Thriving With Anxiety & Stress

Anxiety, much like stress, is a normal part of life.  We need it for our survival.  In a positive light, anxiety inspires a “good first impression”, gets the job done, and gives us the confidence to ask for a promotion. Anxiety improves the quality of our lives.  But when it’s chronic, it’s debilitating.  When feelings of worry or fear become the lens through which we experience life, interfering with our daily activities, it’s time to find solutions and rebalance the body/mind relationship.  Over time our cortisol production runs out of control, compromising our health and for those with PTSD, anxiety is a symptom that feeds the deeper problem.

Symptoms include stress that's out of proportion, inability to manage worry, and restlessness.  

From a yogic perspective, we have the analogy of two arrows. The first arrow hits and causes pain.  Fact.  The second arrow is when we replay the story over and over.  We imagine what the “arrow” means and we perpetuate the suffering, but that is not real pain.  It’s self-inflicted, consisting of the thought patterns that focus on the story we tell ourselves about the incident.  Pain is acute, anxiety and suffering are chronic but there are answers.

Simple Solutions 

1.     Phone a friend.  When our anxiety-ridden minds says “you are the only one feeling this way”, recognize the self-imposed isolation and instead of buying into the story, call someone.  When we talk it out, we feel better.  We begin to look at the cause of our anxiety and realize that the problem isn’t as big as we imagined.  When you are afraid of the dark, just turn on the light.    

2.     Lavender Essential Oil.  Long held as a favorite scent in Aromatherapy, lavender is widely known for its calming and relaxing properties.  

Aromatherapy Use:  Place a few drops of in the palm of your hands and rub them briskly together, warming the oil, releasing its scent.  Bring your palms to your face and take a series of long, slow, deep breaths.  Lavender essential oil has shown to have a soothing and calming effect on the Autonomic Nervous System.  

Topical Use:  Blend two drops of lavender into a small amount of coconut oil and apply to the temples and back of the neck or rub onto the bottoms of the feet before bed.  If you have pets who like to lick your toes, rub the lavender on your tummy instead. Lavender helps you to not only fall asleep but stay asleep.  

3.     Breathe.  “The mind that creates the problem will not be the mind that solves the problem” - Einstein. When in the midst of a panic attack, shift your focus from the problem in front of you to your breath. Concentrating on full, deep inhalations and exhalations, is calming to the body and soothing to the mind.

4.     Contemplate. Use your anxiety to inspire growth and self-improvement. Go to the root cause of the anxiety. There is always a deeper seed that your emotions are watering. Embrace the discomfort and turn on the light.

5.     Meditation.  A regular practice not only balances the body, strengthening the immune system and changes the relationship we have with our thoughts. Eventually we response to life, no longer dominated by the historic reactive patterns that at one time occupied the driver’s seat.

*The information contained in this article is not intended to replace a diagnosis made by your health care provider.