Laura S. Conley

Stress

Natural Remedies for Anxiety and Depression

Natural Remedies for Anxiety and Depression

 

It is Estimated that 40 million Americans have some form of anxiety disorder. However, just because you feel anxious or depressed does not necessarily mean you need medication to treat this. In fact, those who seek treatment are prescribed medication that causes worse side effects including sexual dysfunction, nausea, and weight gain.

 

Some stress and anxiety is ok and completely normal. It’s what keeps us motivated and even saves us from danger. 

 

But more true anxiety disorders are different than just occasional or necessary stress or anxiety.

 

A few common types of anxiety disorders:

  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Social Anxiety Disorder
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Major Depressive Disorder
  • Persistent Depressive Disorder

 

If your anxiety or depression is affecting your daily life on a regular basis and are unsure of the symptoms you’re experiencing, it may be necessary to seek medical help.

 

However, with proper lifestyle changes you will be surprised how much better you begin to feel! I recommend trying these natural remedies to help ease your symptoms for short term and long term improvements.

 

Exercise

This is SINGLE BEST habit to develop and maintain that aids in every aspect of your overall well being and health. Regular aerobic exercise can boost self-esteem, decrease tension, improve your mood and help you sleep better.

Even just 15-20 minutes of medium-intensity exercise just a few times a week can work wonders for your health and well being.

Get In or Near Nature

Being in nature is the best way to calm your nervous system and improve your mood.  Even better is to stand barefoot on the ground to do a practice called ‘earthing’ Start getting at least 20 minutes of fresh air, sunlight and nature every single day.  You were made to be outdoors so take a break from the artificial light, screens and stressful EMF’s inside.

 

Eat Less Sugar

You already know that sugar is “bad” for you, but eating even moderate amounts can aggravate many existing health problems, ESPECIALLY anxiety and depression.

It’s noted that there is a protein in our brain, BDNF, that’s produced to help cope with stressful situations. It’s thought that sugar suppresses the production of BDNF affecting the ability to cope with stress.

 

Reduce Caffeine and Alcohol

Having that cup of coffee to start your day is like a little slice of heaven for most of us. Or that glass of your preferred alcoholic beverage in the evening to help you relax. But too much of either can seriously affect our bodies’ ability to manage anxiety.

Caffeine can trigger production of the hormone cortisol, our fight or flight stress response.

And as for alcohol, a known depressant, will change your brain chemistry over time, lowering its ability to cope with stress.

 

Eat More Whole Foods  

We all know that a balanced diet helps us feel better. Feeling the need to diet can cause anxiety and may actually the opposite effect of dieting. Focus on eating nutrient dense foods you enjoy and enjoy those as often as possible.

Lean proteins such as fish, organic chicken, beans, and eggs provide fuel for your body and brain to keep your energy levels constant.

Asparagus, leafy greens, meat, and avocado contain nutrients that can reduce the symptoms of anxiety, as can omega-3-rich foods like fish, green leafy vegetables, nuts, and seeds.

Meditation

Meditation has been scientifically proven to help lower blood pressure, improve mental clarity and help you feel more positive.  

Even doing a few minutes of meditation each day can change our brain circuitry in such a way that makes us more able to cope with stress. Go and find a nice quiet space to simply just be for at least 5 minutes a day

Some helpful supplements to check out:

GABA (Gamma aminobutyric acid)

GABA is an amino acid that decreases anxiety in the nervous system and promotes relaxation. Anti-anxiety meds such as Valium work by boosting GABA levels in your brain.

GABA is also an effective sedative which can help you get a good night’s sleep.

Magnesium

Maybe you’re deficient in magnesium. A magnesium deficiency can cause severe anxiety as this mineral plays a crucial role in chemical reactions that are vital for good mental health.  

Magnesium has a relaxing effect on the nervous system and is often taken to promote a more regular sleep cycle.

Vitamin B Complex

Vitamin B6 and B12 have many benefits, including balancing blood sugar levels, supporting the nervous system, and promoting mental clarity.

Many studies suggest that a deficiency in vitamin B6 and B12 can cause or exacerbate anxiety and depression.

Ashwagandha

Ashwagandha, a powerful herb, has been used for centuries to treat a range of conditions. It has the ability to lower cortisol levels and generally has a calming effect.

Research has shown that it can also be an extremely useful antidote to anxiety and depression.

Kava Root

Kava root has been shown to ease the symptoms of anxiety by stimulating dopamine receptors.  

A recent study showed that taking an extract of Kava decreased the symptoms of some general anxiety disorders.

Chamomile

You’ve heard of chamomile tea. There’s a reason for this. It’s one of many natural herbs for anxiety that has been proven completely effective and safe.

