Everyone experiences anxiety at one time or another, maybe from running behind schedule, or feeling nervous about an anticipated upcoming event. However, if anxiety is something you’re experiencing most of the time on a daily basis, and you’d prefer to steer clear of prescription drugs to treat it, you might want to consider using some natural methods as well as herbal remedies to combat the effects of this problem. There are a number of natural ways to go when your exploring options to overcome anxiety. I’ll explore some of them, as well as some of the symptoms of anxiety.
Symptoms of Anxiety
Nervousness, racing heartbeat, racing thoughts, feeling of being overwhelmed, trembling, sweating, constant worry, shortness of breath, diarrhea, sleeplessness, irritability, muscle tension, difficulty concentrating, nausea, and dizziness.
You may experience most of these, or just a few. Either way, if these symptoms are beginning to affect your daily living in a negative way, some natural intervention could be very helpful in decreasing their effect on your daily life.
Exercise
As a person who tends to me more anxious myself, I couldn’t be without implementing exercise into my daily life. My suggestion is to do at least 30 minutes of high effort aerobic exercise daily. There’s no substitute for the value of exercise in the life of someone experiencing anxiety. In fact if I’m having a particularly hard time with anxiety, due to circumstances in life or whatever the case may be, I’ll increase my exercise time to an hour daily until things ease up. If you’re not using this as a self help measure for anxiety now, be sure to start, you’ll feel the difference almost immediately.
Positive Thought Patterns
I recently read about the importance of positive thoughts with regard to anxiety. There is a behavioral modification approach called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This helps those with anxiety to recognize negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. I can personally attest to the success of this practice in my own experience. I think those of us with a tendency towards anxiety, tend to be plagued with constant worry, which is a negative thought pattern . It takes some daily practice to unlearn negative thinking, but over time, it does change for the better if you put forth the effort.
Vitamin and Herbal Supplementation
There is a whole array of supplements you can use to help ease anxiety as well. They include herbs like
St. John’s Wort- an herbal antidepressant, widely known in alternative health circles for it’s success in countering depression and anxiety.
Valerian– an herb known for it’s ability to calm and relax. This herb is actually where Valium is derived from but no worries, it won’t knock you out the way the prescription drug does. Follow the dosage on the label. I like it because it takes the edge off of the nervousness without the drowsiness.
Kava Kava- known for it’s calming effect and for promoting better sleep.
Calcium- this mineral has more ability than just creating strong bones. It also promotes muscle relaxation. I tend to twitch when I become anxious and have used calcium supplements to counter that problem. It does help.
Magnesium- also used for more than just good bone health. It contributes greatly to smooth muscle relaxation. In fact, being low in this mineral will result in muscle twitching and cramping. including “charlie horses”.
B-Complex- If you’re someone who’s anxious, the stress of it will deplete your B vitamin levels. Be sure to supplement yourself with a moderate dose of B-complex vitamins, to replace what stress has taken.
Before resorting to pharmaceutical drugs to help you relieve your stress, it might be worth trying these self help measures. They’ve helped me steer clear of prescription drugs and the side effects from that approach. It takes some conscious effort to implement these habits into your daily life, but I’ve found that it’s all worth it.
Eat well, live well, think well, enjoy!
Sources:
http://www.effexorxr.com/anxiety-disorders/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad.aspx?WT.mc_ID=CDF6CA50-1BE2-46CE-A611-96EAC2744829&WT.srch;=1&WT.mc;_ev=click
