Are Your “To Do’s” Too Much To Do?

by Heather Lara |

Natural Solutions for Anxiety

You were late to work this morning, the house is a mess and the credit card bill just came in the mail. Your heart starts racing. You’re short of breath, your hands are clammy and you have the cold sweats. What you are feeling may be anxiety. Did you know that more than 40 million people in the United States face this condition daily?

To top it all off, the holidays are coming and it is that time of year when people feel even more hurried, and stressed. The heating bills are going up, there are gifts to buy and daylight hours are getting shorter, leaving us with less time and more to do. The pressure is on.

Winter is beginning to embark on us. At this time the Earth is dormant and hibernates. The trees lost their leaves, the grass has died and the birds have flown south. Nature slows down, and although our innate rhythms emulate the earths, we speed up due to the season’s “to do” list, and the results are stress, anxiety and tension.

A common coping mechanism to deal with anxiety is turning to medications such as Xanax, Valium and other over-the-counter and prescription drugs for relief. However, there are many natural solutions for relieving and/or preventing anxiety.

Natural Solutions:

• Exercise. Tai Chi, yoga, cycling or going for a walk or run increases blood flow and endorphins in the body relieving stress and tension.
• Get enough sleep and go to bed at the same time every night.
• Change your eating habits. Drink more water and avoid alcohol, caffeine, sugar and nicotine.
• Take supplements that can help your body combat anxiety such as Kava Root, Valerian Root, American Ginseng, Passionflower, or brew up a cup of Chamomile tea.
• Manage your stressors. Figure out which ones you can do something about and the ones that are out of your control.
• Take a moment. Do some deep breathing or meditation to increase the oxygen and blood flow in your body.
• Try to remain calm. Staying calm enables you to cope and have the ability to think clearly.

Other ways of relieving anxiety include:
Meditation, massage, relaxation and scent therapy (such as Cederwood, Frankincense, Jasmine, Lavender, Rose and Sandalwood), having a positive attitude, managing your time with equal amounts of work, play and rest. Get to know yourself and find a balance to your life.

Experiences shape who we are and how we handle situations and it is important to know how to cope when confronted with the “to dos” of life. Although anxiety and stress may be present in your life, it does not mean that anxiety has to control you.

References:
The Burton Goldberg Group. Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. Future Medicine Publishing, Inc., Washington 1994.
Sid Kirchheimer. The Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies. Rodale Press, 1993.
Phyllis Balch. Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Penguin Books, 2006.