How Do Anxiety Necklaces Work?

Anxiety is the general feeling of unease, fear, and fidgetiness. Anxiety can be brought on by many things -  life events, exams, relationships. Anxiety happens when your brain sends a message to your body to be on high alert, which in ancient times would've been used to run from menacing predators.

This 'warning' message is shot through the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of your body that controls your heart rate and breathing. When your body reads it, the fight or flight response kicks in instantly to save us from imminent danger.

The fight or flight response is a survival mechanism that our bodies have developed over many millennia of avoiding being eaten by saber-toothed tigers.

The issue, now, is that that doesn't happen often. Other than dire situations, we deal with many other stressors that don't require us to run away from a predator immediately.

When we feel that threat, our bodies release stress hormones. These are adrenaline and cortisol. Those hormones prepare us to either fight the threat or run away.

This response is meant to keep us safe, but it can also be triggered by non-threatening situations. Things like public speaking, talking to an attractive person, taking a test, waiting for an interview, or simply being in an uncertain place.

Due to many modern-day stressors being long and drawn-out, instead of something we can quickly run away from, we're exposed to stress over a long period of time. This will cause our bodies to be in a constant state of high alert, constantly releasing cortisol and adrenaline leading to anxiety.

There are many ways to manage anxiety. One of the most popular ways is through deep breathing exercises.

Deep breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows down the heart rate and breathing, helping the body to relax. This in combination with mindfulness practices, like meditation or yoga, help train the brain to be more present and less reactive to stressors. 

One such way to aid your journey in reducing your anxiety is through anxiety necklaces, a tool that serves many purposes with the primary being slowing your breathing.

Slowly exhaling through the pendant of an anxiety necklace, which is usually a stainless steel cylinder a few inches long and about as wide as a pen, it can help calm anxiety by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body's rest-and-digest response.

When we are anxious or stressed, our sympathetic nervous system is activated, triggering the fight-or-flight response.

This causes our heart rate and breathing to increase, preparing our body for dire action.

Instead, by taking slow, controlled breaths through an anxiety necklace, we can counteract this response and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Breathing through an anxiety necklace creates resistance, which creates effort and slows down the breath. This slowdown of breathing regulates your patterns and reduces hyperventilation, which is a common symptom of anxiety.

By slowing down your breathing, you signal your body that it's safe to relax, that there's no predator near, and that the threat is gone. This, as we discussed, activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Studies show that slow breathing can also reduce those stress hormones we talked about - cortisol and adrenaline - thus promoting the feeling of relaxation and calm.

As an additional benefit to activating the parasympathetic nervous system and reducing stress hormones at the same time, your mindfulness and ability to think clearly increases.

Focusing on the breath, as you have to when slowing it down with an anxiety necklace, your attention shifts. It shifts to your body away from your mind, to your sensations and feelings.

Slow breathing through an anxiety necklace therefore can be a simple and effective tool for managing anxiety, promoting overall well-being, and staying grounded all day no matter the circumstances.