Joy is your birthright, but a feeling of stress can stand between you and your joy. It might feel that stress is simply a natural part of your life. Sometimes it can seem that stress validates you: if you are feeling stressed you know you exist, and it makes what you are doing feel more important.
If you are feeling stressed, pause and remind yourself that you are deeply loved. Think of love as a medium that surrounds you and permeates your being. Then turn your attention to time. Remind yourself that you are an eternal being; you have time to do everything.
Now consider your energy field. When you are stressed your energy field gathers into denser patches. These patches make it difficult for your energy to flow freely; you feel constrained, you doubt your ability or you feel isolated. If this happens, pause and notice the flow of your breath. As you do so, allow your breath to become fuller and let your energy field expand. Give yourself more time and more space.
Finally, turn to your heart center. Even if only briefly, journey into your heart center as if you were journeying into the most beautiful place you can imagine. Enter your heart center as you might enter a temple and witness there a light that is both vivid and still. This is the light of your divine self.
Ask your divine self to bring its love and its light into this moment. Give yourself time to receive this light and love flowing into your life like a soothing balm.