What is worrying about on a spiritual level? Worrying, anxiety, nervous- ness, and insecurity are all obstacles to bliss. The more we understand for ourselves that the Universe , Mother Father God, Spirit will take care of us, the more worrying literally disappears. When we understand that we are what we think, we create our own reality, and we are literal projections of our own consciousness, it becomes apparent that worrying is destructive. It is essential to take each moment as it comes, to experience it fully, then to release it completely so that we can just as fully experience the next. There is a story commonly told in India about a businessman from Bombay who had a very important meeting to go to in Madras. He had a minor family emergency which delayed him from leaving on time and, despite a mad taxi rush to the airport, he missed his flight. He cursed and paced and convinced himself that his business career was over, booking himself on the next flight which was four hours later. He discovered the following day that that original flight had engine problems and crashed. His family problems had saved his life. We absolutely never know what's in store for us. We may perceive a delay or a change in plans as tragic, worrying every moment about the consequences, only to find it's the best thing that could have possibly happened to us. We never know when we will take our last breath, so why not relax and make the most of the precious time we do have?

If we think about it, everything in a life is a potential risk or adventure. When we incarnate, we choose to face those situations which will bring to us just those lessons with just those people that we need for our own evolution. The more we can release our preoccupations about what could go wrong and force ourselves to willingly risk, the more quickly we can move on with our growth. As the title of Barry and Vissell's new book teaches us, we must Risk to Be Healed.

The spiritual lesson of worry is to surrender, to "Let go and let God" as Parama- hansa Yogananda used to instruct. We can observe that the great spiritual masters project their powerful, divine thoughts, affirm the highest good of all, and then they let go and have fun, trusting that everything will work out for the best and that their worry will only create unnecessary complications.

You mean I can really give up worrying? Where do I sign up? Yes, you can and you can sign up right now by reading on and integrating into your life whichever of the following suggestions sound like they might work for you. l. Cut out anxiety-producing drugs. Eliminate caffeine and excess sugar and alcohol. Why go out of your way to add more tension to your mind and body than you've already got?

2. Learn deep breathing. There is no faster technique that we know of to rapidly go from tension to calmness than a few seconds or minutes of slow, deep or alternate nostril breathing. It actually balances and calms the energy currents of your body.

3. Neurolinguistic programming- NLP teaches you to remember a past situation in which you were able to release worry and everything worked out beautifully. If, each time you begin to obsess about a potentially worrisome situation, you can replace that fear with those good feelings you had in the past when everything resolved itself naturally, your outlook will be much brighter. 4. Affirmations- Use an affirmation such as "I _________(your name) release worry and fear and surrender this situation to my highest good here and now. The Universe is taking care of me in every moment." 5. Visualization- Close your eyes for a moment and think of a scene which is extremely peaceful and relaxing for you, perhaps a calming and soothing nature setting. Imagine yourself in that scene, relaxed, and serene. Whenever you find yourself tense and worried, gently but firmly draw your mind back to that calming scene. 6. Homeopathy- For people whose chronic worrying tendencies really interfere with their lives, we've seen wonderful results from using homeopathic remedies. Regardless of whether your worry manifests as insomnia, overconcern with order and details, heart palpitations, or abdominal cramping from stress, homeopathy may provide long-term relief. 7. Talking about it- For some people, just talking about their worry and anxiety with an experienced therapist can defuse it and put it into perspective for them. 8. Hypnotherapy -Sometimes returning to the root of the deep-seated worry, releasing the fear, replaying the event(s) in a more positive way, and doing positive reprogramming can be very helpful. 9. What's the worst that could happen?- This is a well-known stress management technique for coping with the unknown future. Most of us feel better once we acknowledge our worst fears and realize that we could survive even the most negative outcome. By comparison, the actual circumstances usually don't seem so bad. 9. Creating safety-Think about what it would take for you to feel completely and totally safe and protected so that you didn't need to worry about anything. Imagine this scene in full detail and experience what it would feel like in your body, in your mind, in your heart. Allow this profound feeling of safety to permeate your whole being so that you know that deep down everything is always just fine. You can access this inner safety