It’s back! Without warning and with vengeance. Sometimes it lasts minutes, sometimes hours.
Even though I'm primarily talking about hormonal anxiety here, these remedies will be useful for anxiety of any kind.
I start to feel shaky inside. Quivery like. I worry something awful is about to happen health wise. Then I remember. This is another bout of intense anxiety due to a hormonal surge. It hasn't happened for many months. In fact, it's hardly happened all year. It used to be daily.
Sometimes it's more intense than others. The shakiness always comes first. It used to be very very intense with visible shaking of my entire body - legs, teeth chattering, shivering. I'd get really, really cold. I feel intense anxiety in my body. My mind reacts to my body feeling unfamiliar, I feel anxious. My bowels move; it's a reaction to my thinking response to the anxiety I feel in my body. There is a process I go through each time This is it.
I hate it. But I try to befriend it. I know it cannot hurt me. It hasn’t. It has come and gone hundreds of times in the last five years. I talk myself through it.
Remembering what worked in the past, I took action and thought I'd share my list here again:
1. Chamomile Tea is something I drank all day long when my menopausal anxiety was at its worst. It was normal for me to drink 6-8 cups a day. It is great for relaxation and sleep. It has other benefits including lowering blood sugar, slowing osteoporosis, reducing inflammation and treating cold symptoms
2. L-Theanine is an amino acid that is great for its relaxation and calming affects without causing drowsiness. During times of added stress or feelings of panic it can be highly effective.
3. Breathing Techniques have been incredibly useful for me too. In particular, pranayama breathing is easy, can be done anywhere and is super-effective.
4. Mindfulness Meditation as a daily practice has been life-changing for me. Here is the mindfulness meditation practice I do twice daily.
5. Yoga really grounds me. After practising for some years. albeit sporadically at times, whenever I sit on my mat to stretch I instantly feel still. Even a 10-15 minute yoga practice each day has made a big difference to my flexibility and to my connection with my mind, body and soul.
Whether you're dealing with menopause, anxiety of the times we are all going through right now, both or something completely different, take good care of yourself.
Rest. Breathe. Be.
With love,
