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Anxiety disorders affect millions of people all over the world, with the number of cases still on the rise, year after year. Unfortunately, anxiety does not limit itself to affecting your mental well-being negatively, but it can also have bad effects on your physical health.
Some people resort to harmful coping mechanisms, such as drugs and alcohol, in an attempt to overcome anxiety. Even anti-anxiety medication has been known to give quite unpleasant side-effects, and it’s better not to resort to things that artificially alter your brain chemistry, if it can be avoided.
Fortunately, this article will list the top 5 natural ways to relieve anxiety, which anyone can use to achieve a calmer, healthier state.
First, let’s take a look at how anxiety works, and what harm it can do to our bodies and minds if left unchecked.
Anxiety: How It Works, And How It Harms Us
Why Anxiety Happens
Anxiety disorders can occur at any time, regardless of factors such as age or sex, and for a ton of different reasons. No one is really 100% safe from developing such an issue.
There are way too many possible causes behind anxiety disorders, varying from person to person, to list all of them in this article. Instead, I’ll just list a few of the most common reasons:
Genetics - Unfortunately, some genes can make you more predisposed towards developing an anxiety disorder at some point in your life. On the bright side, though, these genes don’t dictate whether or not you manage to overcome anxiety, so it’s within your power to do so.
Brain Chemical Imbalance - Having an imbalance of certain chemicals in your brain can mess with your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (more on those a bit lower in the article), which can devolve into full-blown anxiety disorders.
Trauma - Experiencing a traumatic event, such as a near-death experience or the loss of a loved one, can give you an anxiety issue. Of course, the traumatic event doesn’t have to be that severe: it can also be something more along the lines of losing your job, constantly worrying about bills, a bad breakup, or others.
How Anxiety Happens
All of the causes mentioned above, as well as the plethora of others left unmentioned, have one thing in common: they mess with the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic nervous system, also known as the fight or flight system, is the system which has the job of putting our minds and bodies into “survival mode” when in dangerous, potentially life-or-death situations.
The parasympathetic nervous system, on the other hand, has the opposite job. Also known as the rest and digest system, its job is to calm us down after a fight or flight response, once the coast is clear.
What anxiety does is it causes the sympathetic nervous system to activate its fight or flight response during times when it’s not only unneeded, but also detrimental. For example, you’re (usually) not in any danger when at home watching television, but an anxiety disorder will make your survival mode kick in as if you’re being chased by the crocodiles you’re watching on the wildlife documentary on TV.
Sometimes, the parasympathetic system is affected, as well. Its activation may be delayed by the anxiety disorder, resulting in a longer than normal fight or flight mode.
What Harm Can Anxiety Do To Us?
First off, mentally and emotionally, anxiety disorders are very taxing on their sufferers. Living in near-constant worry, fear and stress is highly unpleasant. It can and does often lead to a decreased quality of life.
Many people become more withdrawn in order to avoid potential triggers, and end up isolated, with a damaged social life. This can make the existing anxiety issue even worse.
Anxiety has also been linked with depression, another serious psychological health issue.
Regarding physical harm done to us by anxiety, there’s no shortage of that, either.
Anxiety has been linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, gastrointestinal disorders, and in some cases even strokes.
The human body is not supposed to be on a steady diet of adrenaline and stress-related hormones like that, and when it is put on one due to anxiety, things can get dangerous.
Fortunately, the top 5 natural ways to relieve anxiety shown below will ensure you have the proper knowledge and tools to reclaim your peace and quiet, along with your health, from anxiety’s clutches.
Top 5 Natural Ways To Relieve Anxiety
#1 - Meditation
Meditation is a powerful tool against anxiety. It grounds you in the moment, making you present in the here and now, rather than dwelling on worries and fears.
The concept is simple, albeit a bit difficult for beginners to get right the first few times.
You’ll need a calm, quiet place, preferably without anyone else around. You’ll also need a comfortable place to sit or lay down on, such as a bed, couch or armchair.
