Empowered to Heal: Managing Anxiety and Stress

Anxiety can take the very wind out of your sail and send you wandering in the wilderness of your circumstances.   Your joy, peace and advancement are crippled through times when your mind cannot effectively sooth its racing thoughts!  Many people live far below the standard that God intends for them because they are captive to a spirit of doubt and disappointment. This negative, anxious spirit pervades their waking and sleeping. Yet we are divinely equipped to use holistic methods to counter the events that cause anxiety—those trials that trigger feelings of isolation, irritation, insomnia, frustration, etc.

What does it mean to be “empowered to heal?”  Empowerment is the process of increasing your capacity to make godly choices and to transform those choices into divine actions and outcome. “Empowered to heal” speaks of inclusion and accountability regarding body, mind and spirit in the holistic effort to free oneself from anxiety and stress. In this article, I will discuss how, through various forms of empowerment, we can discover holistic healing and find peace in the fullness that God intends for our lives.

Empowered Mentally: Healing Our Thought Life

Guilt and shame are dysfunctions that inundate the struggles with anxiety.  Our minds have the ability to heal cognitive distortions by challenging our thought process. Use the methods of a detective.  Identify what triggers negative thoughts that elevate your anxiety. Once the triggers are identified then you have an option to take control over the foci of your thought life.

Empowered Spiritually: Strengthening Our Faith in God (and Ourselves)

Meditate on the promises of God.   Philippians 4:8 says, “ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things.”  Scripture says to think on those things that can truly free your mind to consider the best in you. This requires placing more faith in yourself over concentrating on your weaknesses or failures.

Empowered Physically: Sweating Out the Stress

The body takes an extensive beating when experiencing stress and anxiety.  It naturally responds (fight or flight) with external turbulence.  The trouble with daily anxiety means the body has not had sufficient time to calm itself. Exercise has proven an effective tool to reduce the level of stress in those who suffer from anxiety.  Managing the physical elements of anxiety- rapid heart rate, sweating and migraines – can be aided with exercise. Running, walking and yoga can provide a calming affect.

Seeking Out Holistic Healing

“Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” – 3rd John 1:2 (NIV)”

It takes courage to ask the tough questions regarding what drives the racing thoughts and repeated sleepless nights—yet this is what is required if we are to say “It is well with my soul.” Anxiety deprives you of the ability to prosper in body, soul and spirit. Anxiety and stress are usually closely tied to traumatic events in your personal history. To be more precise, flashbacks of past emotional moments will trigger present trauma. Taking hold of what activates the emotion and behavior provides the framework to confronting fear, doubt and disappointment. Individuals who experience anxiety often state they have lost control in their lives. Taking a holistic (mind, spirit and body) perspective can help you find balance when stressed out.

Christian Counseling: A Vital Part of Healing

You may not have the ability to cure cancer or experience world peace in this age, but you can embrace a stress-free, prosperous soul on this side of heaven.  Empowered individuals explore their options and look for a healthy balance to change.  It is time to pursue those things that bring peace and that lead to building up one another.  Failing to pursue balance mentally, physically and spiritually can result in living below God’s standard. Counseling provides a wonderful opportunity to find balance in these three areas.

For some, exploring counseling can be taboo and a betrayal of self and family.  However, seeking out professional counseling is part of the empowerment process.  Just as you seek out personal trainers, seeking out a nutritionist, clergy and counselor are vital to our overall health.  With all the technology available and the ease that things are a click away, lives seem to hold more tension and distress than ever.   You need to incorporate a holistic manner to address how you handle stress.

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