Anxiety is one of the most prevalent mental health conditions globally, affecting approximately 301 million people in 2019, making it the most common mental disorder (WHO[1]). It manifests through a range of symptoms, including excessive worry, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, rapid heartbeat, and physical tension[2],[3].
In Ayurveda, anxiety is attributed to an imbalance of vata dosha, which governs movement and activity in the body and mind. When vata becomes excessive, it can disrupt the nervous system, leading to symptoms such as restlessness, fear, anxiety, confusion, loss of confidence, overthinking and inability to sleep.
Here are four unexpected ways to help anxiety.
Welcome anxiety in
What? I know this must sound totally counter intuitive, but this is a useful method for dealing with anxiety. When we’re anxious, we may not like the feeling or may have beliefs like “I shouldn’t feel like this”. Both create an urgency to change the situation and an tense inner atmosphere of self-criticism. This just adds another layer of anxiety to the original anxiety. Instead of berating yourself for being anxious or desperately trying to push it away, try welcoming it in.
Imagine your anxiety is like a little child within you, feeling really scared. If you had a child run up to you saying, “I’m scared”, would you shoo him or her away telling them to stop being scared or would you naturally try to comfort them, maybe give them a cuddle and wait until they’ve calmed down? Which would help them be calmer quicker, being told to be quiet and go away or to be held in your arms as their nervous system calms down?
When you’re feeling anxiety, imagine this small, scared child within and welcome him or her to come and sit with you awhile. They may want to snuggle onto your lap and just sit with you. Tell them they can stay as long as they like. “You are welcome, and you can stay as long as you like”.
Put some oil up your nose
The nose is a gateway to the brain and in Ayurveda, we use medicated oil nasya (nasal) drops to take advantage of this connection. Putting a couple of drops of these medicated oils up your nose daily is an important part of the Ayurvedic daily routine and helps not only with creating a balanced mental state but also respiratory and immune function. Anu taila nasya oil is a good oil to try this out with, you can buy some for 10% off here.
Have some saffron
Saffron is a lovely herb to have with milk, rice or baked goods but did you know it has also been shown to be as effective as diazepam[5]? Try adding some to some warm milk for an evening drink to not only gain its benefits but also experience the grounding anti-vata effects of the warm milk too. The downside of saffron is the price so if that’s prohibitive, there are some other wonderful medicinal herbs such as gotu kola, brahmi, shankapushpi and ashvagandha which can all help with anxiety. These aren’t quite so tasty in milk but can be taken as powders or capsules. If you’d like your own personalised prescription made up, you can do that with me here or by booking a consultation.
Swap out the coffee and alcohol
OK so not so unexpected but still worth shouting about as so many of us minimise the effects of these. Ayurveda uses the concept of like increases like. Anything that increase the qualities of movement in the body, will increase vata which also has the quality of movement. We love coffee, and other caffeinated drinks, for their ability to get things moving in the body and mind but for those of us who have more vata already, this addition is too much. If you are suffering from anxiety, slowly decrease or even stop the caffeine and you’ll notice your anxiety reduce. A great alternative to coffee is No Caf or other barley or dandelion coffees. You can read more about caffeine and Ayurveda here.
Alcohol is a funny one as it is a depressant, so you’d expect it to reduce anxiety and when it is first consumed, it feels like it does. However, alcohol also depletes us of ojas, our innate vitality and immunity (read more here). Ojas gives us strength and resilience so depleting it will lead to an increase in vata and anxiety. Try a dry month and see how your anxiety lessens.
Give one or all these four a shot and let me know how you feel. If you need more support (plenty more in the Ayurveda store cupboard for anxiety!) then book in for a consultation or Shadow Work exploration call.
[1] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/anxiety-disorders
[2] https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/feelings-and-symptoms/anxiety-disorder-signs/
[3] https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/symptoms/
[4] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorder
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