September 7th, 2022
There are a lot of ways to help reduce anxiety. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), mindfulness (especially MBSR, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), and emotional regulation can absolutely change your life for the better if you're struggling with anxiety.
There are also plenty of ways to get creative when you're feeling overwhelmed.
Journaling is one powerful way to help calm your nervous system and manage those anxiety gremlins. Bringing your mind back home to the present moment is a simple, effective way to ride the wild horse of your anxious mind, even if it's just for a sec. Music is super-powerful for self-soothing an anxious mind. Sometimes when my mind is scurrying around in too much worry, I listen to quiet jazz (or classical and all dance music, from 60s soul to contemporary salsa). Find your happy place with music and listen away (yep, I had to get up offa' my thing and dance listening to this!). Finally, if you're curious about divination tools such as Tarot cards, the I-Ching, Runes, or astrology, learning more about whatever's calling you can also provide creative ways to work with anxiety.Note: if anxiety symptoms are getting in the way of work and relationships or causing health issues, please talk to a professional anxiety counselor and get help.
Can Astrology Help Reduce Anxiety?Maybe. Sometimes. Sometimes a lot.
I recently spent an hour interviewing the nationally known astrologer Elisabeth Grace. We talked a lot about events and people in the news. We also talked about how understanding the bigger astrological picture of why things happen the way they do can help you feel less anxious.
In my experience, it can be a helpful tool along with psychotherapy when struggling with how to reduce anxiety. And according to The Atlantic, astrology is having a moment.
Astrology offers an understanding of the planetary patterns that reflect your life's potential.
Another way it can be helpful is that, once you understand those planetary patterns reflected in how you make choices, you can learn how to surf the waves of the inevitable life changes and curve balls everyone has to deal with.
Elisabeth and I talked about the chaos that seems to be happening these days. She mentioned the esteemed American historian Heather Cox Richardson (her free Facebook page; her paid substack page). If you're interested in current events and politics and how history repeats itself, check her out.
In the second half of the episode, I get personal with part of my astrology chart so Elisabeth could explain how a chart works.
more from Dr. Melanie Harth, The Santa Fe Therapist: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
