes on a different line. The negative or heavier ones are going to go on the left side and then the lighter or what we would consider more positive ones are going to go on the right side. And then anything that's on the left side. You're going to take the time to honor those feelings, to let them process, to let them pass through, to let them come up, and you're going to honor them because they're there, they're real. And then once that is done, you're going to draw a line through that word and over to the right side, and then you're going to write down what emotion or feeling you want instead. So if you're feeling exhausted, maybe you want to feel energized or radiant. So write down what you want to feel instead, and then as long as you're in alignment and you're tuned in, then after you've done all this, you can go through each step or each emotion and write down or. Ask yourself like, what can I do in order to feel this way right now? Maybe you need to move some things. Maybe you just need to feel that way. Maybe you need to let some shit go. Maybe you need to do some tapping. Whatever it is, listen to what comes up. And you can also use tools like breath, movement, EFT tapping, so emotional freedom technique tapping. I actually probably about like a month or so ago, just over, had this emotion and this limiting belief come up where I felt like I was not liked by anyone or like not wanted. I did not, like my friends did not wanna be around me. I felt like I was excluded from everything, with work, all of that. And it was just like, I don't fit in. I don't belong. I'm not like, no one really likes me. No one wants to hang out with me. I'm not included in the group. It was coming up so fricking strongly that I could not shake it. I was literally almost in tears for over 24 hours, and I was just like ruminating on it and it was driving me insane. I could not let it go. So I did some tapping and I probably spent about, I don't know, 15 to 20 minutes tapping, and I felt so much better afterwards. Like I moved through that and I was able to let that shit go. I felt so much better. I felt so much more confident in myself and like just who I am. And if certain people don't like me, that's okay. But I do have friends who support me and I do have friends who are there for me and like to hang out with me, and I am loved. So that changed so much for me. And I do have, I will post a link. I do have a video on YouTube for tapping for worthiness. So please feel free to watch or listen to that. And it walks you through the whole topping process. You might do Reiki. Reiki is amazing and incredible when it comes to healing. I am a Reiki master practitioner, so feel free to reach out for that as well. Or anyone that's in your hometown, they can be done as distance sessions. Anyone that you trust or that you think might be great for doing Reiki. That is a wonderful, wonderful technique and I have seen so many amazing, incredible things happen through reiki. There's somatic work. Somatic work is also absolutely incredible, and it is a wonderful way to regulate your nervous system. Or you might even go to therapy. Just find what works for you. And being in alignment will help you to move through these things quicker and easier. Another thing is to shift your perspective towards what is already working. So anxiety often comes from focusing on what's missing or what is going wrong or what might go wrong. Shifting your perspective does not mean bypassing those hard feelings. Like I just said, you need to feel'em, but it means intentionally widening your lens. So pay attention to what is good in your life right now. Maybe it's your children. Maybe it's the fact that you have a home, a family, loved ones, people who care about you. Maybe it's your dog who makes you laugh. Maybe it's a friend who supports you. Maybe it's the fact that you have a job right now. Pay attention to, like we're so programmed to focus on the negatives. I want you to learn to pay attention to how you're talking to yourself and the things that you're focusing on, the thoughts that you have, and if you're focusing on what you don't have or the lack kind of, or scarcity, what you desperately want instead, like it's good to have desires and everything, but when it's coming from lack and scarcity, that's not what we want. That's not the vibration that we want. So focus on those things that are going right in your life and imagine this abundance coming to you. See it happening in your imagination. Imagine that things are going to go so right today. Imagine that you get that raise. Imagine that you get the clients. Imagine that you know the love of your life comes to you. Whatever it is, focus on the good and the positive, and catch yourself when you are sitting there thinking those negative thoughts and flip them around. Change them into good. Gratitude does not erase problems, but it's going to soften the grip that your problems have on your nervous system. Gratitude is the number one way to bring abundance into your life. Change up your routine. So doing the same thing day after day can quietly drain your energy. And we often go on autopilot. And then like, how many times have you driven home from work or something and you don't even remember how you got home? Like you don't even remember driving? Or like you just, your morning routine is the same thing and it's good to have routines, but sometimes it's good to switch it up. And it might be just something very small because after a while it can become mundane and monotonous for us. You don't need to have a big life overhaul. Those small changes matter. So maybe you take a different route home from work. Or to work. Maybe you try something new. You can break the pattern in a gentle way. It doesn't have to be this big, huge thing. Novelty is going to wake up your brain and bring you back into engagement with life. Be mindful of what you consume. So this is an incredibly important one, especially right now because there is so much shit going on in the news, and most of it, if we're being honest, is not good. So constant news and like social media exposure keeps your nervous system in a state of alert. Limit what you take in and be intentional with those things. Sometimes it might mean unfollowing certain people that disrupt your peace. It might mean not listening to the news every day. Only scrolling on social media for 20 minutes in the day instead of two hours. Pay attention to how much of that negativity you actually consume. Because a lot of the times we do it in little blocks of time, I guess is the right way to say that. And we don't realize how much we're actually consuming in a day. So instead of, you know, scrolling social media, maybe you listen to a podcast or an audio book that inspires you, grounds you or reminds you of what is possible. I went through a little period of uh, just feeling like I had no motivation. I was not necessarily feeling burnt out per se, but my zest for life kind of felt like it was a little bit gone. And I just started listening to a couple podcasts that were motivating and inspiring, and it got me back to a point where I was like, okay, I can do this again. Like I am excited, I've got my mojo back kind of thing. And I just started moving and doing things. Sometimes all it takes is to just get that momentum going and then it's so much easier, but it is hard to get something in motion when it is not in motion. So just get started and it'll get easier. And get clear on your