Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend!
I’m so excited that you’re here! I have so much to share with you in terms of managing your anxiety!
Learning how to manage my anxiety symptoms has been my life’s work which grew into being passionate about serving others on their health and state of wellbeing.
One of the most important things I’ve learned is that we experience life through our nervous system. We either experience life in a state of fight/flight or in a state of rest/digest. The thing is, we’re only meant to live in a state of fight or flight for short bursts at a time and then return to our normal state of rest/digest. But unfortunately, too many of us live in a state of fight/flight for too long, which is one of the reasons why we suffer from chronic anxiety.
There are many factors that contribute to chronic anxiety such as poor quality diet, lack of sleep, exposure to toxins and poor management of the mind.
The good news is, there are many things we can do to return to a state of homeostasis and calm the nervous system.
As a person who’s prone to feeling anxious, I’ve tried many things to help relieve some of my anxiety symptoms. And what I’ve found to be the most helpful are these 3 exercises;
Before I explain the 3 exercises, I’d like to talk to you about the mind/body anxiety loop so you have a better understanding of the mind/body connection.
You see, a scarcity mindset is prone to having fearful thoughts that triggers a fight or flight response via the nervous system. This sends a signal to the body to react. That’s when you might experience your heart racing, body shakes, dry mouth, sweaty palms, and/or nervous shits, etc..
We can also experience body anxiety via the gut because 70% of your nervous system lies in your gut. This is why eating healthy can really improve your anxiety symptoms. But just like your thoughts can create a stress response in your body, your body can create a stress response in your mind, creating all kinds of fearful thoughts that creates a stress response in the body.
That’s what I call a mind/body - body/mind anxiety loop.
So whenever you’re feeling anxious do these simple, yet powerful exercises that will help calm the nervous system and ease your anxiety symptoms.
1, Start by placing your hands on your heart and on your stomach. Shift your attention into your body by doing a full body scan. Begin at the feet and work your way up to the heart. You can even wiggle certain parts of your body to enhance your focus. Repeat these 3 affirmations. I’m ok! I'm safe! I’m loved! This exercise trains your nervous system to be in a state of love instead of being in a state of fear and confirms that you’re safe.
2. Practice deep breathing all while extending the length of your exhale. This will put you in a state of parasympathetic (rest/digest). Then try the humming exercise.
The humming exercise massages the vagus nerve via the nervous system The vagus nerve is one of the longest nerves that runs from the brain all the way to your digestive system. It has several functions, including transmitting information from the brain to the organs/from the organs to the brain. There are many ways to activate the vagus nerve including humming or chanting. This will stimulate the parasympathetic (rest/digest) response that will help ease your anxiety symptoms.
3. Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) - Tapping. This is one of my personal favourite when it comes to managing my anxiety,
EFT is a tapping technique that focuses on the end points of your meridians which sends a signal to your amygdala (emotional centre of the brain) stating that you’re safe!
Start by identifying what you want to tap on, then give it a # on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being really bad.
Then start tapping on the outside of your hand, below your pinky finger, basically your karate chop point and say “even though I’m feeling anxious, I deeply and completely love and accept myself”
Repeat this process 3 times before moving to the next point.
Then move to the next point which is the inside of the eyebrow, where it meets the nose. You’ll tap 5 – 7 times and say “this stress is overwhelming and that’s ok”.
Then move to the outside of your eyebrow and say “it’s safe to feel this anxiety”
Then under the eye, right on the bone, say “it’s safe to let it go!”
Then move under the nose and say “it’s safe to feel this anxiety”
Then under the mouth, just above the chin and say “it’s safe to feel this anxiety”
Then move to underneath the collarbone, about an inch below and tap with all 10 fingers of both hands and say “it’s safe to feel this anxiety”
Then move to your armpit, about 3 inches underneath the armpit and say “it’s safe to feel all the stress”
Then move to the top of the head and say “it’s safe to let it go”.
Now, gently stop tapping and take a deep breath!
Allow this time to check in with how you’re feeling.
Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 to see if your number has gone down.
If not, Repeat this process a couple more times until you feel better!
I hope these 3 exercises serve you well. If you would like to know more about how to manage your anxiety symptoms. Check out my wellness course on my website. If you feel like these would benefit someone, please spread the love by sharing this blog post.
https://www.yourjourneytowardswellness.com/
Have yourself a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing you here next Monday!
In health
Your health coach
Nancy Pitre
