The Unique Way Stress Affects You Most, According To Your Zodiac Sign
So stressed out.
pexels I am probably the least helpful person when it comes to helping others figure out how to get rid of stress.
Like, so bad that I’ve tried getting a massage just to relax and get some of the tension out of my body.
I was immediately told by the masseuse that I had so much stress in my body that I needed to try harder to relax… which only made me stress out even more.
Have you ever been so stressed that your stress has stress? It’s not a great feeling, I can tell you that much. So, needless to say, I am not very good at de-stressing.
I mean, I can certainly try to make you feel better by giving you some tips, but as for following through with my own advice? Nope, not happening. There’s just something about actually having to combat stress that my brain won’t allow. Of course, doing hot yoga does help… for about two hours.
Maybe there’s something to sweating so much for a whole hour until you’re worried you’re gonna slip and slide right out of the yoga studio that beats stress.
Getting rid of toxins and really letting yourself calm down, you know?
Of course, hot yoga isn’t going to work for everyone, but even you’d rather just ignore your stress and hope it takes the hint and goes away, you probably have a trick up your sleeve that helps you slow that pulse down and relax you when you’re feeling uber stressed out.
You might like venting to your BFF, meditating, snapping rubber bands, or listening to nice sounds, but if you have something in your arsenal that helps you de-stress and unwind, keep it close because it’s always a good idea to have a quick fix in your back pocket — especially during those especially stressful times.
Unfortunately, stress can also affect us all in different ways — and not in a good way. I’ve dealt with everything from aches and pains to hives and acne thanks to my ol’ friend, stress. NOT fun.
And based on your horoscope, what stresses you out most (and how stress can affect your zodiac sign) is most likely unique to you, according to astrology.
This article won’t necessarily help you stop being so stressed out.
But if you know the signs of stress and what your zodiac sign is most likely to get stressed out about, you can start taking direct action… or you can always put on a face mask and listen to some calming music instead.
Keep reading to find out the unique way stress affects you, based on your zodiac sign, according to astrology.
ARIES (March 21 - April 19)
Aries, your stress comes from trying to be a superhero. You so badly want to be everything to everyone that you forget about yourself. And even when you have to make sacrifices and give up things you want to do in order to take care of others, you keep your chin up and power through it all.
While it’s admirable that you want to be the first one people think to call on, it’s wearing you thin. Exhaustion is how you know you’re feeling stressed. The exhaustion you feel at the end of the day is not satisfaction of a job well done…
Well, most of the time it is. But in reality, it’s your body letting you know that the stress of not being able to make time for everyone else plus yourself is getting to you. And unless you let yourself rest — emotionally and physically — this tiredness will never go away.
TAURUS (April 20 - May 20)
Taurus, if you want to get honest and put it simply: the fear of failure is what gives you stress. Not failing. Not worrying that if you succeed that you’ll have to take on more responsibility.
Just the fear of failing gets you worked up. Of course, failure is inevitable at least a few times throughout life, right?
But even if you take your time so as not to fail — and end up failing anyway — you beat yourself up over it. When you’re stressed, you most likely feel tension in your neck and shoulders.
This is because you’re constantly trying to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders without letting up. Failing is a part of living; sometimes it’s necessary.
Learn to use failure as a growing experience, not beat yourself up over it, and push your limits to see what you can achieve through stress — not in spite of it.
GEMINI (May 21 - June 20)
Gemini, your stress comes from the made-up scenarios you play out in your head. When something bothers you, you have a habit of taking to social media and ignoring the fact that it’s always better to confront your problems, rather than hide them away.
But just because you think you feel better mindlessly scrolling through Twitter and Instagram, you’re really just giving your mind a chance to wander.
These scenarios you make up in your head stress you out because your imagination always runs wilder than what’s really happening IRL.
Chances are, facing your problems head-on won’t be as crazy as you think, so practice venting and living in the present (instead of in your head).
If you don’t, you’ll feel the stress build up as a lump in your throat — a sign that there are important things you’re leaving unsaid.
CANCER (June 21 - July 22)
Cancer, when you’re off your game and feeling seriously insecure, it gives you stress – and lots of it.
You’re usually pretty confident about your emotions and aren’t afraid to embrace them all — good and bad — but when you’re having an off day, it can make you want to pack your feelings away and not feel anything at all.
Sometimes, the best thing for us to do when we’re feeling especially down on ourselves is to prove that stress can be constructive, instead of only there to break us.
For you especially, your insecurities might feel crippling at times, but we all have them — there’s nothing to get stressed over.
Until you convince yourself of that, you will physically see stress during these times, usually through acne breakouts, rashes or hives, or sallow skin.
LEO (July 23 - August 22)
Leo, when you’re stressed, it’s usually during times when you don’t feel like you’re in control.
You’re not the kind of person to sit back and let things happen in your life without at least trying to have a say in what’s going on, but not having a say at all doesn’t sit well with you.
It makes you feel delusional and a little bit crazy because you’re used to calling the shots and doing things your own way.
When you’re stressed and feeling stuck like this, it’s almost as if you’re locked away and watching your life through someone else’s eyes.
You don’t necessarily need to be in control of other people, but when it comes to your own life, you need to be in charge.