Chamomile essentially works by binding to your brain receptors in the same way as valium.

 

It’s important to find a natural balance of what works for you. Always adjust the amount of supplements, diet, exercise and meditation to find what works for you. Before attempting any of these suggestions, if you’re already taking medications and being treated, talk to your doctor to ensure safety and avoid potential interactions with any prescriptions.

Taking Charge of Your Thoughts: Exercises for Mastering Your Mind

“Attitude is everything” and your attitude is a direct result of the thoughts you think and believe everyday.  What we now know is that you can control your mind and your thoughts to reconfigure your brain wiring.  This is called “neuroplasticity”.  The same way you can sculpt the muscles on your body, you can sculpt your mind to be powerful and strong, or loving and compassionate.  It simply requires time and dedication the same as exercising your body would.  

Here are some exercises to help you achieve mindfulness:

Mindful Exercise #1: Yoga

You may think yoga is mostly about stretching. While stretching is part of the practice, the magic of yoga is the focus on breath to move through self-imposed limitations. As you practice, you start to hear your mind crying, “that’s too much. I can’t do that. What am I doing here?” Basically saying anything to get you out of the intensity of the present moment.

The more you practice it becomes a little better each time.   You stay steady with your intent, focus a little more on your breath; you release deeper with every exhale. The awareness starts to grow and mindfulness trickles over into your everyday life before you notice.

Nature

We all know how relaxing sitting on the beach gazing out over the ocean as well listening to the waves crashing on shore; or walking through the woods gazing at humongous trees.  Contemplation in nature is the original form of meditation.  Being in nature it is far easier to quiet the mind and become aware of our monkey mind chatter. 

Meditation

So many people say “meditation doesn’t work for me”, “I can’t stop thinking or quiet my mind”  Well that’s the point!  So actually that means it IS working since they noticed how much their mind was thinking-THAT’S mindfulness!  You can choose from many different styles of meditation, find one (or many) that you like best.

Open Focus – It is a process of relaxing your focus to an empty space in your body. Transcendental (TM) – The claimed advantage of TM is that an amateur can reach the same state as a master within weeks of starting the practice. Repeat a simple chant, distracting the mind long enough for consciousness to emerge.

Vipassana – This form of meditation has you focus on your breath as it passes through your nostrils. Gradually, you expand this awareness to your whole body.

LVK Meditation – Focus on all the love and kindness in your heart while loving the world so much that your mind can’t handle it anymore. This will result in your heart expanding and leading your mind.

Guided – Guided meditations are a great way to start. A vocal guide will lead you through the entire meditation so all you have to do is relax and follow along.

Biofeedback – One of the recent styles is using a biofeedback device. This measures brainwave activity and plugs into a computer or iPhone app.  With this data you can see exactly how well you are actually calming your mind.  

Body Movement/Dance

Dance is a universal cultural phenomenon. In ceremonial dance, dancing is the vehicle to induce a deep trancelike state.  In  “ecstatic dancing”, participants are encouraged to move freely with their body, surrendering to the music.  Some movements may not even look like things we would consider “dancing”. Once you release the mind from concerning itself with how you look, your body comes alive.  Every cell seems to wake up and the mind takes a huge step back. 

Floatation (Sensory Deprivation)

Floatation tanks, also known as sensory deprivation tanks, eliminate all external sensory input (sight, sound, smell, etc) therefore tricking the mind into quieting into a hypnotic meditation like state.

Breathwork or Hyperoxygenation

Kundalini yoga (breathwork) practice has been around for thousands of years, but now another form of breathing practice was developed.  “Holotropic breathing” – or Shamanic breathing – works by creating a temporary excess of oxygen in the blood.  Oxygen goes into the brain, suppressing normal thought patterns and allowing consciousness to emerge. These practices are best in a guided setting with trained practitioners for maximum effect.

Fasting

Numerous cultures from around the world have utilized the tradition of fasting to clear the mind and body.  Although challenging at first, people report having extreme clarity from fasting.

Make the Choice

Ultimately, YOU are in control of YOUR mind. As much as you would like to think otherwise, you really are the boss.  If you want to still your mind, CHOOSE to still your mind.  It’s a powerful move we always have available, but often overlook its full potential.

 

The top things that are stressing you out that you aren’t even aware of

I deal with a lot of people who seem very frazzled and overwhelmed or are complaining about certain aspects of their life and they say to me, “oh, it would all be fine if this would just fall into place.”

But, I want to say there are so many more pieces affecting them than just that one thing that they are looking at.  For starters, your thoughts can create a stress hormone release in your body and your body won’t realize the difference between an actual stressor in your environment versus you just thinking about that stressor.

