Things I am stressed about:
* Everyone bothering me about wedding planning crap. We're doing all the Church stuff, I made a website, we have our guest list, we have our Shen party date and planned, we have our location picked out, I have a bridal shower date and it's being planned by my mom and sis, we have the honeymoon planned, I'm going dress shopping in two weeks, I pinned my mood board, I'll start making decorations over the summer, what. the. fuck. else. is. there. to. do. Esp since this is not my first marriage!
* Balancing my day job with craft season.
* Finishing the Experiment (we're on Week 17, believe it or not!) and getting my ducks in a row to write my book, The Arte of Glamour.
* Having enough time to decompress and still do fun things.
* Meeting all my obligations.
* Working on my ritual practice. I want to work on my ritual practice, but it's hard to find the time. That's not exactly true. I'm trying to approach my ritualpractice like a French chick essentially which means I should have a good block of time to devote to it without having to worry about anyone or anything, just luxuating in the time spent.
Things that can help you reduce stress so that you can be more effective magically:
1. Carve more time for yourself. I'm doing this in a few ways - I'm working on not spending time on the internet when I get home and if I do, to only spend an hour (using Stay Focusd) doing so. I'm working on having dinner with Jow with no television so we can be present with each other over dinner, even if it's on the couch. Some of it is also about scheduling and some of it is about aggressively guarding my time to myself. I'm also trying to listen to my instincts - I had thought I had a craft show this weekend but I didn't pay the table somehow. There was room for me and I started to plan to go and then I realized: (a) It's their first year (b) it's a high table cost (c) It's a decent commute and a long day so I decided to cancel. I think it was the right decision because it gives me more time to spin (which are my "big ticket items") for the specialty show focused on fiber arts later in the month and it will give me a good chunk of time to do my ritual practice and decompress. I've also said no to some extra hours at work as well.
2. Mantra. Dr. Oz actually said that mantra'ing when stressed can really help reduce it and when I can remember, it really helps. Om Namah Shivaya.
3. Align your triple souls. This is a Feri practice Jow does that he says really helps. I haven't started yet to be honest. My sticky self is usually at war with my talking self while my god self is on walkabout so I think it's going to take some work for me, but I'm going to try. Thorn Coyle has a good Prayer for Alignment.
4. Magically cleanse your space. You know I'm a stickler for it. It helps.
5. Mind your solar power. RO pointed out that I needed to pay attention to my solar energy. I have bowls of citrine, amber resin and frankincense in the living room and by my head in my bedroom as well as in an offering bowl to Bast. It has made a difference.
Keep calm and carry on. And when in doubt, baby bunnies.