Practical Anxiety Relief

Cultivate Calm

I'm often asked if yoga helps people with anxiety, and as tempted as I am to say that yoga is the cure for everything, it's not so straightforward. Learning to manage anxiety is a journey so today I’m sharing some practical tools to help you care for your nervous system and feel a whole lot better.
To address anxiety effectively, it's important to understand the mechanics of our nervous system, which is the link between our mind and body. According to polyvagal theory, there is a hierarchy to our stress response. Think of it like rungs on a ladder. When we experience something stressful, our nervous system detects a threat and we enter the fight or flight response. If we can't escape the stress and it overwhelms us, we move up a step on the ladder into the freeze response. We become withdrawn, dissociated, or mentally checked out. It can feel like going through life on autopilot.
When the stress finally passes or we create enough safety in our nervous system, we must go back down the ladder into the fight or flight state. This can feel uncomfortable as we experience a rush of adrenaline, racing thoughts, and tensed-up bodies. However, this is how our nervous system works. By creating safety and calming ourselves, we eventually enter a relaxed parasympathetic state.
Anxiety isn't simply a thinking problem that can be solved through positive thoughts. It is a nervous system response. To turn down the anxiety response, we need to regulate our nervous system and create safety in our bodies. In this episode, I share 5 tools to help you do this and these are tools you can use every day, no matter where you are.
1. Move Your Body Every Day: Physical movement helps discharge the energy from our nervous system, completing the stress cycle. Any intentional movement can work, whether it’s punching a bolster or going for a walk.
2. Harness the Power of Breath: Our breath is the interface to our nervous system. By practising diaphragmatic breathing and extending our exhales, we activate our vagus nerve, signalling safety to our brain.
3. Cultivate Sensory Awareness: When stressed or anxious, we often dissociate and disconnect from our physical bodies. Bringing our attention back to our senses reestablishes the mind-body connection and grounds us in the present moment.
4. Allow Yourself to Feel Emotions: Anxiety is often accompanied by underlying emotions such as anger, grief, shame, guilt, or fear. Allowing ourselves to feel and release these emotions in a safe and healthy way prevents them from manifesting as anxiety.
5. Normalize Anxiety: Anxiety is a natural response of the nervous system, signalling a perceived threat or feeling of unsafety. Understanding that anxiety is not permanent and can be navigated and managed empowers us to care for our nervous system and prioritise daily self-care.
Many people struggle with anxiety but with the right tools and willingness to learn patterns of behaviour, healing is possible. Remember, anxiety doesn't define you. You are on this path for a reason so keep going and make sure you prioritise taking care of your nervous system every day.

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Breathe your way to less stress

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