anxiety - things that have been helping me

First thing I want to say if you have any of these things going on, please talk to a qualified medical professional as well as your friends.  There are other things you can do, I would bet you that at least somebody in your group have other things, other therapies that can help you - in this post I  talk only about part of the yogic corner I used to support myself, (there were as many corners as a dodecahedron).  Seriously. Reach out for help.

Anxiety is a total bitch. I suffered it so deeply that i became unable to do some of the most simple of life’s tasks and i tended up taking 6 months off from my corporate job in the space of just over a year. I sometimes wonder if I technically still have anxiety and I just have a load more tools available to me now than I did back then. I have never wanted to be defined by my mental health so, either way, it doesn’t matter, but my thinking self (is that the anxious me?! or the scientific me?) wants to know for some reason. Maybe I am just so good at filling my time that there is little chance to drop into the terror zone again. - many of us fit this high functioning anxiety. Whatever, over time I have found more strategies for coping.

Got anxiety?

Panic attacks?

That heavy tied up feeling in your stomach.

The feeling you’ve fucked up but you aren’t sure where?

Constant level of worry in the body but unsure where or what to attribute it to?

Thoughts that amaze you with their speed - particularly when your head touches the pillow at night?

My love, I feel for you.  I have been there.  Its fucking awful.  But trust me when I say “this too will pass”.

4 things I have been using lately to find a calmer version of me….

Belly breaths

(This is the foundation part of the next 2 exercises - the others work even better if you do this first)

You can place your hands on your lower ribcage - a couple of ribs up from the bottom, and let your fingers come around the front, your thumbs will point towards the back. Sing I am a little teapot in your head and make two of the handles is about the vibe we are looking for with this.

Let the belly soften.

Simply breathe and out through the nose, hands resting lightly on the bottom of the ribcage. What will be happen here is that the placement of your hands activates the diaphragm to wake up and breathe you - you’ll probably fell yourself expanding forwards, backwards and to the sides when this hands.

Breathing into the belly in this way activates that parasympathetic nervous system, the one that calms you right down.  Anxiety is all sympathetic nervous system based - that fight or flight that has adrenaline coursing through your arteries.  You have the power to make the switch with you breathing.  Yes it takes practice. Yes it can difficult to do mid panic attack when you feel like the world is collapsing in on you. 

This is a fabulous breath to take as soon as you wake up in the morning. 10 deep belly breaths. A really easy habit to get into, takes almost no time and can completely alter your day and wellbeing. This is especially important if those pangs of anxiety appear in your chest or throat - this is because the too tight belly can’t take the breath so it feels stifling higher up in the chest, like you can’t catch your breath, because essentially you can’t until the belly is softer, but you can change this. Trust me.

Lengthen the exhale

Super simple and so damn effective. Count the length of your inhale (i usually still count “one elephant, two elephant, three elephant” because that is how my inner 8 year old counts seconds to this day). Then as you exhale, allow the breath to be released more slowly so that the count of the exhale is longer. I find a 6:10 ratio works beautifully for me, but take your time as you lengthen out the exhale sequentially, maybe start with just one longer than your inhale and work your way up to an exhale that still feel comfortable and you are not left gasping for your next breath (that is the opposite of what we want here).

Bumblebee breath - bhramari breath

Your own personal sound healing. Calming and soothing for the nervous system. I find it eases agitation, anxiety and frustration - even anger too (all part pf the richness of our human experience but not always welcome or constructive are they?).

Find yourself a quiet spot, probably away from people. Take a comfortable seat, maybe with your back against a wall, sit on something if your knees come up higher than your hips when you are cross legged as this makes thing way more comfortable. Take a few of the belly breaths above. Place your fingers in your ears and begin to hum like a bee on the exhale.. Feel into the sound vibrating around your body. Feel into what feels best for your body and symptoms - high or low pitched. Feel how the pitches move the sensation in your body. Allow yourself to inhale when you need it - do not let the exhale become so long that you are gasping for the next breath. Repeat maybe 5 times. Then sit and feel, breathing in and out of the nose and into the belly. Breathe and feel. You can do this laid down if you prefer, maybe without the fingers in the ears.

I find a high pitched tones quietens speedy thoughts best by the way - kind of blurs them out as my head can only have one thing going on at a time. The lower tones bring me down into my body and out of my head - though obviously we are all different, even the same person is different each day.

Take a freaking breath. Give these a try and see how they make you feel.