With the summer almost ready to close up shop, validated by my lawn covered in crinkled red leaves, the stress piled up for me to either shovel or to quick figure out where I could hide it, or hide from it.
As you probably know if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or read my InSights, Chuck and I do a fair amount of traveling throughout the year, mostly leading paranormal investigations or researching for my books. You will never ever hear me say that I lead a dull life. Last weekend we led a team of thirty through the Ohio Reformatory, also called Mansfield Reformatory. For those uninterested in the paranormal and all things ghosts, you may have seen the prison if you watched Shawshank Redemption. It was a fabulous night, albeit I do think I am getting too old to do 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. ghost hunts anymore (yeah, you hit 40 years old and it goes downhill from there, kids). We had free reign of 90% of the building and most all had experiences that were hard to explain except for calling it paranormal from screams, banging, touching, cries, and some fabulous EVPs (Electronic Voice Phenomena) that warned us to get back or to stop (or someone else to stop. And then there were the bats. You could read more about that here. With only a few hours of sleep afterwards, we headed home and that was when the week went downhill. Quick.
I admit it that I am at least a six hour sleep kind of gal. Anything under and I feel like the worst villain in the comic book world came down and zapped me. Instead of the adrenaline rush of a great weekend, all I wanted to see was the back of my eyelids for days and days, and yet felt so wired that I couldn’t even do that. To make matters worse, my knee hurt. Bad. And when I went to the doctor, he pretty much called me fat and made me cry. You can see me whine about it here. With a history of chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, this spells trouble for me for days, weeks and sometimes months to come – so I had to nip it in the bud before it got out of hand.
Stress affects us all in all different ways and the outcome is normally not pretty. Sleep may sound like the simple solution, but as I mentioned above, the adrenaline and the increased cortisol may cause the opposite effect of just plain being wired. I wanted to share some conventional and non-conventional ways to deal with exhaustion and stress. And as always, you may also want to contact your physician.
1. White Sage and Cedar
Burn some cedar and white sage around your home to help take away excess energy that can be causing you to feel exhausted, zapped and overall stressed. Many people sense the paranormal when they are going through stressful situations like job loss, divorce, financial issues, depression, etc. The cedar helps you think clearer as it removes any energy cobwebs and the sage seals so that you don’t have to keep repeating. If you can remember that cedar clears and sage seals, and if you can get a smudge stick with both, you should start feeling more serene soon after.
2. Palo Santo
Much like white sage, but it has a woodier and sweeter scent. Palo Santo is holy wood and some enjoy burning Palo more than white sage.
3. Florida Water
Florida water is cologne and is used by many shamans. It is believed to have cleansing and protective properties and to attract healing spirits. You can sprinkle it around your home or even wear it.
4. Massage and/or Sea Salt
Massage helps to invigorate your body, mind and spirit. If you can’t afford or don’t have the time to get a massage, try putting sea salts in bathtub and gently scrubbing your feet. Reflexology is also a wonderful way clear the toxins out of you – whether from the body or the soul.
5. Disconnect.
Remove Facebook, Twitter, etc from your phone and unplug for a few days. You will be amazed at how much you will get accomplished and how free you will feel when you aren’t reading everyone else’s problems and/or seeing other’s lives playing out in front of you. Social Media has become an addiction for many. Before many get out of bed, they check their phone. Before they close their eyes, they check their phone. This invokes so many emotions, some good, some bad, but not always needed at certain times. Try to keep a handle on your electronic time.
6. Spend time with Family and Friends – in person
If you are spending more time texting or messaging your loved one, and they are in the next room, you may want to put down your electronic devices – I know – it’s hard, and start spending more personal time.
7. Hug
Reach out and hug a loved one, or even yourself. Personal touch helps to calm the brain.
8. Scream
Yep. Get it out. Cry. Scream. Yell.
9. Work it Out
Exercise can help expel the icks away. A walk around the block, a lap around the pool or an hour of Zumba can help shake the blahs.
10. Expectations
If you are still mad that your boyfriend screwed up Valentine’s Day, or your girlfriend made you go to a barbeque when you had a Fantasy Football draft, look at how really important, or how petty, the situation and you are being. Many times miscommunications mess up the priorities. Nobody is a mind-reader. If you were hoping for a romantic night, and didn’t get one, you probably didn’t communicate it properly and instead assumed that he/she wanted the same. Open up and look at realistic expectations. It is these types of situations that cause hurt feelings, sleepless nights and stress.
I am on Day 2 of Mission Zero Facebook on my Phone and have gotten more done in the last two days than in a long time, and slept like a baby without have my phone on my nightstand. Yeah, I think about the messages piling up in FB or think that I should probably share my daughter’s University move-in pictures, but then realize that I have my own sanity and stress to take care of and well – everything can and will just have to wait.
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