Natural Tips for Anxiety

Anxiety can happen under stressful situations like a bang or some of us can be living with a constant low level of anxiety for weeks, even months at a time.  Some common physical symptoms of anxiety include fast pulse, palpitations, shallow breathing, shortness of breath, chest pain/tightness, sweating, headaches, insomnia, irritability, uncontrollable muscle tension/twitches, trembling, feeling faint/unreal, tingling in hands/arms/legs, tightness in throat, and dry mouth. 

If any of these symptoms sound familiar to you, here are some anti-anxiety self-care recommendations that we regularly share with patients:

• Eliminate caffeine. This includes decaf coffee, sodas, chocolate, and even green tea. Caffeine is a stimulant and causes the very same symptoms as does anxiety itself. Nicotine is also a stimulant and over time, stopping smoking can decrease anxiety symptoms.
• Maintain balanced blood sugar levels. Hypoglycemia can trigger excess adrenaline, the primary hormone of the sympathetic nervous system. Blood sugar highs and lows create feelings of instability and shakiness. Balancing blood sugar helps you feel grounded and safe.Basic recommendations are to eat at regular intervals (generally every 4 hours), with enough protein and healthy fat in every meal. Reduce or eliminate simple carbohydrates such as sugar and refined flour products.
• Regulate sleep patterns. While insomnia can often be fueled by anxiety, to the extent that we can, it is most helpful to go to bed at the same time daily and get sufficient sleep and rest (for most people, this means 8 hours of sleep, even if they feel they ‘can function’ on less).
• Breathe Consciously stopping and paying attention to your breathing for a few minutes can already calm the nervous system. There are some specific breathing exercises that can be particularly effective, such as 4-7-8 Breathing: Placing the tip of your tongue just behind your front teeth, breathe in quietly through your nose for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7, breathe out around your tongue through pursed lips with a whoosh sound for a count of 8. Repeat at least 3 more times. You can do this at any time, several times a day. And if you make a consistent daily practice of it (practicing it twice daily) – it actually becomes a stronger ‘anti-anxiety’ tool when you need it in an emergency.
• Rescue Remedy is a safe and surprisingly effective Bach Flower Essence (available at Whole Foods, Rainbow, and other health food stores) to calm the nerves and get through stressful situations.  This is great to take as needed for emotional crisis management and not for daily, long term use. 

Chinese herbal formulas can help to correct the physical and energetic patterns underlying the anxiety symptoms, and I support people in finding safe and effective herbal alternatives to anti-anxiety medications. However, we always instruct patients to work with their psychiatrists to safely transition off these very strong medications if they are currently taking them. In particular, it is not a good idea to go off or reduce psychotropic medications during times of increased stress and transition.

What defines anxiety as a disorder is that it gets triggered by non-life threatening events, or minor stressors.  
I have seen the power of Chinese Medicine change my patients’ long-standing patterns of anxiety again and again.

By calming the sympathetic nervous system, we enable the body to better heal.