Natural Remedies for Anxiety

Anxiety is an incredibly common condition that can really affect your daily life. There are many ways to manage and alleviate your anxiety in order to enjoy your life to the full.

Here are some suggestions of natural remedies for anxiety.

Get Moving

Exercising regularly is an excellent way to improve both your mental and your physical health. It is also not a momentary solution. The positive effects can last for hours after your last sweat session. Exercise is an excellent way to naturally remedy your anxiety – it wakes up and tires your body, boosts your mood and builds your confidence as you experience various physical successes. Every time you run a little faster or longer, manage a push-up, find a move a little easier or try something new, your confidence grows and you feel calmer in yourself. There are also many physiological effects, such as decreased levels of tension, elevated mood and improved sleep that occur when you move your body on a regular basis.

Avoid Common Vices

There are certain things that we turn to in life to make ourselves feel better, but often they are not the best for us in the long-term. Vices such as nicotine and alcohol can aid you to feel calmer in the moment but the effect of the natural sedative wears off, research has show that they in fact can have a negative effect on your mental health in the future. The other vice that affects your nerves in caffeine. When you are in an anxious state, cutting down on caffeine or cutting it out completely for a while can make a huge difference to the way you feel on a daily basis. Cutting out sugar has also been proven to help when it comes to great natural remedies for anxiety.

Get Some Quality Sleep

This may be easier said than done for many people who struggle with anxiety as insomnia is a common symptom to suffer from. There are many ways to improve the quality of your sleep and many of them can be done in the hours that you are awake. Screen time is a big one – cut down on blue light devices when you are getting ready for bed. Try to read a book instead – you can even ensure you have warmer, orange-toned light bulbs or blue-light blocking glasses to help you with this. Try to establish a good night time routine. Keep your room cool and dark, write down anything that is on your mind before you try to go to sleep and avoid large meals or caffeine in the lead up to your bedtime.

Going to sleep at the same time every night is also a common tip, however it is also advised to only sleep when you are tired at night and to get up and leave the room if you are tossing and turning and feeling awake. This way, you will avoid feeling anxious when in the bedroom. Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best natural remedies for anxiety. Don’t get worked up about it. Your body will welcome it, the calmer that you are.

Eat Well

Things that can exacerbate feelings of anxiousness are dehydration, artificial flavours and food colourings and low blood sugar. Sugar can also cause spikes and dips in energy and mood in many people. Those with anxiety conditions can be heavily affected by what they put in their bodies. Monitoring your eating habits and adjusting your diet in accordance to how you react is an excellent way of managing this. Stay hydrated, cut down on processed foods and eat a balanced diet of lean proteins, complex carbs and a lot of fruits of vegetables, the colours of the rainbow. Many people also tend to get irritable when they do not eat for long periods of time, so many people with anxiety find that eating little and often works better so that they feel satiated at all times.

Breathing & Meditation

Many people with anxiety tend to take short and shallow breaths. Taking deliberate, long, slow, deep breaths on a regular basis can slow your heart rate and soothe your mind. A yoga or meditation practice can help with this. The main aim of meditation is to remove overwhelming thoughts and create a sense of calm in your mind. It has been proven to be an excellent natural remedy for anxiety. Another easy thing to do is to focus on being mindful. Focus on one activity at a time and try to avoid distractions. It trains your mind to not be easily distracted.

Turn to Nature

This tip is two-fold. One way is to physically get outside in nature. The other is use the elements of nature to supplement your diet and lifestyle in order to benefit from the beauty of the world around you. The practice of grounding (putting your bare feet on the ground), forest bathing (spending time in a forest) and spending time with animals have all been proven to be beneficial for those with anxiety and other mental health issues, both in the short and the long term. How about a cup of tea? Chamomile tea is a common home remedy to calm frayed nerves and to promote sleep and now the science is backing it up.

A 2009 study showed chamomile to be a powerful natural remedy for anxiety. Aromatherapy & essential oils are also a common home aid to feel relaxed, the most common being lavender in a warm bath, candles or pillow spray. Others that can help soothe anxiety include bergamot, grapefruit and ylang ylang.