It’s been a long time since I’ve had a real strong anxiety attack. I can track it down to my previous business attempts. Businesses I tried before I started doing henna.

There was nothing wrong with those business ideas. They were simply not meant for me. 

Two years ago I decided to let go. I remember it so well. I remember a call I had with my business coach for the time. She was certain I was doing great and had a great future in the area. I felt repelled by the whole idea. I realized that just because some people, highly respectable people in the area, think I have all I need to be successful doesn’t really mean it is my way to go.

I cancelled a workshop that had more than 115 people signed up for. I was supposed to teach them how to be unstoppable. That day I cut off my hair and cut off all ties with that business. I do not recommend you do the same. It was something I needed to do. I needed to hear my own voice through all this noise that was seeping through every crack.

Two months later I picked up my very first henna cone and never looked back.

Henna requires top notch concentration.

I have a lot going on. Just like any mom I have a lot to worry about. Have you ever seen this meme about what’s required from a mother in the 21st century? 

“How To Be A Mom in 2017: Make sure your children’s academic, emotional, psychological, mental, spiritual, physical, nutritional, and social needs are met while being careful not to overstimulate, understimulate, improperly medicate, helicopter, or neglect them in a screen-free, processed foods-free, GMO-free, negative energy-free, plastic-free, body positive, socially conscious, egalitarian but also authoritative, nurturing but fostering of independence, gentle but not overly permissive, pesticide-free two-story, multilingual home preferably in a cul-de-sac with a backyard and 1.5 siblings spaced at least two year apart for proper development also don’t forget the coconut oil.

How To Be A Mom In Literally Every Generation Before Ours: Feed them sometimes.

(This is why we’re crazy.)” – Bunmi Laditan

When I have a cone of henna on my hand, all of this HAS TO go away. If I break my concentration, my lines become crooked and my designs start to show what’s on my mind. It brings so much satisfaction to see the lines build and create a cohesive, and sometimes not so much, haha, designs!

Henna is monochromatic

Being a perfectionist and artistically inclined creates one big problem for me. Whenever it comes to color, I can spend hours, if not days, deciding which color combinations would work best together. Painting my house, or, rather, choosing the colors for my house, was agonizing. I still have to paint the master bedroom. We’ve lived here for eight years and I can’t decide on a color combo for my own bedroom! 

This is why the monochromatic aspect of henna is so relaxing to me. I can focus on thick and thin lines, spots and contrast and not worry about all of that coloring. My favorite benefit to that? If I do that with a black marker, it automatically becomes a coloring sheet for someone who prefers to color to relax.

What are your favorite ways to reduce stress?