You are likely to feel anxious in unfamiliar or stressful situations; it’s human nature. From first dates to having a baby, from job interviews to health issues, it’s normal to feel that rush of stress hormones every now and again – our anxiety can be used as a tool to remove ourselves from a harmful situation or to look more closely at our experience and triggers.
If those occasional feelings of fear, dread, worry, and upset never seem to go away but instead often worsen over time, you may be one of the 40 million American adults who struggle from an anxiety or panic disorder. You may have trapped energy and unresolved trauma that is preventing your mind, body, and spirit from healthily processing stress. Instead of moving past acute moments of anxiety, your body is now trapped in a chronic state of tension.
Fortunately, even though anxiety is so common, it is also very treatable with non-medication interventions. I offer seven natural strategies to help you heal yourself and a guide to getting help if you need it.
1. Maintain Your Blood Sugar & Gut Biome
Even if you don’t have diabetes, skipping meals or eating too much junk food can result in blood sugar levels dipping. This can make you irritable, jittery, and anxious. Try to have several balanced meals and snacks spread throughout the day, choosing whole organic foods that are high in protein, fiber, healthy fats, and vitamins and minerals. Ideally, eat as little food from a package as possible.
More and more research is showing the connection between the gut microbiome and brain function through the gut-brain axis. By focusing on good digestion and which foods work best with your body, you can quiet the anxiety and improve your body’s ability to repair itself, both emotionally and physically.
2. Avoid Stimulating Substances
When you feel nervous or stressed, you may feel drawn to another cup of coffee or the energy drink you can’t live without. Stimulants such as caffeine, nicotine, certain illegal drugs, and even some over-the-counter and prescription drugs can exacerbate or cause symptoms of anxiety. Use this as an opportunity to discover better coffee alternatives, such as various teas, herbal beverages, Kombucha, hot Ceremonial-grade cacao, or matcha. Say goodbye to jitters and restlessness and hello to grounded peace and quiet.
3. Get Your Beauty Sleep
Getting more sleep is easier said than done when you might be wide away staring at the ceiling from racing sleep. Insufficient or poor-quality sleep can worsen anxiety symptoms. There are several ways to help with anxiety and insomnia such as:
Waking up with the sunrise daily and practicing grounding – this can help activate your natural circadian rhythms and encourage rest during regular hours
Cutting back on caffeine – as previously mentioned this could either directly cause you anxiety or prevent you from sleeping, which leads to anxiety
Turn off screens an hour before bed – this will help calm down your mind and let your eyes prepare for sleep
Implementing a bedtime routine – by creating comforting habits that help us unwind and anticipate sleep, your body can transition to a place of rest
4. Develop a Breathwork Practice
There are countless breathing practices you can learn, so try several different kinds to see what works best for you. Breathwork helps to turn off our ‘fight or flight’ response that is sent into overdrive when we are feeling constant anxiety. Engaging in deep, rhythmic breathing helps activate the vagus nerve, turn on our parasympathetic nervous system, and let the ‘rest and digest’ part of our nervous system take back the wheel. Breathwork can help open our hearts, balance our physiology, and remind us of the infinite power for love, healing, and forgiveness within ourselves.
5. Embody Mindfulness
While meditation is one way to practice mindfulness, you can implement mindfulness into small mundane, routine actions such as cleaning the dishes, cooking dinner, taking care of your skin, and completing work. Every moment has a lesson to teach us if we are paying attention.
By living mindfully in the little moments, we can acknowledge that we are safe or begin to notice ways we can improve our quality of life. We recognize our daily actions as simple patterns, and that awareness allows us to find solutions such as going to bed before 10 pm or choosing tea over coffee. We can start paying attention to the triggers of our anxiety episodes and recognize them as temporary, fleeting moments that we can reach the other side of.
6. Get Your Body Moving
Getting the blood, and therefore the energy, in your body flowing can help break up stagnant spots of tension on both physical and bioenergetic levels. Practices such as Pilates or Yoga are excellent ways to practice breathwork, embody mindfulness, and get your body moving all in one. Staying active can help you sleep better and send natural endorphins to your body, which helps relieve pain and inflammation.
7. Practice Tapping
You can practice incredible energetic work on yourself with the Emotional Freedom Technique, also known as tapping. This technique involves tapping on acupressure meridian points to restore balance to your energy. Before starting, establish a phrase that begins with what you want to address. You can use the format, “Even though I have this [fear or problem], I deeply and completely accept myself.”
By repeating this to yourself and tapping these 12 points, you can signal the brain to relax and realign your energy meridians. In order, tap each of the following points with your fingers 3 times on each side of your body:
Eyebrow
Side of the eye/ temple
Under the eye
Under the nose
Chin
Beginning of the collarbone
Under the arm
See an EPT Therapist at Jolisa Clare Holistic
Sometimes, you need help. And that is perfectly ok- what would be the point of existing as a collective species if we aren’t able to help one another? At Jolisa Clare Holistic, I am so grateful to be able to help other people work through their blockages and overcome challenges.
With Emotional Polarity Technique, you can let go of what is keeping you in a state of worry and upsetting the nervous system. Together, we will find your awareness so you can face and let go of any hardship and move gracefully through future struggles.
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