Written by Dr. Sandra Miranda, ND

So many of us have struggled with anxiety with varying symptoms in the past but the past year has made things even more intense. It is difficult to even interact with people without thinking you may be harming them or yourself in some way.   Anxiety is actually a really important part of your mind in that it helps keep you safe if you are getting too close to a cliff or run the chance of getting eaten by a bear but when anxiety is imbalanced and on the far end of the spectrum causing an all stop of your ability to function in your life it becomes a problem and is no longer helping keep you safe it is now hindering your ability to live.

There are a lot of things that can be done with stress and anxiety and the first simple thing that you can do is to learn about it and understand why you have it. It is completely possible to learn how to manage your anxiety and be able to live a healthy and vibrant life no matter how crazy the world outside gets. As you learn to get a better handle on your anxiety over the long run you will also as a consequence get to know yourself better and understand what brings value to your life and be able to find more joy in your life.

A big part of the process is to understand that you can do something about it and turn and face the situation.

A 33 year old mother of 3 recently visited us with a history of anxiety that had gotten worse in the last 2 years and had been put on various mood stabilizing drugs and was not able to go to an in person therapist because things where shut down so she had been suffering in silence. It was finally so bad that she knew she had to do something. We started her on a process of stabilizing her blood sugar by having her work more protein into her diet first thing in the morning which as a side note really helped her kids not be as whiny as the day progressed. We also started her doing some automatic writing daily for 15 minutes 4-5 days weekly and had her destroy the writing when she was finished. We instructed her to just start writing, I don’t know what to write multiple times till other thoughts start to pop up.

She started learning a lot about herself in the process and learned that she needed to start taking care of herself and get a better handle of the other triggers that she was having. She also realized she had some digestive issues and started working on those in order to improve her health.  She continued her relationship with us and improved her anxiety to the point that she is recognizing her triggers more consistently and is able keep her mind and blood sugar more stable so that she is enjoying her life and her children and husband a lot more than she was in the past.

You can start now as well with some simple diet and lifestyle modifications.

Start with protein for breakfast and doing the automatic writing and destroy your writing when you are finished for at least 5 days in a row and see what you can learn about yourself.

Through this process you can improve your anxiety now and reduce your stress and get to know yourself better in the process. We are social creatures and need some level of connection both with ourselves and others.

Anxiety is usually an indicator of underlying dysfunctions of the body and interferes with daily living. Often, many people feel like they are stuck working through their anxiousness all by themselves, with little to no support to help them through difficult times. Fortunately, there are natural safe tools that you can use right now at home that will provide you with some relief without medication, while working on the underlying cause. It is important to note that we first have to get your physiology stabilized before we can dig in and find the root cause of your anxiety. It is crucial to stabilize your physiology first, because your body may not be able to handle the healing if we do not take that first stabilizing step. Think of it like this: if there were a massive earthquake right now, the only thing you would probably be worried about is a nearby building falling down on you. You might be frantic and not be able to think clearly and rationally. That is why it’s important to allow yourself to be stabilized first, before we dig into the root cause, as it may cause added chaos.

Diet and lifestyle also play a major role in anxiety, which may be surprising to some. If you need more help and guidance, call us for a free “Meet&Greet” 905-239-3900 – we are happy to help!