Techniques to control anxiety

Whether it is an anxiety disorder or simply what you feel before a major event in your life, certain practices can help you find immediate, even deep and ongoing relief from this affliction.

Anxiety is a condition that encompasses a spectrum of meanings. It can be mistaken for a rush to complete a daily to-do list, a debilitating condition involving panic and acute worry, or as an offshoot of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

Anxiety is not the same as fear, but they are often used interchangeably. Anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response focused on a diffuse threat, while fear is a present-oriented, short-lived response to a clearly identifiable and specific threat.

There are various levels of anxiety and in severe cases, only medical treatment that includes prescription medication can help find calm and balance. 

What I propose here are strategies to confront anxiety, techniques and some natural supplements to recover.

 

Most common symptoms of anxiety

Signs and symptoms that may indicate you are suffering from anxiety include,

• Feeling nervous, restless or tense
• Feeling of impending danger, panic, or doom.
• Increased heart rate
• Rapid breathing (hyperventilation)
• Sweat
• Tremors
• Feeling weak or tired
• Difficulty concentrating or thinking about anything other than the current concern
• Difficulty sleeping
• Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
• Difficulty controlling worry.
• Need to avoid things that trigger anxiety.

 

How to deal with anxiety

Step 1: Accept anxiety

Those who are sensitive to this feeling know that no matter how much you try to avoid it, anxiety comes on overwhelmingly. So instead of resisting or denying this emotion, why not embrace it?

Perhaps the first action to take in dealing with anxiety is to ask yourself: What is this feeling trying to teach me right now?

This question alone can make us reflect on the situations that provoke this feeling and change the perspective that anxiety is something “bad” that we must free ourselves from. When we see anxiety as a teacher, it opens up possibilities for growth in areas that we have not previously explored. We often avoid something because we do not control it or we feel insecure. When we remember that all the things that happen to us are for our evolution as people, instead of complaining about our situation, we return to the question: what are these circumstances and this feeling trying to teach me?

 

Step 2: Release your anxiety

Anxiety is often the result of repressed emotions that need to be released. Although our society has instructed us to hide feelings and emotions, our bodies need the opposite and will try to manifest repressed energies in the most creative ways. If they are not released in a healthy way, they will do so through anxiety or illness.

Anxiety can often manifest itself as deep sadness or grief, as anger, fear, and more. This will not change until we give it a chance to surface, by being honest with ourselves, taking the time to sincerely ask ourselves what we feel and why.

 

Techniques

In addition to questioning ourselves about what anxiety is teaching us and the understanding that, in some way, allows us to reconnect with ourselves, there are other ways that help us discover and release some of the repressed emotions that are causing that anxiety.

 

Yoga

Sometimes during yoga practice, a spontaneous release of emotions is noticed (for example, students who hold a hip-opening posture for a certain period of time start crying). This is a natural way of releasing repressed emotions.

Through a posture or other conscious practice, we can work purposefully to release certain emotions to reduce anxiety and restore harmony to our emotional being.

Postures:

 

1. Savasana (Dead Man Pose). Anxiety often arises from continuous work without balancing it with rest time. With just a few minutes of deep relaxation (like that achieved by practicing Savasana), you can completely change your mental state.

How to: Lie on your back, either on a yoga mat or in bed, and take a moment to relax. It's that simple. If you're having trouble relaxing, you can put on some soft music in the background, or a few drops of lavender essential oil in the diffuser, or even put a pillow over your eyes. You can try the body scan technique or belly breathing if you like, but by all means, take a moment to relax in stillness, without doing anything.

 

2. Balasana (Baby Pose) – Sometimes anxiety can arise from a general feeling of not feeling safe in your surroundings, or even in your own body. Practicing this seed-like pose helps you feel protected and comforted, as well as grounding your energy through the gentle pressure applied to the forehead.

How to: Sit with your shins flat on the mat, knees wider than your rib cage, buttocks resting almost on top of your heels, and big toes touching. Extend your arms out in front of you, but keep your elbows relaxed. Most importantly, let your forehead rest on the mat. (If you can't quite touch the mat, place a folded towel or blanket on top of it until your forehead rests, allowing your neck to relax.) 