So, that’s why it is so important to work on your mindset and your awareness of yourself and your brain because being aware of what your mind is doing is extremely important to shift your thoughts onto more positive things and create a relaxation response.

Another big issue I see is the environment that people actually live in.  Did you know that being under florescence lights or even LED lights is terrible for your mitochondria? Your mitochondria are the powerhouses of every single cell in your body so if you are damaging your mitochondria you can bet that you’re damaging every cell in your body and I’m not going to be fully healthy and productive. That’s why it is so important to be cognizant of what’s in your environment such as: the lights, materials used (carpet or flooring can have toxins in them), chemicals used in the house, or being released from other products in the house. I knew someone who was reacting to their brand-new mattress because of all the fire retardant that had been sprayed on the mattress. In addition, one of the biggest biological stressors is mold in your environment. So many people are living in moldy houses and not even realizing it. Mold is an entirely independent topic which we’ll will discuss later but just know that that’s a part of your stress load too.

So, along with the physical materials in your house, there are also electromagnetic frequencies (EMF’s) that are stressful for your body and brain. Think about that Wi-Fi signal going through your house, it’s also going through you. It’s important to think about turning off your Wi-Fi at night and grounding any dirty electricity that may be in your house.

Lastly, we will also discuss emotional and psychological stress. So many athletes would tell me how they were reducing their training load but not recovering as fast. It wasn’t until they told me about relationship or emotional drama that has been occurring in their life recently that I understood how huge of an impact it has on your recovery time.

If you’re living in an emotionally drama filled environment that is wearing down your system every single day, than these may be bigger stressors than even challenging workouts.  If there is stress at work or a financial burden than these also pile on to the big picture of added stress in your life. Therefore, it’s very important to understand where you can reduce any of these extraneous stress inducers to reduce your overall load and give your body the best chance at being healthy and thriving! For more tools and information check out the other articles in the blog or schedule your free consultation today!

Overtraining, Burnout, and Stress Impact Everyone

Not everyone who suffers from overtraining is playing a sport.

Life is a sport. Even though there might not be a clock running or points being scored,  we are confronted with deadlines and bills to pay.

So many of the people that come to me with symptoms of overtraining are simply moms who have 1,000 things to accomplish every single day and no break—no chance to recover.

They wake up, they prepare their kids lunches, wake the kids up, make them breakfast, drive them to school, then drop them off, rush to work where they are confronted with deadlines, bureaucracies, temperamental co-workers and the like. From work, they rush back to pick up their kids from school. These women squeeze in errands for the family and pick up their kids from school. To add to the complexity of life, maybe they take their kids to an after school practice for a sport to then rush home to make the family dinner. But, the day isn’t over. Now it’s time to help with homework and then crawl into bed to do it all over again the next day day in and day out. Maybe they had a chance to pay a little attention to a spouse who feels neglected.

This hectic lifestyle is what leads to OTS (overtraining syndrome) because it’s not how hard you’re physically training necessarily, but rather it’s the overall load on your physiology that wears you down. The fact that your adrenal glands are constantly working; pumping out adrenaline and cortisol under chronic stress can lead to the same physiological symptoms of an overtrained athlete who doesn’t allow themselves proper recovery time.

Furthermore, most of these people are so stressed out and not regulating their blood sugar properly with the right balance of macronutrients at meals that their blood sugar drops and causes an even larger stress response. When the adrenal gland’s sense a blood sugar drop they immediately pump out cortisol to raise blood sugar levels. Over time, this roller coaster wears down the adrenal glands and causes adrenal fatigue or cortisol insufficiency. This cascade then leads to hormonal disruption of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone among others.

So, many overtrained athletes and overworked people have a lot of hormone imbalances due to the deregulation of stress hormones. My goal is not to scare people and make them afraid of a little stress, but I do want to make people aware that even if they don’t fall into the category of elite athletes training for an event, they still are taxing their bodies. And, the same recovery techniques are extremely important for these people just as with athletes in training.

These techniques include: daily meditation or mind relaxation techniques, balanced nutritious meals, a sense of love and community, and in some cases, proper supplements. I have seen drastic improvements in people’s physical state as well as their mood and emotional well being just from changing a few daily habits.

One quick and easy tool that I teach everybody on their first day is to close their eyes and put one hand over their belly and one hand over their heart and just take some slow deep breath’s into their bellies. That’s one of countless simple yet effective techniques.

So, if you’re feeling burned out or overrun. Check out more information about recovery techniques. It’s important not to wait until your system becomes so worn down that you are emotionally drained, depressed, and realize your health is slipping away.