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Everyone worries from time to time. But while it takes no less than a tsunami to disturb some of us, others seem to worry all the time. Each time we think that life is about to get better, something else crops up. It is as if we cannot escape anxiety, no matter how hard we try.
You don’t have to live like this. You can become one of those people who isn’t prone to anxiety.
Now, I know that there is a lot of advice about anxiety out there. And, indeed, much of it is useful. However, a lot of it is inappropriate for those with long-term anxiety. If most advice on overcoming anxiety doesn’t seem to help you for more than a few days, then this article might just be what you are looking for.
What you need is a different tool-set. This article was written to give you that tool set, so that you stop worrying, relax, and enjoy life as you know you should.
Why You Can’t Stop Worrying
The first thing you need to understand is that your inability to control your anxiety is not your fault. It is essential to understand what the problem is on a deeper level. A physical level.
When your body is wired for anxiety, it is exceptionally difficult to relax, and almost no amount of effort is going to cut it – unless you target that effort to healing your body.
This doesn’t mean that you are sick, or that your doctor missed a serious disorder. Our bodies and minds are connected on a deeper level than we are led to believe.
Understanding the Mind-body Connection
We tend to view our bodies and minds as separate. Nothing could be further the truth.
A bit of digging into biology quickly reveals that your body can explain everything you feel. Your mood is 100% represented by the chemicals in your body. Your body both responds and affects your mood, attitude and emotions during every moment of every day.
If this doesn’t ring true, simply think about what drugs can do to our bodies: Drinking, antidepressants and other drugs affect mood, attitudes, and even behaviour without any changes whatsoever to the environment.
The good news is that it is often unnecessary to make us of drugs to tap into the mind-body connection.
Our mind can be affected through our bodies using much gentler methods. And these methods are often much more effective in the long run.
Now, we aren’t here to give you generic advice. We are here to give you precise, targeted “lifestyle changes” advice aimed specifically to reduce your anxiety.
But first, it helps to have a basic understanding of what is causing your anxiety.
What is the Adrenal Gland and Why You Should Care
The adrenal glands are two tiny glands that sit at the top of your kidneys, where they produce adrenalin – “fight or flight” hormones. If someone finds themselves in a life threatening situation, this physical response gives them a substantial energy boost to help them survive.
The adrenal response makes a lot of sense from an evolutionary point of view. If a person were attacked by a wild animal, adrenalin could help them fight for their lives or run away. Hopefully, they either successful fight off the animal or run away. Either way, the problem does not persist.
In the modern world, many of our problems cannot be solved with the fight or flight approach. Our problems are a lot more complex than they used to be.
A frustrating job. A difficult marriage. Even children face significant stress, from abusive parents to bullying. These problems persist, and gradually destroy the function of our adrenal glands, which work overtime pumping adrenaline into our system.
When our adrenals have been overstimulated for too long, they begin to produce more adrenaline than is needed regardless of whether there is a real danger present, putting us in a constant state of unrest.
Are your adrenals the root of your anxiety?
The tendency toward anxiety is itself a strong indicator of problems with the adrenal glands. Moreover, there is a vicious cycle at play: weak adrenals cause anxiety, while anxiety weakens our adrenals. Therefore, anyone with prolonged anxiety problems should consider healing their adrenal glands.
Additional symptoms of weak adrenals include sinus problems, blood pressure that is either too high or too low and unhealthy blood sugar levels.
Another strong indicator of adrenal weakness is being a typical night person. You might have trouble falling asleep at night and have difficulty waking up in the morning. A mid afternoon lag in energy, following by a second wind in the evening is common.
Constant fatigue is a strong indicator of weak adrenals. If you have problems with energy levels, healing your adrenals can make a big difference.
How To Heal Your Adrenals
The best thing you can do for your adrenals is give them a chance to heal. This is why we first discuss what should be avoided in order for your adrenals to have a fighting chance. We then give you some advice on how to speed up the healing process.
Note that all of this advice is simple, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. However, keep in mind that this is highly effective.
If you can find the strength within yourself to put this advice to action, you will experience the benefits of radically reduced anxiety, 100% naturally.
1. Avoid caffeinated drinks
Coffee may seem like a lifesaver. But it comes with high interest. Caffeine causes your adrenals to release large amounts of adrenaline, making you feel more alive and energized for a little while.
But in the long run, caffeine destroys your adrenal glands.
People with weak adrenals are often addicted to caffeine. Here, we see yet another vicious cycle; Those with weak adrenals feel tired, and so they crave the caffeine rush, while having caffeine weakens your adrenals making you tired.
