Three strategies to manage chronic anxiety
Constant worry, stress and anxiety can take a toll on the body. Physical symptoms can include digestive disturbance, fatigue, achy muscles, and poor immunity. Additionally, emotional, and mental symptoms can include foggy brain, mood swings, and lowered motivation. Read on to discover the role your nervous system plays and three effective ways to regulate it so that you can manage your everyday with more ease and calm.
Why is my nervous system not regulated in the first place?
You may be wondering how did I get to the point that my nervous system is dysregulated? Good question! Our nervous system has an important function in our life – it lets us know when we can rest and relax, and it helps us know when we need to fight or flee. Evolutionarily, this is critical as without this system we would have not known to run from predators (think saber tooth tiger) or when to recharge our batteries (think laying down to nap).
While we have evolved from our ancestors, unfortunately our nervous system’s ability to detect danger and recover from it has become increasingly more complicated and at times unsuccessful.
In the book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, the author Dr. Robert Sapolsky explains this phenomenon well. A Zebra that is being chased by a lion will secrete stress hormones in their attempt to save their life. If they manage to survive, the Zebra’s stress hormones will return to baseline, and they will then go on their day worry free until the next time it faces a predator wanting it for dinner. Dr. Sapolsky contrasts this to human’s chronic stress that rarely returns to normal levels. Unlike Zebra’s our stressors rarely have to do with life or death but rather everyday psychological stress i.e., emails from coworkers, planning children schedules, figuring out finances (the list goes on). The outcome is that we live in a chronic state of “fight, flight or freeze” meaning we always feel on edge and on guard. In short, our adaptive system of being able to flee danger has become maladaptive.
However, there is good news. With practice, there are various ways to help support your nervous system to learn to recover from everyday stress. Through these proven bottom-up approaches (using somatic practice) you can remind your nervous system it is safe to rest and relax.
Three Techniques to Calm your Nervous System
1. Deep breathing
Deep breathing is one of the most well-known ways to regulate the nervous system. A key to deep breathing is extending the exhale. The elongated exhale stimulates your vagus nerve which is responsible for activating the parasympathetic nervous system. In addition, by elongating and improving the quality of breath, more oxygen can get to your thinking brain to help manage difficult situations you may be encountering.
A popular and simple approach to deep breathing is the box breathing technique. Start with an inhale (count to 4), hold (count to 4) and exhale (count to 4 or 5) and repeat. This can be repeated several times until you feel more relaxed.
2. Use tapping points
Emotional freedom technique (EFT) is a technique that uses the same energy and meridian system used in acupuncture. In a time of stress, you can tap on the acupuncture points that are connected to calming the nervous system. Tapping typically includes incorporating statements to help process the difficult feeling or situation.
You would follow these steps:
1. Identify the issue or feeling that you are struggling with
2. Create a statement that describes your issue, followed by a statement of self acceptance i.e. “even though I am upset I did not get invited to the party, I deeply and completely accept myself”
3. Begin by tapping the edge of your palm, below your little finger. At the same time, say your statement out loud 3 times.
4. Proceed to tapping all each of the rest of the acupuncture points (identified in image), one at a time. Repeating your statement 3 times for each point.
5. Stop and reassess how you are feeling
For more information on the acupuncture points and how to try tapping, you can click here
3. Engage with your senses
When we are in a state of anxiety, we become hyper focused on the stressor at hand which can lead us to feeling ungrounded. By actively engaging your five (5) senses, you can bring yourself back into the present moment and therefore remind your nervous system that you do not need to be in fight or flight mode.
A common method to remember is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique. In a moment of stress (or even anytime throughout the day) take a moment and try to focus on:
5 things you see
4 things you feel
3 things you hear
2 things you smell
1 thing you taste
You can always repeat this anytime you need until you feel more grounded.