400: How can I find the cause of my anxiety and help myself feel more calm?
Points covered in this episode:
We feel more comfortable when we can find obvious cause and effect.
We think if we can understand what’s causing our anxiety we can tackle it and the anxiety will go away.
But often with anxiety we don’t have a clue what’s causing it, and that adds to our distress. Anxiety may be triggered by a stressful event months ago, or it may have been building beneath the surface of our awareness and reached a tipping point.
Ayurveda, India’s ancient science of life, offers a broad and simple perspective on anxiety that we can easily relate to. Having given some understanding, Ayurveda offers a wealth of advice on lifestyle, attitudes, nutrition, breathing practices and more that can help you feel more calm and in control of your life again.
Ayurveda defines anxiety as over-stimulation of the nervous system. Provoked by too much incoming information, for example, looking at screens, commutes and frequent traveling, and the general noise and light pollution we live with today. All these things can over stimulate the nervous system and cause anxiety, especially if we are unaware of the effect constant noise and movement has on our mind.
Awareness and adjustment are key to overcoming anxiety
Once we start considering how anxiety is provoked by over-stimulation of our nervous system, we can begin looking at cause and effect and noticing how certain activities, situations and environments can increase our anxiety and think about what steps we can take to bring balance and support ourselves in feeling more grounded and calm again.
What helps restore balance?
Ayurveda offers a variety of lifestyle measures we can easily adopt and work into our lives for helping anxiety.
Some examples are: keeping to a routine as much as possible, oil massage, self-care, keeping hydrated, eating a simple and nourishing diet (guidance on specific foods, herbs and spices for calming anxiety is given), slowing down, walking in nature, early nights and winding down without screens or TV.
Other points covered in this episode include:
How to massage a pint on your foot to help you feel calm and settle into sleep.
His focusing on self-care can help you build resilience and calm.
Why don't have to pinpoint a specific cause to get well.
A bedtime drink recommended in Ayurveda for calming anxiety and nourishing your nerves.