After you’ve ensured you have all that’s needed, you should get into the most comfortable position you can, close your eyes, and breathe in and out slowly, while directing your mind to focus on the present, and relaxing.
This engages your rest and digest system, which gets rid of any anxiety you might’ve previously felt up to that point. It can be repeated as needed when anxiety occurs again. With time, it can even get rid of anxiety altogether.
The main downside of this method are the inability to do it in too many places.
#2 - Deep Breathing Exercises
Yet another simple yet powerful tool against anxiety, deep breathing exercises are a sort of “meditation-lite” approach.
The process is quite straightforward: Breathe in deeply, through your abdomen, for a number of seconds, proceed to hold the breath in for a few more seconds, then slowly and fully exhale for yet more seconds. Repeat as many times as needed.
Make sure to only do as many seconds as you’re fully comfortable with! It’s not healthy to strain yourself when doing these.
What these exercises do is they activate the rest and digest system and its response, which very quickly calms you down.
While more “portable” of a method than meditation, there’s still the downside of being unable to do deep breathing exercises in public settings if you do not wish to attract attention to yourself.
#3 - Comfort Object
Having a comfort object is a proven way to slightly lower anxiety levels.
The way this method works is by choosing an object, such as a pencil, visit card or shoelace, and fiddling with it whenever you feel anxious.
By focusing on this comfort object, you get to divert some attention away from the anxiety-related thoughts and worries, which will somewhat lower your anxiety levels.
The main downside is that it’s not really as effective as some of the other methods in this article, so it’s best used in combination with one or more other methods.
#4 - Comfort Habit
The principle is the same as having a comfort object, only with this method, the comforting is achieved through an action rather than an object.
For example, whenever you feel anxiety creeping up, you can begin performing your chosen habit, be it rubbing your elbow with your hand, whistling, or something else.
It works exactly the same as having a comfort object: diverting part of your attention away from anxiety-related thoughts and towards the habit.
The downside is the same as for the comfort object, namely that it’s not as effective as some of the other methods listed here.
#5 - The Best Natural Way To Relieve Anxiety, The Bliss Eden
Finally, we have the best of the top 5 natural ways to relieve anxiety: the Bliss Eden.
This wonderful little pendant-like tool is all you need to effectively combine all methods above into one portable, easy-to-use method, while also getting rid of the drawbacks of those methods.
Masterfully crafted out of medical-grade 316 stainless steel, it is free of any harmful chemicals or materials, and completely natural and safe to use.
The interior and mouthpiece are shaped in such a way to allow for deep breathing through it, while also making it easy, for both experts and beginners to deep breathing exercises.
Thanks to the shape of the interior, breathing deeply through it accurately mimics the effects provided by meditation and deep breathing exercises. It is also shaped in such a way as to make breathing through it whisper-silent, which, in combination with its pendant-like shape and the fact it comes with a chain to be worn around your neck, will not attract suspicion or unwanted attention from others, allowing you to use it in public, even on the go.
Feather-light and small, it can be carried on your person anywhere, to be used as needed.
It can also be used in place of the comfort object and comfort habit methods.
The Bliss Eden effectively combines all of the best natural ways to fight anxiety into just one tool that can be used anywhere, at any time.
When ordering the Bliss Eden, you get to pick from four beautiful colors for it: matte black, gold, rose gold or silver.
The Bliss Eden also comes packaged with a cleaning cloth and brush, a chakra bracelet in case you wish to get started on your spiritual journey, and stickers.
There is a money-back guarantee included, in case you are dissatisfied with the product’s performance, as well as excellent customer support and 3-day US-wide shipping.
All of this makes the Bliss Eden by far the best tool to help you regain your life from anxiety.
Conclusion
Overcoming anxiety is no easy feat, and plenty of people worldwide struggle with it for a long time before making any progress.
Thankfully, little yet powerful tools like the Bliss Eden exist, which make the journey towards a calmer, healthier life much easier.
I wish you the very best in overcoming your anxiety issues, take care and be kind to yourselves.