Many of us are struggling to keep our heads above the water long enough to take a good deep breath. The 'daily news' keeps rocking our boat by evoking fear and anxiety. The waters are made choppy and the boat we're rowing is letting in water. We may have had an oar snatched away from us and no matter how hard we keep rowing we are getting nowhere. We are not alone - so may others are also 'hyper-aroused' and struggling to make progress. We all affect one another by our moods and behaviours and so anxiety 'ripples' on and on. This heightened emotional state we call Anxiety has a detrimental effect upon all of our body systems; our ability to think and plan; our sleep patterns; our ability to fight off infections and heal our wounds; our relationships....our whole lives! Certain parts of the brain are over-working - which has a knock-on effect too, and this, especially if combined with lack of sleep, results in a form of Depression.
All that we need and want to 'rely-upon' can suddenly become unpredictable and transient. Our work contracts; our home and its monetary value; our planning for our old-age.... is all in a state of flux. Previous generations had different types of stress to those of the present day, but stress anxiety and fear all erode the basis of our lives. Our brains can't tell the difference between a real physical threat to our life and the adrenalin produced by media 'news' and our active imaginations
At our primitive level we still activate "will I survive....will I belong....will I thrive?"
Relating this to Abraham Maslow's Pyramid or Hierarchy of Needs, many of us nowadays are struggling at the bottom level and worrying about keeping our homes, having enough food to eat, keeping warm and safe. We become focussed upon these levels and cannot give any energy to our other 'higher' needs such as learning new things and appreciating beauty.
Our anxiety can take many forms such as Obsessions and Compulsions, social and performance anxiety or even a free flowing general anxiety. We are struggling to feel safe in an unsafe world.
So... that's the reality for most of us... but what can we do about it?
We cannot simply 'think' our way out of a heightened emotional state, neither can we rely upon affirmations and prayers. The only way to reduce your anxiety levels at the outset is to change your physiology. The first step is with the breath. Slowing down your breathing and extending the outgoing breath activates the parasympathetic nervous system which is our natural 'soother'. When we have calmed down the breath and released the tension in our body we can then refocus our attention and awareness and give our brain a reprieve from the incessant ruminating on things, and draining mind-chatter/head-heckling that we do to ourselves.
Personally, I also ensure that I eat well, although inexpensively, and I take natural supplements to ensure that I have enough of the nutrients my body needs to make the vital chemicals, enzymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters that I need in order to feel balanced and for my body to function well. I also listen to specific sounds that harmonize with my brain and bring it into a relaxed state (brainwave entrainment The body has its own natural 'tranquiliser' in the form of GABA (GammaAminoButyricAcid) - which can be purchased online via a Google search. I find that GABA leaves me toooooo calm and chilled out but I know of a couple of friends who find it very helpful.
"If the situation or problem is such that it can be remedied, then there is no need to worry about it... alternatively, if there is no way out, no solution, no possibility of resolution, then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you can't do anything about it anyway"... HH Dalai Lama
Maxine Harley founder of 'The Ripple Effect' Process (12 Psycho-emotional Educational groups) see http://www.the-ripple-effect.co.uk/ and http://www.qpp.uk.com/
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