4-Week Stress and Anxiety Release Workshop (includes workbook)

A 4-week workshop with practical tools to release stress and anxiety, calm your mind and body & build greater resilience for everyday life. Stress & Anxiety Release Workshop A 4-Week Journey from Overwhelmed to Regulated Wednesdays | 5:30 PM–7:30 PM October 21 & 28 and November 4 & 11, 2026 Stress and anxiety are part of being human—but when your mind rarely shuts off, your body stays tense, or you constantly feel like you're preparing for the next problem, they can begin taking up far too much space in your life. This four-week interactive workshop is designed to help you better understand your own stress and anxiety patterns and, more importantly, learn what to do when they show up. You'll learn practical tools to calm your mind and body, release built-up tension, interrupt anxious thought patterns, reduce unnecessary stress, and strengthen your ability to recover when life feels overwhelming. This isn't about telling yourself to "just relax" or trying to eliminate every uncomfortable feeling. Each two-hour session combines education, self-reflection, guided exercises, stress and anxiety release techniques, and practical strategies you can use in everyday life. The goal isn't to never feel stressed or anxious again. The goal is to become more confident in your ability to recognize what is happening, regulate yourself, respond differently, and return to a calmer state more quickly. Week 1 — RECOGNIZE Wednesday, October 21 | 5:30–7:30 PM You can't change a pattern you don't recognize. During Week 1, you'll learn how stress and anxiety can affect your mind and body and begin identifying your own personal patterns. We'll explore triggers, physical sensations, racing or repetitive thoughts, emotional reactions, and behaviors that can signal rising stress or anxiety before they become overwhelming. You'll begin developing greater awareness of your early warning signs and learn a simple reset technique to interrupt automatic reactions and respond more intentionally. Week 2 — RELEASE Wednesday, October 28 | 5:30–7:30 PM Sometimes trying harder to think your way out of anxiety only gives your mind more to think about. During Week 2, we'll focus on helping the body and mind move out of a heightened state. You'll experience breathing techniques, grounding practices, muscle relaxation, movement, sensory strategies, and other practical tools for releasing tension and settling an anxious mind. You'll also create your own Stress & Anxiety Release Menu with strategies you can turn to when you have one minute, ten minutes, or more time available. Week 3 — REBUILD Wednesday, November 4 | 5:30–7:30 PM Sometimes the stressful event ends, but our mind keeps it going. During Week 3, we'll examine patterns that can unintentionally feed stress and anxiety—including overthinking, catastrophizing, repeatedly seeking certainty, negative predictions, perfectionism, overcommitment, poor boundaries, constant availability, digital overload, and stressful self-talk. You'll learn how to separate facts from assumptions and predictions, challenge unnecessary mental pressure, and practice responding to anxious thoughts without automatically following them down the rabbit hole. Week 4 — MAINTAIN Wednesday, November 11 | 5:30–7:30 PM Managing stress and anxiety isn't about staying calm every minute of every day. It's about trusting yourself to know what to do when you're not. During our final week, you'll bring everything together and create your own personalized Stress & Anxiety Release Plan. We'll identify what tends to fill your "stress bucket," what helps empty it, and which everyday habits can help you build greater emotional resilience. You'll leave knowing your early warning signs, your most effective calming and release tools, the patterns you want to change, and what to do when stress or anxiety begins climbing again. What You'll Walk Away With By the end of the four weeks, you'll have a better understanding of how stress and anxiety operate in your own life, practical tools for calming your mind and body, strategies for interrupting overthinking and anxious patterns, healthier ways of responding to stressful situations, and a personalized plan you can continue using long after the workshop ends. Plus you will receive a workbook to continue your journey of releasing anxiety and stress. Stress and anxiety will happen. The goal isn't to fear them or fight them—it is to become more skilled at what you do next. Joanne Cipressi, CHt, CNLP 267-266-6480