Feeling Stressed and Anxiety-Ridden

October 21st, 2009 by Liz

If you regularly feel stressed and want to transcend an anxiety-ridden existence, I encourage you to give the following tip a try:

Every hour, or even more frequently if possible, close your eyes and breath deeply for a full minute.

Do your best to focus on nothing but your breathing. Feel your abdomen go in and out as air enters and leaves the deepest corners of your lungs.

This simple exercise has a powerful effect on your autonomic nervous system.

More specifically, it calms your sympathetic nervous system-the entity that goes into overdrive when you’re stressed- and it increases output by your parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation and emotional balance.

Don’t neglect to keep your eyes closed as you focus on deep breathing. Removing stimuli from the countless neurons that make up your visual pathway is critical to restoring balance within your autonomic nervous system.

This tip is simple and free, which means that most people are likely to underestimate the effect that it can have on their health over the short and long term.

If necessary, post highly visible reminders around your work and/or living spaces that will help make this breathing and relaxation exercise an unbreakable habit in your daily routine.

If you’ve been highly stressed for many years or you’ve experienced a highly stressful event that has left you feeling burned out, you might combine this breathing exercise with intake of an Ayurvedic herb called ashwagandha.

Another habit that can help you stay emotionally balanced and help repair stress-induced damage to your nervous and endocrine systems is to ensure a good night’s sleep.

The hormones that are most important to keeping your cells healthy – growth hormone, erythropoietin, and testosterone – are mainly produced while you are sleeping deeply. An erratic sleep schedule is virtually guaranteed to prevent you from being at your emotional, mental, and physical best.

Author Dr. Ben Kim