Do You Have Anxiety? Natural Solutions!
Most of our symptoms DO have both physical and emotional components. The body and mind cannot be separated.
Learning to feel your feelings is valuable, but sometimes anxiety can be overwhelming, and that is the time to ask for help.
There is nothing innately good or bad associated with anxiety. Anxiety can be a warning that something is out of wack. Or it can be that something is wrong situationally. It can also signal an imbalance in your body chemistry, hormones and neurotransmitters. Sometimes we can use it as a signpost to make changes in our lives.
Most of the feelings and sensations associated with anxiety will subside in a few minutes, a few hours, in a week or so, or when the situation causing the anxiety has passed. The Buddhists have a saying: “Anicha” – basically interpreted as “This too shall pass, or nothing remains constant.”
Carl Jung, the renowned psychiatrist, talks about aspects of our unconscious rising up and then causing anxiety and feelings of discomfort. Learning to investigate these uncomfortable feelings Jung calls “Shadow Work.” In other words, learning to bring what is in the shadow, into the light.
If you can do it, it’s a great idea to be able to sit with the feelings until they pass; or to journal about them; or give them a name or label, and have a dialogue with them. But this isn’t always possible, until you train yourself to do it.
There are also great supplements, amino acids and herbs we can use to control or minimize anxiety and to lesson it’s frequency while you work on getting the situation under control that’s causing it, and/or work to balance your hormones and neurotransmitters.
Physical exercise is also vital, and eating to keep your blood sugar stable is also really important.
We can do a blood, urine, and saliva test to point us to the cause of anxiety physiologically.
Some of the supplements you can try are Calcium and Magnesium, 5-HTP, Tryptophan, GABA, Theanine, Kidney Yin Tonic, Kava Kava, Min-Chex, Stress Factors, and many others. I have great formulas in the office we can use to help you deal with your anxiety.
Once on a plane trip, I became extremely anxious. I was exhausted on the final leg of a trip to multiple countries in Asia, and I had not eaten. My blood sugar was spiking low, I felt like I was going to die, and my heart was racing really fast.
I had with me both natural supplements, which I could have taken, and also a tranquilizer my MD had given me for emergency situations. But instead, I decided to just close my eyes, explore my feelings from the inside, breath, and go more deeply into the physical sensations.
By going inside and feeling the feelings, instead of running from them, I became aware of the emotional components that triggered the anxiety, and the feelings of anxiety passed.
Going through this experience allowed me to understand and gain insight into what the Buddhists call “monkey mind.” Once on a two-week silent meditation retreat, I had a similar experience. After the first day of retreat, I felt I just had to escape immediately. I paced up and down, trying to get the courage to tell the meditation instructor that I was very sorry, but I had to leave.
But I decided instead to go into the meditation hall and join in the group meditation, and to just observe my thoughts and anxious physical sensations. After a half day, my panic passed, and I was able to relax and enjoy the silence of the retreat.
Our anxiety usually has old “tapes” and “voices” associated with it, which try and convince us of their reality and truth. They try and convince us that we need to do something right away. But in reality, unless there is a real situation that is threatening you, it will usually pass. And the more times you are able to get through it without letting it overpower you, the easier it is the next time.
Remember that diet is a major component in reducing anxiety. Making sure you eat at regular intervals and don’t let your blood sugar drop is very important in controlling anxiety. For many people, it’s important to eat protein rich foods every three hours. If you are not sure of the best diet for you, just ask me and we can discuss it and work out something that fits your metabolic and Chinese body type.
Some of the homeopathic remedies that often work for anxiety are the following:
*Aconite – the first one to think of for shock of any type.
*Argentum nitricum – anxiety with desire for sweets; anxiety with depression; headaches; performance anxiety; divorce; emotional upset; obsessional – phobic thinking wiht compulsive avoidances; superstition; exhaustion from heat; indigestion.
*Ignatia – anxiety or insomnia from grief, loss, exciting news or sad news, like loss of a loved one
*Mag phos – muscle spasms, tension, neck and shoulder or lower back pain with anxiety; body feels very tense
*Kali phos – nerves are on edge; nervous headache, weakness following stress; diarrhea from nerves; Dread of some upcoming event
*Sepia – anxiety and weakness before the menses; severe PMS; feeling better after exercising; irritable and wants to be alone, yet often anxious after pushing others away
*Lycopodium – anxiety and anger combined or alternating; flatulent, bloating, gas and digestive problems; thinks they are always right; afraid to be alone; insecurity around the opposite sex; potency problems; feels superior to others; haughty.
*Silica – weakness and fear with withdrawal; lack of self confidence in sexuality and fear of failure
*Arsenicum alb – very nervous about health; selfish; very organized and wants everything in it’s place or gets very anxious; lots of fears and worries; anxiety is worse at about midnight; inflexibility with tendency to deny problems; likes to look outwardly normal and confident despite inner turmoil.
*Gelsemium – Anxiety for future events; nervous diarrhea; this person does best with peace and quiet; does not want to be disturbed; works well for anticipatory anxiety with diarrhea and fear of being able to do it; lacks inner grit or courage.
Finally, of all the treatment modalities, perhaps the most effective is acupuncture. Acupuncture works to balance the neurotransmitters and hormones at the root of anxiety. Over time, acupuncture can sometimes cure anxiety on it’s own, without having to take supplements or drugs.