When You Can No Longer Just "Pray Away" Your Fears

If you're anything like us, we used to love the ritual of prayer.  It gave us the ability to articulate our thoughts, release control and surrender to life in a beautiful way. It brought a feeling of hope and connection as we felt fully known in all our deepest places.  And the biggest thing it did was provide some relief from our anxiety!

But all of that changed as we were going through our faith transition. Prayer began to feel like just another trigger, one that we needed to let go of for a time, or maybe even forever. We really weren't sure. How could we handle our anxiety now? (Especially since there seemed to be more of it now than ever.) Not only did we have the usual life circumstances to contend with, now we had MORE questions, doubts and fears to work through.  Any of these sound familiar?

So what DO you do with all this anxiety now that you can't just "pray it away"? We developed a new ritual for ourselves that we think you might enjoy as well. Here's how to set it up:

• Grab a journal, pen, throw blanket, candle, etc.
• Head to a spot where you can be alone and get cozy.
• Take a moment to connect to yourself.
• Spend some time asking yourself the following six questions below to open up a space of gentleness and compassion within.  These questions will help you connect to all the parts of your WHOLE self (Not sure what we're talking about? Read this)

1. Is there an emotion that I've been avoiding lately?
2. Is this showing up in my body? Let me pause. 
3. What feels out of balance?
4. What do I need right now?
5. What am I afraid of? Let me talk to my fears. 
6. When was the last time I got some fresh air?