Angry much?
Well, it’s hard to not feel angry or at least frustrated on a regular basis these days. Just the overload caused by frequent stimuli alone is enough to make us crazy... and ready to explode! The fact that most of the information we’re constantly bombarded with is wrought with negativity doesn’t help, either... Not to mention having to navigate through our own triggers...
 
Anger is usually fear in disguise; when repressed instead of properly processed, it can turn into depression. Unprocessed and stifled anger can also cause all kinds of havoc in our body (especially the liver, which is the organ associated with anger in Traditional Chinese Medicine); disrupt our peace of mind; and, when out of control, lead to hurtful, damaging and even dangerous situations, such as road rage.
 
What Does Processing Anger Look Like?
- Feel the anger. Repressing it won’t do. Allow yourself to feel it without reacting to it. You can use affirmations to help deal with anger, such as:
“I acknowledge that I am feeling angry right now, and accept the way I feel.
I have the power to control my reactions.
I can fully experience this anger, yet wait before I take action.
I can feel angry, but calm and in control at the same time.
It’s ok to feel angry.”
Anger Management Relaxation script from Inner Health Studio
https://www.innerhealthstudio.com/deal-with-anger.html
 
- Question the anger. Where is it coming from? Rather than assuming it’s being caused by people, situations or circumstances, consider that the external world reflects what’s happening within. Are you angry at yourself for some reason, or feeling out of control and impotent about certain aspects of your life? Is a current person or situation triggering past traumas and issues that are unresolved? Are there inner wounds that need to be healed or personal boundaries that need to be reinforced? Do you have a need that’s not being met?

- Own the anger... if it is indeed yours. As many highly sensitive empaths out there, I’m also prone to anger; so, whenever needed, I practice the process I’m sharing on this article. However, I’m aware that I’m also prone to pick up on and absorb energies from other sources. Sometimes it happens that I start feeling randomly angry, without any obvious triggers. To determine if the anger feeling is coming from me or somewhere else, I examine recent events and interactions, along with the circumstances that led to that moment, and try to track any triggers that I might have missed (these can be subtle, but still have a cumulative effect). If I don’t find any possible causes that might explain how I’m feeling, I ask my inner/higher guidance to help me discern if the anger feeling (or anxiety, depression, etc) is mine or if it’s coming from external sources. If it becomes clear that the anger feeling isn’t mine, I proceed to cut energetic cords to any negative, low vibration sources, and then visualize the highest vibration light energy filling that space instead. That usually works quite well; my mood shifts in a positive way within minutes. This exercise still works if the anger feeling is mine; in this case, however, additional internal work is necessary.
 
- Share the anger. Find a safe environment and the right people to express your anger with. That doesn’t mean venting your anger on others; just expressing what you’re feeling and getting support.
If there are people and situations in your life that are frequently contributing to triggering the anger response, it might be necessary to communicate with the people involved and addressing those situations, in addition to doing inner work. In that case, there are three choices: Change it, leave it or accept it.
 
- Express the anger. Record an angry message or write an angry letter, but don’t send it. Create artistic expressions inspired by the anger you’re feeling.
 
- Release the anger. Performing physical activities usually helps. Punch those pillows, kick the crap out of that punching bag, run, dance, scream, cry!
 
- Process the anger with a pro (or like a pro). Speak with a counselor or other healthcare professionals and learn additional tools to safely express, release and move on from that anger.
There are also several holistic or integrative techniques that can help, such as Hypnotherapy, NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming), EFT, etc.
In addition, mindful practices such as meditation, prayer, yoga, Tai Chi, etc, can be very effective for anger management.
 
- Make amends for the anger: If you slip up and hurt someone or cause other issues due to anger, a key step in this process is to make amends and do damage control, so that everyone involved is able to move on.
Disclaimer: Of course, I’m not referring here to anger that leads to any kind of abuse; reaching out for professional help (and protection, if you are the receiver of the abuse) is a must in anger situations that are dangerous or out of control.

- Channel that anger! If some of your anger is triggered by the current state of affairs (socio-political issues, the economy, animal cruelty, the environment, etc), a positive way to channel it is to get involved in worthy causes and try to make a difference. Righteous indignation or anger is a powerful energetic force; put it to good use and become a warrior angel!
 
Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 10/23/23
thehealershome.com

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

Is Mental the New Normal?
As I previously shared on my ANTIDEPRESSANTS VS. PLACEBO: And The Winner Is... article (please see under References):
 
“According to NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. (which corresponds to 43.8 million or 18.5%) experiences mental illness in a given year; and approximately 1 in 25 adults in the U.S. (corresponding to 10 million or 4.2%) experiences a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities (for more numbers, please see link under References). That means a staggering amount of people with some level of mental health challenge. Considering that a whole lot of people don’t seek help and go undiagnosed, the real numbers are likely to be even scarier.
 
No wonder words like OCD, OCPD, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, chronic depression, etc, have become commonplace. Look around yourself. How many friends or family members display behavior that has been qualified as (or suggested to be) a mental health disorder of some kind? Or look in the mirror. When was the last time you’ve felt emotionally, mentally and physically (not to mention spiritually) healthy and balanced? Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with a mental health challenge, or do you suspect you or someone you know might have such a challenge?
 