vision. Stress often increases when we are disconnected or lacking clarity on where we are going or where we want to go. Take time to ask yourself like, what do I actually want? What kind of life am I building? What matters to me now? A great exercise that I have done that I learned from another podcaster was to, I've done part of this a few times actually, to envision exactly what you want in your life in 10 years from now. And envision it. Imagine it to a t. Know exactly what kind of house you wanna live in, where you wanna be living, every detail of that, how you feel when you wake up. The things that you say to yourself, your energy, who you're with, the way that you feel as you go about your day, the people that you talk to, the people that you surround yourself with, how you talk to those people, every single detail, get very clear. And don't hold anything back, even if it seems absolutely insane, absolutely crazy. Write it down. Don't hold anything back. Don't limit yourself. And then what you can do is write down all the actions that you need to start doing in order to feel like that person or to embody the frequency of that person. Write this down like your life in 10 years from now, but then also sit in meditation and imagine it happening. Be able to fully visualize it and embody it. Embody that frequency and that energy, and start to bring it into your life right now. You're quantum leaping into that energy and that success. And then yeah, you write down the things that you need to start doing in order to start embodying and becoming that person. So it might mean that you wake up however much earlier at a certain time every day, or you go to bed at a certain time every day, maybe you start exercising for 30 minutes a day, maybe you start eating healthy and nutritious foods. Maybe you start drinking more water. It's these little things. Maybe it's you start journaling for five minutes or meditating for five minutes a day. It might like, it can be anything. What do you, what would that person be doing that you are not currently doing? And then you write down the things that you need to stop doing in order to become that person. So maybe that's binge watching tv. Maybe it's scrolling social media for as long as you do. Maybe it's to stop eating junk food or processed foods. To stop spending money on a Starbucks coffee every day. Whatever it is, write down those things that you would need to stop doing in order to become that person. And then you write down the things that you're already doing and that you would like to continue doing that are beneficial and helping you move forward to becoming that person. And this is one to really pay attention to because you can acknowledge the things like how much you're actually already doing to move you forward. And you can have that sense of accomplishment and you can celebrate that. And none of this is about creating shame around your habits that you currently have. You're not gonna judge yourself. You're holding space for it, and you are setting the intention that you are planning to improve. That's it. No judgment. The reason that you wanna do this is because that clarity creates a sense of calm. And even if you don't have all the answers, knowing the direction you want to move in brings relief. And an important thing is that you don't need to know the how. You need to believe that it is possible and you need to feel deep in your body that it is going to come to you, that it is on its way to you. And start to embrace and embody that frequency now. That's what you need to focus on. The how will come. The universe will bring that for you. You don't need to know the how, but you need to believe that it's possible. Reducing stress and anxiety is not about fixing yourself. It's about learning how to support yourself. You don't need to do this all at once. All of these steps to implement into your life, don't do them all at once. You will burn yourself out. It will be too much of a change. Choose one thing, make one small shift, do one act of care, and then you can slowly build on them. And if you want support clearing stress on a deeper level, I invite you to join me for a guided soul journey where we go into this incredible, amazing meditation where we cleanse and clear all that heavy shit that you've been holding onto and carrying with you. And a lot of the times it is not even yours. It's someone else's. I will be doing biweekly meditations probably either on Wednesdays or Thursdays. And we will be helping you release things, helping you to invite in what you would like in your life and doing different things to heal. So please reach out to me if that is something that you are interested in. And here's what one of my clients had to say about her experience where we cleared and expanded her energy container. I've always been someone with big energy, someone who could fill the room with my presence. But it wasn't until my activation session with Ariana Reinhart that I realized that my energy was still being stifled and contained, that I was still making myself smaller energetically than what is natural for me. Ariana helped me to expand the tiny, too small bubble that my energy had grown accustomed to smushing itself into, until I felt myself soaring as if gravity no longer had the upper hand. The expansion itself was a game changer. After our session, I walked through the world with an additional layer of confidence I didn't know I needed. I embodied a boldness that I didn't exactly think was missing, but it was as if the best parts of me were expanded to an all new level. I'm lucky in that I've always loved myself, but somehow I became able to love myself even more. And I was incredibly happy to show that to anyone wanting to see it. Perhaps this goes without saying, but I absolutely cannot wait until my next session with Ariana. And over a couple more sessions, we worked through some issues that she was having around feeling safe with men in her life. She didn't feel safe to accept love from men, no matter what kind of love. And her divine masculine was like curled up in a ball in the corner when we did the Divine Trinity activation. She brought him forward. They had an incredible conversation, and they started to build a more positive relationship. She has had some incredible breakthroughs and she even mentioned that she was actually in the process of going from being an anxious avoidant attachment style to now transitioning into a secure attachment style. That is huge. Like that's incredible. This work is amazing. And it can happen so quickly if you allow yourself to open and receive, and if you're willing to put in the work. I know it has most definitely changed my life. So I highly encourage you to reach out and we can discuss how I might be able to help you if you're feeling stuck or if you're struggling in a certain area, or even if you just want things to feel better and lighter in your life. Because you are allowed to live a life that feels lighter, you are allowed to feel calm, supported, and at ease. Alright, lovely. Thank you so much for tuning in today. If this episode resonated with you, please take a moment to subscribe and rate the show. Your feedback helps us reach more people and create more impactful content. We truly appreciate it. You are not too much, you are not behind. You are not broken. You are worthy. You are whole and you are already everything you're seeking. This is reclaiming me. Until next time, be gentle, be bold, be you.