If you’re a busy woman of faith who wants to become calmer and more productive, you, my friend, are in the right place.

Before I discovered the importance of being part of a great community, I struggled with finding ways to manage situations that caused anxiety and stress.

What exactly is a community? I’m so glad you asked.

A community is a group of people who have a shared identity or story and feel safe coming together to achieve a particular purpose or goal.

So communities need to have, at the very least:

• Members

• Shared goals or purposes

• A feeling of safety for its members

I have always been a bit of a loner. I was the one who would volunteer to work alone if there was an odd person out for an activity.

At a social event don’t look for me where the crowd was. Check a corner or an empty couch and you’d find me reading or thrashing an online opponent in a word game.

And I thought that I was doing great in life because I was successful at what I put my mind to. But do you know what I wasn’t so successful at? Fitting in with different groups of people and learning how to manage my stress levels.

I struggled to connect with others. I was in ‘groups’ but didn’t always feel safe to share my thoughts or ideas. At times I didn’t always feel that we shared the same goals.

What was missing? Community.

When I realised how many other people were also struggling with building a safe community to feel connected to, I knew I had to find a way to help myself – and them.

Now, instead of getting frustrated and anxious about the many disappointments and hardships of life, we share difficult situations, listen to each other, offer advice, give tips on making life easier and just generally have a great time together.

If you want to reduce your stress levels, becoming part of a community can help you, too.

Here are 3 reasons why you need to join a community and learn to connect with other people.

1. You Improve Your Mental and Physical Health

It’s easy to get lost by everything life throws at us, isn’t it? And very often, people who are lost feel alone.

But life doesn’t have to derail you when you’re part of a great community.

When we join a community we have a sense of belonging which causes us to improve our mental health.

Then we can focus on the important things in life and have clearer thoughts to help us when we face difficulties.

Here’s a personal example:

I was an elementary school teacher for over 15 years. I thought that completing my B.A. in Linguistics with Spanish was the hardest thing I had studied. But the workload for my Education Diploma? Boy, that was tough!

I found myself up at all hours of the early morning writing lesson plans, completing assignments and trying to keep up with the gruelling one year program. It was intense.

As a result of my schedule I stopped hanging out with the people I did have in my community. I was always too busy. Too caught up. Too anxious and stressed.

I actually ended up being ill. The doctor said I had high blood pressure and prescribed medication. I took it for 3 nights.

Each night I went to bed earlier than the previous night, fell into a sleep that felt like a dark abyss and woke up later.

On the third night I took my meds around 9 p.m. and did not wake up until 1 p.m. the following afternoon. At that point I knew I had to do something different because I was afraid I would go to sleep one night and never wake up again.

So I stopped taking the pills. Do you know what else I did? I started hanging out with my tribe again.

I'm not telling you to ditch any meds you may be on. Not in the least.

Always consult your doctor about any changes you wish to make to your meds.

I did what felt right for me in my situation.

And the most amazing things happened. While laughing, talking and joking with my friends all of a sudden clarity on how to approach an assignment hit me.

Just. Like. That!

Ideas for lesson plans came from the conversations we were having or from a random, passing comment.

My blood pressure also went down.

My tutor actually commented on my demeanour and said I looked so laid back compared to other students he had observed going through the same programme.

Community doesn’t take away from your busy schedule. It can enhance it and help with anxiety and physical health.

2. Community Promotes Creativity

An anxious mind does not have space to be creative. There are so many things we can achieve if only our creative juices were flowing a little more. Or at all.

But if we’re so bogged down by our problems we may not find the easiest solution which might be staring us right in the face.

Hanging out with our tribe can help with this. When we are with our community we learn about new things that can help us.

We can also learn different ways of doing an old thing which makes life easier. This really helps our stress levels.

I grew up in a Methodist Church back in my homeland, Barbados. We sang from a

hymn book during services. Sometimes I didn’t always feel like taking my hymnal. Or I forgot it and had to borrow one from the church.

In my late teens into early twenties I joined a Gospel band where I played the bass guitar. We started visiting other churches and singing at different events all across Barbados.

Imagine my surprise to see churches using projectors. Now I knew about projectors because we used them at school.

But because I was amongst a church community that didn’t use them, it never occurred to me that they could be used in places other than at work.

I was President of my Youth Group at the time. We decided as a Leadership team that we would work on getting the church a projector.

We knew that we would have opposition from some of the older members so we had to be careful how we broached the subject.

We could have said that it was cutting edge and the way forward. Or that other churches were using it. But that wouldn’t move the people who needed to be moved.

So what did I tell them?

That older members who couldn’t see well would be able to read the lyrics easily from a large screen on the wall.

And even though it was met with opposition and red tape drama, most of the other congregants loved the idea.

I announced our initiative and before I left the podium that Sunday, an older lady put $50 in my hand to support the cause.

In no time we had the money raised, the projector bought, installed and in use.

This situation teaches us that...

3. Community Increases Our Network and Resources

One of the best ways to increase your network and growth is to join a community.

Yes, communities have shared goals and purposes. But the members are so different.

Take a look at the groups of people you interact with often. Your family members, church members, workmates, gym buddies, reading club.

No matter the group they will have different jobs, interests or hobbies.

And invariably they are connected to someone you don’t know who could help you solve a problem, answer a question or make a connection with.

Did you know that sometimes feelings of anxiety and stress come from feeling stuck? People feel stuck in their jobs, or at home doing the same routines day in and day out.

Learning how to connect with people can establish you professionally, help you meet personal goals and reduce your anxiety.

Here’s what I mean.

My husband and I are musicians and singers. We lead worship at churches and different events whenever we get the chance.

We joined a community of worshipers that meets once a month to do combined worship and prophetic prayer. How did we find them?

The organiser is friends with our bass guitarist at church. And through him we made a connection with the Principal of Thrive Academy Atl.

We volunteered our time to lead a worship session once a week with those kids. We sang songs, read the Word, prayed with and over them and took communion together.

At first the kids seemed unsure and distant. But they warmed up to us.

My hubby, Brian, played basketball with them most days we visited.

Soon enough they talked to us, laughed and joked with us.

They even prayed for us at the end of the first outdoor session we had when Spring began. That was so heartwarming.

If we look at all the people we met through that school connection and work backwards it started with us being part of our church community. From there we branched out to meet new, interesting people and make new connections.

If you’re unsure where to start, and you’re part of a church already, find a community group that you think you might enjoy.

Talk to at least one new person when you go and find out something about them. That could be the start of a beautiful and long lasting connection.

Maybe you don’t have your own church. No worries there.

Visit a local church in your community and find out what they are all about, what they believe and the ministries that they have.

Attend a Connection Class if they have one so that you can learn what to do next. You will find at least one person who can guide you into a community that’s just right for you.

And there you have it; 3 ways that community can help you reduce your stress levels:

• By improving your mental and physical health.

• By promoting creativity.

• By growing your network and resources.

When we connect with people we feel safe with, and who have shared goals and stories with us, positive and powerful results are inevitable.

Want some fun ways to build the bonds in your community? Make sure you check out these great faith building resources.