What natural remedies can help with anxiety?
What natural remedies can help with anxiety?
Anxiety is a feeling that most people will experience in their life. From sitting in the waiting room for a job interview to leaving the house, anxiety comes in many forms and is different for everyone. It is the feeling of uneasiness and worry which can also lead to fearful feelings. Each individual will have a different level of severity when they have anxiety which can induce other uncomfortable feelings and in severe cases, can make someone's life very difficult.
There are many ways to combat feelings of anxiousness and we highly recommend speaking to a professional in the field to grasp a better understanding of where these feelings come from and how to manage them. If you’re seeking some ideas of natural ways to help with moving past these feelings we’ve detailed our top 10 natural anxiety remedies for daily life and hope that something here resonates with you!
There have been countless studies on the impact exercise had on our mood. Exercise is simply a way of releasing endorphins that make us feel good about ourselves. We have to show up for ourselves boosting our self-worth and wellbeing. This in turn helps to reduce the feelings of anxiety we might have on a daily basis. Setting up an amount of time or ensuring that each day you move a certain amount can be a great help.
Check out: The benefits of walking on your mind and body
Nature can have a profound impact on our mood. Taking yourself outdoors and sitting quietly to count all the things that you can hear can make you feel calm and relaxed.
For this time of year, check out: What is Wintering?
These are all stimulants. The reason we as humans like to have these in our diets is that they act upon different parts of our brains to make us feel a certain way, often with a fairly immediate effect. What we don’t think about is that these things raise our feelings for a short period of time and then when they start to leave our system we experience a drop below our neutral level. These peaks and troughs can increase our anxious feelings because we don’t feel consistent levels. Consider lowering or removing these stimulants for a period of time, or opted for herbal teas instead of coffee.
Similar to no.3, nicotine is also a stimulant but it is also a depressant. The habit of smoking can be considered a good one, the act of removing yourself from a stressful situation and going outside to be with your thoughts and get some fresh air is a great management tool. However, the cigarette is causing this to be negative. Think about using this habit as a tool but removing the nicotine intake to keep mood levels even.
We love involving meditation and mindfulness in our day-to-day habits. These are great tools for changing mindsets and making us feel in more control of our thought patterns, helping to reduce feelings of anxiousness. Think about how these practices could help you when you feel anxious. Try our eye pillow or meditation cushion for extra support with meditation
Check out: Top 10 Tips for Mindfulness and Mindful Living
The art of journaling has made a difference in so many people’s lives. Different to meditation, it provides a space to see your thoughts and have an outlet to remove that internalisation. This visualisation matched with the right techniques helps to take those thoughts that feel upsetting and say goodbye to them.
Another high one on our list is how you sleep. Quality sleep makes an incredible difference to your day and how you’re able to process your feelings. Without good sleep, dealing with anxious feelings can be even more difficult. Consider investing time into your night routine for better quality sleep. Check out our sleep range if you have problems sleeping or want to prove the quality of your sleep
Check out: 20 Ways To Have Better Sleep
As we mentioned earlier, consuming stimulants has a direct impact on the feelings produced in our brains. It’s also essential to think about how you’re fuelling your body to give yourself the strength to process and keep your blood sugar levels from taking those rises and dips. Hydration is also important to consider here too; if you fuel yourself healthily, you’re giving yourself the best foundation to manage whatever comes your way.
Of course, we couldn’t not have aromatherapy on our list. The team at Made By Coopers are huge advocates of aromatherapy for many of its benefits including how it can relax us during moments of stress and anxiety. Think about how aromatherapy is a practice that you can take with you anywhere for any moment you might need it.
You might like to read more about our founder's journey here: How I healed my anxiety and put my wellbeing first
In combination with our other suggestions, having a toolbox of practices can be incredibly useful during moments of anxiety. It’s really important to practice these before executing them during moments of uneasiness. We find that muscle massages and the order of these movements can bring a sense of calm as well as when concentrating on breathing techniques.
Here's a great place to start: Breathwork: Why we need to teach ourselves how to breathe again
Dealing with anxious feelings isn’t easy. No two people will have the same experience and it can take trial and error to find what techniques work for you. Natural remedies can be a great addition to daily routines to increase your strength in working through feelings. We suggest adding more than one of these techniques to your repertoire so that you have a variety of options to call upon if you need to. Building up your mindfulness can offer the resilience you might need to overcome these feelings so that they don’t appear as frequently. Gaining a better understanding of yourself and your body can help reduce those moments of uncomfortableness.