One thing is certain: when a system says that a big chunk of the population has some type of mental health issue that requires medication, maybe it’s time to change a lot of things in that system. Mere common sense dictates that something is seriously wrong with that picture.”
 
Whichever the sources of such a dismal state are, the main question is: What do we do with this knowledge? Do we hide? Do we numb ourselves with soft and hard addictions? Do we convince ourselves that we’ll never be good enough to follow our dreams or achieve anything in life? Or do we make the decision to become comfortable with who we are in this phase of our lives, seek wholesome solutions and put our issues to good use?
 
What We Can Do:
- We can use mindfulness tools and holistic therapies such as Hypnotherapy.
 
- We can explore brain stimulation and biofeedback therapies such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation or Neurofeedback (please see the articles under References).
 
- We can share our story and help inspire others to deal with their own mental issues.
 
- We can empower ourselves and choose to put our hurdles to good use! What we often consider to be our flaws or issues can be used in positive ways to help ourselves and others, by simply learning how to redirect these shadow aspects of ourselves and channel that energy towards accomplishing our goals and dreams!
 
What’s something about yourself that may have a negative side, but can also be used in positive ways?
 
© Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 05/18/23
thefunctionalperfectionist.com
 
Photo by Sydney Sims on Unsplash
 
References:
ANTIDEPRESSANTS VS. PLACEBO: And The Winner Is...
https://www.theragicenter.com/giseles-blog/antidepressants-vs-placebo-and-the-winner-is
 
NAMI
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers
 
Transcranial magnetic stimulation
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/transcranial-magnetic-stimulation/about/pac-20384625
 
Neurofeedback: A Comprehensive Review on System Design, Methodology and Clinical Applications
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4892319/

Are you afraid to fail, succeed or both?
These twin siblings walk together, arm in arm, and it can be really hard to separate them or even tell them apart. When we’re afraid to fail, we usually feel paralyzed and unable to take the necessary steps to achieve success. Succeeding can’t happen without failing; ergo, being afraid to fail often translates into being afraid to succeed.
 
What’s behind these fears? If we dig deeply enough, sooner or later we come to realize that most of our surface fears stem from three major core fears: Not being good enough; being unworthy; and being afraid of living and getting hurt in the process. If we believe we are unworthy or not good enough, and if we’re afraid to live, we end up attracting people, events, circumstances, etc, that will reinforce those fears… As we believe, so it is.
 
As everyone else, I’ve had my share of failing. One of the most significant failure experiences happened in 2010. As a consequence of the 2008 economic crisis, among other factors, my business partner and I had to close our graphic design and publishing business. Since I had unwisely connected my personal credit to the business, I had to declare bankruptcy and lost my home in the process. I had to start over in my 40’s, and everything I had believed in or counted on didn’t make sense any longer. I was feeling lost, confused, depressed and very angry. After a period of grieving and a short stretch working for the U.S. Census, I came to the realization that I needed to start reinventing myself.
 
Since 2002, I had been learning about and experimenting with different forms of holistic practices as a side activity. I really enjoyed that work, so I decided to pursue the integrative arts as a career. The research I conducted about federally accredited holistic healthcare programs led me to SWIHA - Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, AZ as the best choice for my purposes. In 2011, when I enrolled in the SWIHA AOS degree program in Holistic Health Care, I had the choice to specialize in nutrition or hypnotherapy; I chose the latter, which led me to a fulfilling career in hypno-coaching. I obtained my AOS degree in Holistic Healthcare in 2013, became certified as a Master Hypnotherapist by the ABH and as a Certified Hypnotherapist by the IMDHA, and founded The Healers Home (formerly The Ragi Center for Self-Awareness), through which I practice Clinical Hypnotherapy, Life Coaching and other holistic modalities. In addition, I teach SWIHA online classes and offer corporate workshop series and presentations about hypnotherapy for the local community. Currently, I’m co-authoring a book with my mentor and former teacher about implementing a volunteer-based guided imagery program at a hospital or health care facility.
 
As I often share as part of resistance coaching for the classes I teach online, failure paves the road to success. However, there's a big difference between failing and feeling like a failure. As my wise friend Judi L. once shared during an online group meeting, “failure only exists in our minds—mistakes are essential to set us in different directions and on different paths. We can't let fear of making mistakes prevent us from moving forward. When we fail or make the wrong choice, we're meant to learn from those experiences and take the next leap. Everything is pushing us to our higher purpose.”
Learning how to make mistakes and fail with humility, without beating ourselves up, is one of the most courageous, empowering and self-loving choices we can make in life.
 
Failing is especially good for business. As a matter of fact, the current trend is to fail fast to get that part of the process out of the way and fail mindfully to acquire the necessary knowledge and successfully apply the lessons (please check out some of the awesome videos from The Failure Institute; link under References). Also, sharing our struggles is one of the most effective ways to connect with and engage our audience.
 
