By Anne Marie Allen Reflexologist, Reiki Practitioner & Massage Therapist
If you have anxiety, you’ll know how debilitating it is and how it can totally take over your life, and being told not to worry about it or it’ll be fine really doesn’t help.
Anxiety can be so crippling that it’s the only thing on your mind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It can interfere with your sleep, social plans and take over your life.
If you have anxiety you may feel:
• Panic
• Palpitations
• Sweating
• Worried about being judged, embarrassed or ridiculed
• Over thinking
• Self-conscious
• Fixated about everyday events
• Unrealistic excessive worry with little or no reason
• Uneasiness
• Sleep problems
• Shortness of breath
• Tense muscles
• Dry mouth
• Not feeling calm
• Dizziness
• Dry mouth
It can be hard to get across and explain to friends and family the weight and depth of how your feeling.
Therapies such as reflexology can help using pressure on reflex points such as adrenal glands, brain, pineal, pituitary can help relieve anxiety. I often do reflexology with clients who suffer with anxiety in varying degrees, and they always feel the benefits after a having this treatment. If you can’t access reflexology, here are a few tips to try at home:
1. Distract yourself – When you’re feeling anxious you just wish your head had an off button so you can turn the thoughts off for a little while…Well that’s tip number one, do anything to distract yourself: gardening, read, a puzzle, go to the cinema, surround yourself with friends, do anything and just get out of your head for a while.
2. Exercise – Start a new exercise, this has a two-fold effect meaning concentrating on the steps in a Zumba class or the poses in a yoga class helps you to stop thinking of anything else anxiety based and the endorphins help you to feel good too.
3. Super Mood Boosting Foods – Check your diet to ensure that it’s not too full of processed foods or caffeine and then up your intake of nuts, soy, milk, yoghurt especially live, dark green leafies, dark orange vegetables, soup, legumes, citrus, wheatgerm, berries.
4. Meditate – Meditation research has found it helpful for relieving anxiety even five or ten minutes a day can help.
5. Balance – I’ve used reiki a lot with anxiety and it often provides welcome relief,. When you have a reiki treatment your whole mind, body and spirit are balanced along with your chakras and any blocked or stagnant energy is released leaving you feeling lighter, clearer and more like you. If you’re not trained in reiki you can try a reiki treatment with your local practitioner. If you find it beneficial you may like to learn how to do reiki yourself.
6. Aromatherapy – Bergamot essential oil is wonderfully calming and relaxing and is often used to help anxiety and depression, to use it at home you can add it to your oil burner, sprinkle it on a tissue or add it to your bath.
If your interested in trying reflexology, reiki or in purchasing some bergamot essential oil contact me at Acorn Natural Health Centre on 01773 687 349 or book online at acornnaturalhealth.co.uk