The number one thing you can do to heal your adrenals, and consequently relieve yourself of anxiety, is to stop taking all forms of caffeine. This includes coffee, tea, and caffeinated soft drinks.
Because caffeine is addictive, this can be very difficult. But it well worth the effort. First, it will give you real, natural energy. Natural energy produced by your own body feels a lot better, and is a lot better for you, than the nervous energy you receive from caffeine.
But most importantly, removing caffeine from your system gives your adrenals a chance to heal, and gives you a more peaceful life as a result.
2. Avoid decaf drinks
We put this in a separate bullet because it is very important. Most of us don’t know that decaf drinks still contain caffeine. Decaf means that it has less caffeine than the caffeinated version, but it still contains caffeine!
The amount of caffeine in decaffeinated drinks is more than enough to aggravate your adrenal glands. If you want to heal your anxiety, then it is essential to cut out all decaffeinated drinks, as well as their caffeinated counterparts.
What you should look for is the “caffeine free” label. That is the sign that there is no caffeine present. Look for this label when buying herbal teas.
3. Stay away from sugar
If you pay attention, you might notice that sugar has very similar effect to that of caffeine. It gives you an energy rush, only to be followed by an energy crash. All of that is very hard on your adrenals.
Getting off sugar completely can be just as difficult as it is to quit caffeine. But if healing your anxiety is really important to you, then it is well worth the effort.
To avoid sugar, it is essential to read labels. Sugar is added to almost everything, so it is best to buy raw ingredients and cook from scratch when possible.
Note that many artificial sweeteners can be even worse for our bodies than sugar. Instead of sugar, use honey, in moderation.
When you go off sugar, you will notice an interesting thing: Other things start to taste sweeter!
4. Avoid intense action or horror movies
We all watch movies. We get engrossed in them, and emotionally respond to them. In fact, this is precisely why we love watching them so much.
While there is nothing wrong with intense action and horror movies for those with healthy adrenals, they aren’t good for those who have weak adrenal glands.
Such movies cause our adrenals to respond in much the same way as if something threatening were happening to us. If your adrenals are weak and need rest to heal, then it is best to avoid such stimulation.
5. Create a low stress life
To those prone to anxiety, avoiding stress may seem like hopeless advice. However, while you are trying to heal your adrenals, it is essential to make your life as relaxing as you possibly can.
This means avoiding adrenal stimulating activities such as, say, sky diving, but also making personal life choices based on what you know stresses you out.
Regardless of how stressed out you might feel, you will feel even more tense if your environment is stressful. If you reduce the amount of external stress, and give your body a chance to heal, soon enough, there will be less stress internally, too.
6. Eat Parsley!
One of the best things for your adrenals is potassium. A great source of it is the simple leafy green known as parsley.
Simply buy raw parsley and mix a generous amount of it into a salad. Several handfuls could work well to sooth your adrenals.
If you don’t like the taste of parsley, you can also take it in capsule form.
This simple, natural food can greatly speed up the healing of your adrenal glands, especially after you eliminate foods and activities that overstimulate your adrenals.
7. Sleep
We have saved the best for last. One of the very best things you can do for your adrenals is sleep. Yes, simply sleep.
Unfortunately, people with weak adrenals often have difficulty falling sleep. There are a lot of good resources about sleep out there, and there is even a free e-book on sleep. Some gentle herbs can also do wonders to solve this problem (consult a good herbalist before taking any herbs).
As much as possible, make whatever lifestyle changes are necessary to build adequate sleep into your life.
The beautiful thing about sleep is that it doesn’t take long to feel its benefits. After a good night sleep, you should feel the improved might away. But overtime, it will make an enormous difference.
Parting words
Don’t give up on yourself. You can reduce your anxiety, and you can do that 100% naturally.
It is hard enough going through our everyday trials without having them magnified by excess adrenaline rushing through our veins. The peace and ability to turn off the anxiety mode is amazing. You will love it.
You now have 7 effective tools to beat your anxiety. Try them out, and let us know how it goes. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please share your thoughts with us in the comments below. Should you have any questions, please feel free to ask!
Gather your will power, and do what it takes to restore your health, and restore your sense of balance. Keep learning and seek the advice of a good natural health practitioner when needed. Inner peace is within your reach. You can heal your life.
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Very nice article!
I just wanted to add that another cause could be a vegetarian diet (at least for some people).
Having been a vegetarian for 7-8 years, I constantly had to struggle with these things. I found that exercising (e.g. running) weekly helped to relieve stress, but when I started to eat meat again, my anxiety issues went away like magic.