When you’re not, stress can lead to racing thoughts and a feeling of helplessness; so much so that it can be hard to center yourself again and regain control. Breathe, you got this.
VIRGO (August 23 - September 22)
Virgo, anytime you’re feeling disorganized and out of control, you get seriously stressed.
True, there are times when you do actually love being busy and a little overwhelmed with your to-do list, but that’s only when you know that you’re prepared to get it all done.
When you let yourself get into the mindset that things aren’t getting done quick enough for your liking that’s when stress sets in.
You can be your own taskmaster sometimes and that’s never a good way to combat stress.
You also tend to overthink things a lot and can be far too critical of yourself to actually learn to let stress go. Did you know that you can be your own source of stress?
It’s true! When you punish yourself for getting stressed, it only makes it worse.
You know your stress is bad when you stop caring about finding control and balance again, and keep making yourself feel bad for getting overwhelmed instead.
LIBRA (September 23 - October 22)
Libra, you’re pretty confident in yourself, but there are times when people know just which buttons to press to make you lose it.
When you’re most stressed, it’s because you’ve been treated unfairly by someone else and you’re now second-guessing your confidence and yourself.
What stresses you out even more during these times is not knowing whether to confront someone when they disrespect you. Is it worth your time? Will they even care?
But all the while you’re debating this, you’re actually introducing even more stress into your body.
When you don’t speak up and defend yourself, you’re telling yourself that your needs don’t matter.
You’ll know the stress is getting to you when you start feeling uneasy and unsure of yourself.
Don’t neglect your needs; if you want to say something, say something. If it isn’t worth your time, walk away. Be in control.
SCORPIO (October 23 - November 21)
Scorpio, your biggest stress comes from life itself. When you’re not enjoying life and doing exactly what you want, you immediately close up.
Depending on what it is exactly about life that’s got you so stressed, you can either get more private and secretive, opting to hide what’s really going on, or get tense and nervous, hoping that if you’re careful, you can sneak around what’s stressing you.
You have a lot more emotions – and much bigger emotions — than people realize, so when you’re stressed, these emotions tend to get amplified.
That means that when you’re stressed, you’re probably showing it a lot more than other signs, no matter how hard you try to hide it.
When you’re feeling snippy and more closed off than usual, that’s when you know your stress is bad.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22 - December 21)
Sagittarius, sitting still and not being able to break out of the mold makes you stress.
You don’t like conforming to society and you’re not one to let life control you, instead of the other way around, and you’ll get major stress if you can’t be yourself.
You need excitement and the opportunity to see big things on your horizon for you to feel totally at ease.
When things get boring and stagnant in your life, you feel constricted. This constricted feelings leads to a lot of stress and sometimes even a claustrophobic feeling or a tightness in your chest.
This is especially true in times when you can’t always have total control of what you want to do.
Compromising with people and in situations so that you can still make the most out of life is a good place to help you start stretching your wings again.
CAPRICORN (December 22 - January 19)
Capricorn, your stress comes from being too demanding on yourself.
Whether you realize it or not, you’re constantly in your own head, pushing yourself to go far beyond your limits and your conform zone and even further outside of your comfort zone — phew!
You can often be the nagging voice in your own head that tells you that you need to be more and do more.
When you feel like you’re not living up to your potential, that’s when you start demanding more out of yourself. This might have worked in the past, but now all it does is give you unneeded stress.
It’s going to be hard, but you need to learn how to let go and go with the flow every now and then.
Let yourself rest and know that when those major headaches start coming back, that’s all stress and you need to take a break – physically and mentally.
AQUARIUS (January 20 - February 18)
Aquarius, you get stressed when things don’t go your way. It can a little childish, yes, but in reality, you believe that you should be the only one who gets to say how you want to live your life.
And when it doesn’t always go according to your plan, which is inevitably going to happen once or twice, it stresses you out.
When you’re stressed, you immediately become emotionally detached so you don’t have to confront your feelings.
Commitment and relationship are big stressors for you. You want things to go your way, but you also know that you can’t control other people.
Relationships stress you out big time because you’re not really ever sure what you want out of them. When you get this way, you’re either really annoyed or totally numb.
Sometimes even both, but it depends how long you’ve been feeling this stress.
PISCES (February 19 - March 20)
Pisces, while it’s true that you can let yourself feel emotions as they come, exposing your true self can be stressful and letting yourself be vulnerable is hard.
For you, it’s much easier to let yourself feel the things you want to feel when you’re on your own and you don’t have to do anything else besides let your thoughts and emotions come and go.
For you, being active is the best way to combat stress. It’s easy to be passive or to convince yourself that you’re rocking the boat whenever you want to stand up for yourself and vocalize your needs, but don’t be shy.
You won’t rock the boat at all and you might even be able to find your balance — a balance between being confident in who you truly are and what you want to share with others.
When you’re stressed, you feel it mostly through nausea or a loss of appetite.
This is your body telling you that it knows you’re going against your gut; against what you feel is right.
Emily Ratay is a full-time writer living in Pittsburgh. She's passionate about the environment and feminism, and knows that anything is possible in the right pair of shoes. She plans on writing a non-fiction book in the future.