How to Address Fear?
To help you further on your own journey of bringing fear to light, I recommend hypno-coaching to work through resistance and fears. A good script to begin with is Wall of Fear, by Linda Bennett, with focus on the fears of not being good enough and/or being unworthy. A good follow-up script would be Removing the Armor for releasing limitations, also by Linda Bennett.
 
In addition to hypno-coaching, there are many effective exercises and tools to help deal with fear:
 
- Asking yourself: “What’s the worst that can happen?” Our wild imaginations can create some far-off doomsday scenarios, making it easier to laugh at and dismiss our fears.
 
- Visualizing the process of making mistakes and failing as if you were watching an old black-and-white comedy-capers-style silent movie (or another funny, cartoonish story style) is another effective way to make light of our failings… and related fears.
 
- Self-parenting through soothing, confident-building self-talk. Be the parent that you wish you’d had!
 
- Repeating positive affirmations and powerful mantras.
 
- Doing mirror work, which also involves using affirmations and mantras.
 
- Writing your eulogy: What do you want to be remembered for? What does a meaningful life with no regrets mean to you?
 
- Testing your fears: Ask yourself powerful questions, or ask a professional therapist work with you.
 
- Mel Robbins shares effective tips to trick the brain into action (please see two of her videos under References). As per Becca Briley’s fitting comment about the 5 Second Rule brain trick during our live talk, "Instead of RETRACTION, we choose IN-ACTION" (please see link under References).
 
- Activities like rock climbing or singing karaoke can reveal your fear patterns and help you work through them. For instance, when I started indoor rock-climbing a few months ago , I noticed that, whenever I had a successful climbing session, I’d start making excuses about why I probably wouldn’t be able to do so well next time… I recognized it as a defensive mechanism through which I’d justify myself in advance for possible failures. Once I was aware of this pattern, I would catch myself every time I’d be thinking of such excuses and take action by responsibly challenging myself and learning to be ok with not-so-good climbing days.
 
- Asking for help and support is an important part of this process, too. No one does it alone! In addition to friends and family support (or if you can’t count on friends and family), look for other sources, such as local and online groups and orgs that support the work you do (or the work you would like to get involved in).
 
What other tools are you familiar with?
 
FINAL THOUGHT: Life can be much better if we stop constantly listening to our inner critic and being so hard on ourselves and others. Life already has enough challenges without us having to make it any harder… In short: It would behoove us to just lighten the “freak” up a little.
 
© Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 03/09/23
thehealershome.com
 
"Faith Over Fear" Image by Alex Shute at Unsplash
Image of me rock climbing (taken by my husband)
 
References:
The Failure Institute - Videos
https://www.thefailureinstitute.com/videos/

Mel Robbins: 5 Second Rule
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2VQ-ZsNr0
 
How to Stop Screwing Yourself Over - Mel Robbins
https://www.ted.com/talks/mel_robbins_how_to_stop_screwing_yourself_over?language=en
 
SWIHA Lean Into Your Success Facebook group - March 8, 2023 Live Talk hosted by Becca Briley, with Gisele Marasca-Vargas
https://www.facebook.com/MySWIHA/videos/982330852735956

A Self-soothing Recipe for Nighttime Freak-Outs
Having an anxiety disorder sometimes means that I get to wake up in the middle of the night feeling high anxiety or the beginning of a panic attack. These episodes can be triggered by real or imaginary concerns and fears. One way or the other, that’s certainly not the best way to spend my time in bed at night, especially when I should be healing and recovering my energy through peaceful sleep.
 
One of the most effective methods I employ to trick my mind into relaxing and falling back asleep is the same technique I started using years ago to help release sciatica and osteoarthritis pain: I soothingly guide myself to sleep with positive affirmations (silently, in my mind), as a form of self-hypnosis.
 
Although my affirmations are customized to different circumstances, I usually start repeating something along these lines, as I take deep breaths:
 
“I am not my body... I am not my aches and pains or health conditions...
I am not my mind...
I am not my fears...
I am beyond my mind and physical body...
I am health... I am wellness... I am wholesomeness...
I am perfect in my imperfection...
I am loved... I am loved... I am loved...
I am love... I am love... I am love...
I AM... I AM... I AM...”
 
Occasionally, depending on the level of anxiety, I have to repeat this exercise more than once to achieve the desired effect. More often than not, however, I fall asleep in the middle of the first set, as I start relaxing and feeling relief from anxiety and physical pain.
 
This simple technique is just as effective for daytime anxiety or panic. Although it’s often recommended that hypnotic suggestions are made as affirmations, rather than stated in the negative, in this case it feels empowering to first acknowledge limiting beliefs by denying them, and then affirm that which is true.
 
What self-soothing techniques are effective for you?
 
© Gisele Marasca-Vargas; 04/21/22
thehealershome.com
 
Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash
 
You Might Also Like:
Stress Management Guide Meditation - Short Version
https://s3.amazonaws.com/hypnoscripts/Stress1_Long_wm-GiseleMV.mp3
 
Stealing Moments of Peace
https://www.theragicenter.com/giseles-blog/stealing-moments-of-peace

The Transformational Power of Yet
https://www.theragicenter.com/giseles-blog/the-transformational-power-of-yet