I don't know about you, but lately these past few years are starting to get just a bit much. I was recently considering for myself the idea of pursuing some therapy or at least talking to someone else.  Yes, even the counselors need counseling from time to time, we are all human. Interestingly enough the last talk given by spirit to Santa Fe Spirit talks was exactly on Human First. After listening to it but also some of my own work I did this past month, I have come back to my center.  It can be daunting when the pressures and worries of the world sit on your shoulders, but you should really watch for those signs and think on what you can do help yourself.  Below are the warning signs of Mental and Emotional Exhaustion.

1. Easily irritated

2. Lack of motivation

3. Anxiety or panic attacks

4. Trouble sleeping

5. Lack of or no patience

6. Indigestion

7. Crying unexpectedly

8. Detaching from reality

9 Feeling of emptiness

What is important about understanding these signs is making changes to your thought patterns and also working on the things that actually make you feel the opposite.  It can be hard to settle on just one thing or even many things, but the reality is we are humans first.  We are made from our experiences and inwardly have the knowledge to effectively work to improve ourselves and heal.  Important steps to working against these warning signs and improving your over all emotional and mental health can be found through doing the following:

1. Find a place of peace or calm. Meditate, go to a space that makes your happy.  A room in your house set aside for meditation. A room of calmness and enjoyment. A park, a space outdoors that just gives you a sense of peace. Use that space to fill you with the love it contains and comfort you find there.

2. Take some time, even 5 minutes to work on some little task. If it is organizing the sock drawer or the cupboard in your kitchen, do that. Or draw, paint, write poetry or in a journal, or do a physical activity or project you have been meaning to do, whatever it takes, just 5 or more minutes can really help.

3. Self care.  Tell yourself it is ok to feel the way you do, but we will be better soon. Seek therapy or a friend or family member you are close to and just tell them you need them to listen to you, not fix you, just listen so you can get out those feelings. You can even talk to your pet, because they won't say anything back. You can talk to yourself in a mirror so you see yourself expressing what you fell, whatever it takes to get those emotions out and expressed instead of stuffing them deeper within.

4. Set a time for a nap or getting a proper bedtime. Relax before bed, shut down all the chatter and activity before bed. Take a warm bath or shower. Make your evening bedtime a ritual centered around that the bed is for sleeping. Not reading or worrying, but a place to curl up and close up away from the rest of the world.  Your bed should be your safe haven and be as comfortable and relaxing as possible. Settle on calming colors and soft materials.  Do whatever it takes to make that space feel like a sanctuary. Your body will recognize it as such.

5. Count down or close your eyes when you feel impatient. Take a deep breath, let it go slowly and keep breathing until that feeling goes away. Remember it is you disturbing your peace, not the outside influence.

6.  Emotions are important to us and we need to express them, not shut them down. If you feel strong emotions do something that counteracts that emotion. Seek things that make you laugh or let out steam. Tell yourself it is ok to have those feelings but they don't make up who you are, they are just a part of you. If you bottle them up, your going to do more harm than good. Talk it out as above, feel them but let them out but privately. Go to a room or a space and just count down from 10 letting each number lessen the feeling you hare having. Just remember that you will be ok and get through it and eventually those emotions will change.

As humans we have to express these things or they can be more harmful. I found that doing these steps for myself actually do help.  I cannot be 100 percent helping others, that is just not possible without helping myself as well. I found drawing and doing crafts, reading, music, old movies being very helpful as well. What I want you to take away from this is that the world looks very scary right now but it doesn't have to be. We can change these circumstances if we move in a direction away from seeing only the ugliness but reveling in the triumphs. Finding joy in the victories instead of pain in the losses.  Yes they are happening, but there is nothing we can do about it if we let it stay as a vision of what will come next when we don't really know what comes next.  What comes next is from what we do NOW!  Be in the now with your feelings and especially those who bring you joy.  Being in the now also makes the future look less dark the more you enjoy the now.  We don't have to be blind to what is happening around us, but with a little care we can certainly see things better than they are and be more grateful for what we have instead of fearing what we may lose.

As a saying I saw recently goes which may well be a mantra for us all..

" In a world of putins, be a ZELENSKY!"

Have a blessed and great April.

Steven