Natural Ways to Relieve Your Anxiety
With advancements in medications and a growing acceptance in society towards mental health, it may seem as though we are indeed making strides at overcoming many of these conditions. However, the true question to ask is are we actually conquering some of these conditions or are we just learning to mask the symptoms without discovering the source of the issue?
My Experience
In January of 2010, I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks. I can still to this day remember vividly those lowest points of my life—shaky hands, sweaty palms, gasping for air, and my mind hastily sifting through reasons that might explain what I was feeling within those moments. I never thought I would go through something like that, nor did I think it was possible to feel so helpless to my own body and mind. It was not until I decided to seek help from a psychologist that I saw light at the end of what seemed like an endless journey to recovery.
She taught me many ways to overcome what I was going through and talked me through parts of my life that seemed to contribute to the source. Even so, while much of the information eventually became part of a distant memory, she gave me one piece of advice that I will always remember:
“I could refer you to someone who can prescribe something for your anxiety, but the only thing that is going to do is conceal your symptoms. You will always have anxiety if you take the medication, but if you want to overcome some of these fears, you must face them head on and learn to push through them.”
My Anxiety Today
Now, I would be lying to you if I said the techniques I used throughout the past 9 years helped me reach a point where I no longer struggle with my anxiety. However, I can say that I now am able to live a life where I am no longer fearful of how I might feel in certain situations—that I live most days to their fullest and work through my anxiety quickly when it arises on occasion. With that being said, here are a list of things I find most helpful for me when I have anxiety:
Journaling
One of the biggest saving grace’s throughout my journey with anxiety was learning to rationalize my thoughts on paper. During moments when I begin to feel anxious, I try to find a pen and paper or write down my thoughts on my phone notepad. On one side of the list, I write down my current fears and on the other side I rationalize through them. For example, sometimes I have a fear of open spaces, such as long beaches. For that journal entry, I rationalize through it by writing “millions of people go to the beach and nothing happens to them”. By doing this, I can visually see my irrational thoughts and the ways that they are indeed nothing but illogical. I also find this technique to be very therapeutic as the thoughts are now on paper and no longer just in my mind.
Acupressure
This is something I recently discovered and one in which I tend to see immediate results. Similar to acupuncture, this technique utilizes pressure points via finger pressure to manipulate the energy (Qi) that flows through energy pathways inside of our bodies. These pathways, also known as meridians, are well-known within traditional Chinese medicine. Two points that are especially helpful are below:
Pericardium 6 – P6
Location: center of inside of forearm, 2 ½ inches from wrist crease
How to: using the index finger, apply pressure for 1 minute and breathe in through your nose (accupressurepoints.net).
Heart 7- H7
Location: crease of wrist on the little finger side of the forearm
How To: using the middle finger, apply pressure to this point for 1 minute and breathe deeply (modernreflexology.com)
Breathing Exercises
Before there were apps on meditation, attending a regular yoga class helped me in those moments of panic tremendously. While the exercise and stretching was good for my health, I still find that the proper breathing techniques I learned during these classes can help me at any point. In fact, it helped slow my heart rate back to normal and had the ability to bring a sense of calmness to my body. I think this is particularly beneficial for anxiety because it shifts your attention away from your racing thoughts and focuses it on your breath.
Despite these great benefits of yoga, it might not always be possible for us to run to a yoga class any time we have these feelings. In these moments, I find it valuable to use an app on guided meditation. Typically, these aps walk you through the breathing exercise or tell you a story to help you focus on something other than your anxiety. These aps are particularly helpful.
Keeping Your Health in Check
One of the most helpful things I learned while working at a family practice was learning the role that underlying health conditions play in developing anxiety. Due to this, having routine blood work and ensuring that you are engaging in enough cardiovascular activities during your week is crucial. For example, what many people may not know is having conditions such as hypothyroidism and hypo-magnesium may induce anxiety. For me personally, I struggle with having hypoglycemia and I have started to notice that any time my sugar begins to drop my typical anxiety symptoms begin to occur tenfold. If you discover that you may have one of these conditions, no need to panic. There are a number of ways to easily correct such issues.
The Takeaway
Overall, I hope that if you are reading this article thinking you will never be able to overcome your anxiety and you’re feeling helpless to your own mind and body, don’t. Know there are ways to overcome your fears and that you are certainly not alone in your struggle. Most importantly, understand that you are not what happens to you, you are what you choose to become just like the great Carl Jung stated.