Then, begin to inhale slowly, filling your chest and exhaling. Stay like this for 1-3 minutes.

 

3. Matsyasana variation (fish pose variation). Anxiety can manifest itself through feelings of sadness or pain that encourage us to withdraw into ourselves and hide. Relaxing in a posture that can subtly open the heart allows those deep-rooted emotions to slowly come to the surface, helping you to release them in a gentle but effective way.

How to: Start by sitting with your hips facing a pillow or bolster and slowly recline back into it, allowing your arms to hang loosely at your sides with your palms facing up. Feel free to add a folded blanket to support your head. You can extend your legs or bend them into a butterfly pose. 

Once you feel relief, let your eyes close and try to rest on the support for 5-10 minutes. Let any emotions come out and be grateful for them, after all, they are no longer hiding. Tears are always a positive sign that healing is taking place.

 

Wim Hof ​​Method

This method, which comprises three pillars: breath retention, cold showers, and a commitment to consistency with yourself, has proven to be a very effective strategy for the way we Westerners can approach a compendium of everything that meditation encompasses.

Breathing according to the Wim Hof ​​method:

• Lie down or assume a relaxed posture.
• Take 30 deep breaths in and out (this may make you a little drunk and make your head spin, but that's fine), inhaling as much as you can, but not exhaling completely, without pausing between inhalations.
• After 30 or 40 deep breaths, exhale and hold your breath for as long as you can while remaining calm (you'll be surprised how long you can hold your breath).
• When you can't take it anymore, take a deep breath and hold it for 15 seconds. Then exhale and repeat the entire cycle again 3-10 times.

For showers, it is recommended to take your normal shower and at the end bathe with very cold water starting with 5 seconds and each day doing 5 second increments.

 

Sauna

There is compelling evidence that psychosocial factors such as stress, depression and anxiety are strongly implicated in the development of psychotic disorders.

Sauna bathing, an activity linked to relaxation and well-being, which is commonly used and readily available especially in Nordic countries, has been linked to numerous health benefits including improvement of pain and symptoms associated with musculoskeletal diseases, treatment of chronic headaches and reduction of the risk of respiratory diseases, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke and mortality.

This study , along with others, has shown that other passive heat therapies, such as Waon therapy, infrared saunas, and whole-body hyperthermia, relieve stress and improve symptoms of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety.

The sauna sends richly oxygenated blood to the brain to improve cognitive functions. It also allows time and space to quiet the mind and relax, which helps calm anxiety and stabilize mood.

The how: To the extent that you have access and are able, a frequency of 4-15 times per month will allow you to receive all the benefits that this practice can provide.

 

Supplements

Ashwagandha

It's my number 1 recommendation.  Although its effects begin to be felt after 8 weeks of supplementation, it is a wonderful adaptogen that allows you to better manage stress and anxiety.

Vitamin D3

Studies show that vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is particularly common in people with mental health problems, including anxiety disorders.

Additionally, research suggests that taking high doses of vitamin D may be effective in reducing the severity of anxiety symptoms in people with anxiety disorders.

A 2020 study of 106 people with depression found that treatment with 1,600 IU of vitamin D daily for 6 months produced significant improvements in anxiety symptoms, compared to a control group.

 

Essential oils of lavender, chamomile, rosemary and clary sage

Essential oils and aromatherapy stimulate the sense of smell. Nerves in the nose send signals to the brain, triggering the release of chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine.

Serotonin is a brain chemical that modulates mood and can help you feel calm and happy when released. Dopamine is another brain messenger that is involved in the psychological reward system and can enhance positive feelings. Essential oils can improve mood by enhancing the release of serotonin and dopamine.

The effects of essential oils are temporary. Therefore, they should be part of a complementary protocol to one of the techniques mentioned above.

Warning

There are potential side effects and even dangers of taking anxiety supplements for the following people:

• People taking certain medications that may interfere or interact with certain supplements.
• People with other mental or medical conditions, where supplementation may worsen existing stress- and anxiety-induced symptoms or cause new symptoms.
• People with severe anxiety who need immediate medical attention.
• Pregnant or breast-feeding people (unless they consult a doctor first).