The dictionary.com defines anxiety as “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.” This definition barely approaches the meaning of anxiety and how it touches so many lives. It does not mention feeling paralyzed, not being able to breathe, sleeplessness, challenges with digestion and food that defy diagnosis, strange skin rashes. The physical and mental effects of anxiety is a long list. The one thing that the definition does mention is that anxiety is a feeling. When learning to release anxiety, this is a very important piece of information.

 

Of course, you are thinking, anxiety is a feeling, just like happiness, sadness, joy and jealously. There are many types of feelings, both pleasant and unpleasant. What’s the big deal about anxiety being a feeling?

 

The big deal is this: we often try to take care of unpleasant feelings like anxiety by thinking our way out of them. This can work some of the time, but most of the time it fails miserably. Thinking about anxiety can even make it worse. This is because feelings needs to be felt not thought about. And feeling anxiety can be scary.

 

Breathe deeply and set your determination to learn new ways of taking care of your feelings of anxiety.

 

What is the purpose of anxiety?

Understanding the purpose of anxiety can help stop it from becoming a repetitive, meaningless feeling.

 

Let’s begin by considering the very first prickling of anxiety as a sign that we need to proceed with caution, such as at a yellow light. Feelings of anxiety create alertness in our minds, sensitizes our senses and heightens our awareness of our surroundings. The feeling of anxiety asks us to take extra care, be careful, make sure we are safe to proceed.

 

If we pay attention to anxiety’s initial quiver in our gut, pause, look around and decide whether we want to proceed or stop, feelings of anxiety will abate. This is honouring the purpose of anxiety. Anxiety warns us of possible danger.

 

Unfortunately, we are often encouraged to override the initial moments when anxiety sparks alertness in our minds. Steeling ourselves against the possible danger, we push forward and the anxiety goes quiet.

 

Until enough is enough!

If we continually discount our feelings of anxiety, the message will arrive in another form. This maybe when the physical symptoms of anxiety begin to manifest, or the psychological effects of anxiety begin to impinge upon our overall sense of well-being. Now we need stronger tools to learn to feel the anxiety we have pushed away.

 

Meditation

In Tibetan Buddhism there is a difficult but beautiful practice called Tonglin. In English it is called Giving and Taking. This practice opens up the opportunity for you take care of the feeling anxiety.

How to do it:

Begin by settling your breath. You can do this by placing your awareness

at in your heart centre (in the centre of your chest, just behind the sternum

in front of the spine) and breathing softly.

Once you feel settled, recollect moments of kindness in your day. Simple

moments, like someone opening a door for you or you stopping your car

so someone could cross the street.

When you have collected several moments of kindness image the kindness

becomes a beautiful, peaceful white light in your heart centre

Breathe into and out of the light

Now in front of you, image your anxious self is standing.

Breathe the white light from your heart out to your anxious self.

The white light touches the anxiety, turning it into smoke.  

Breath the smoke into your heart where the smoke transforms into the white light, breath the light again out towards your anxious self and continue until you feel satisfied.

Let your breath find its natural rhythm and when you are ready offer a closing prayer

“Any calm that has come of this practice I share with all who struggle with anxiety”

 

Movement

Anxiety is driven by a neurotransmitter produced in our adrenal glands called adrenaline. There are two ways we can release this neurotransmitter from our body/mind: movement and tears. I dance to release adrenaline and anxiety from my body/mind. My husband runs.

 

The key is when the adrenaline is jumping across synapses in your brain, the movement you choose needs to vigorous. Not long, sustained movement, but short bursts of vigorous movement.

 

Or you can wail. Let the tears flow, the snot run and the anguish of fear go! Dancing is more pleasant for sure, but someone times one needs to wail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Energy Healing

Energy healing can help your body/mind learn new patterns of being. Essentially, anxiety is the result of an amped up parasympathetic nervous system. Energy healing can help you discover the calm feelings produced when the body/mind is in a relaxed state of being or in other words the sympathetic nervous system. Once you have relearned the experience of deep relaxation, it you will ease out to the stress/anxiety triggered by the parasympathetic nervous system and slip into the calm produced by the sympathetic nervous system.

 

An energy healer can also support you in feeling the anxiety in your body in a safe place with a caring support.

 

It is also possible to ease the physical effects including: insomnia, nausea, itching, coughing, etc.

 

Herbal Medicine

The herbal apothecary has many herbs that can relieve anxiety. Generally, the degree of anxiety, the accompanying physical symptoms and life challenges creating the anxiety determines the herbs offered. Herbal medicine can give you relief from overwhelming anxiety while learning other tools that help to release anxiety.

 

These are just a few. Please remember there are many helpful plants.

 

Sculcap (Scutellaria laterifola) is a foot high herb and belongs to the

mint family. It grows wild in a wet field near my home. It is one of my

favourites for anxiety. I find it slows the repetitive thoughts that whip

up an anxious state of mind. It relaxes muscle tension, particularly in

the neck and shoulders.

 

Wild Oats (Avena sativa) is one of the main nervous system tonics in the

herbalist apothecary. The green seed contains the medicine. It is a gentle

herb and useful for people of all ages. Wild Oats takes the edge off the

anxiety. It is for people who physically express their anxiety with jingling

keys, tapping feet or nail biting. Like Sculcap, wild oat is best taken over

an extended period of time for its best results.

 

Motherwort (Leonurus cardiaca) is favoured by the bees in my garden. When learning my herbs, I came across a saying that went like this “motherwort to calm a mother’s heart”. This is the herb to add to a formula if heart palpations accompany anxious states. It is a favoured herb to use for stress during menopause.

 

Damiana (Turnera diffusa) is a Mexican herb with a long history of use

as an aphrodisiac. I think of damiana as the herb for performance anxiety

of any kind. It calms the butterflies in the stomach, stills the nerves and

increases focus. I use it my public speaking formula.

 

Get Outside

Time unplugged, playing outside: swimming in a lake, walking in a forest, planting a tree, gives us the opportunity to get out of our heads and drop into our hearts. Being in nature, outside in the sunshine, deepens our breath and lifts burden off our minds.

 

The Japanese have a practice called forest bathing. This is simply walking in the woods. Studies have found that people who regularly walk in a forest are happier and more creative, as well as have lower blood pressure, better digestion and more balanced blood sugars.

 

Feelings need to be felt. They have a purpose and need to be heard. They do not need to be always acted on, that would be just chaotic. But they do need to be acknowledge. Slow down, take a few deep breaths, and feel. You will be better for it.