Ten tips for supporting anxiety
Anxiety. I personally know that it can feel totally paralysing, overwhelming, suffocating and hard. Anxiety has seen me suffer panic attacks in the past and also placed me into a space where I have made decisions that don't nourish me well.
I know not only am I not alone and in fact the rate of anxiety is growing.
Women are more than twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with anxiety and prescribed medication including antidepressants to relieve its symptoms, the study found.
For every man using antidepressants, there are 2.26 women on them, 2.22 for Valium-like drugs called benzodiazepines, 2.33 for beta blockers and 2.19 for anticonvulsants.
“Even those drugs less frequently prescribed for more severe anxiety, like the antipsychotics, are more likely to be prescribed for women,” said Archer.
Use of anti-anxiety medication was steady between 2003 and 2008 but then began rising – possibly because of hardship due to the financial crash that year, she said.
The number of new prescriptions issued for anxiety rose from 25 or 26 per 1,000 person years at risk – a measure of the prevalence of anxiety – during that period to 43.6 in 2018.
The study found that the biggest rises in prescription of anti-anxiety drugs after that were in 25- to 34-year-olds, closely followed by under-25s and those aged 35 to 44. (study)
What natural methods can we use to support us when we are anxious?
I feel personally grateful and empowered that I've learned tools and rituals that help me in these moments and that I lean into and go back to, or double down on and I wanted to take the time to share these with you.
1. Super basic: I kick-start phone-based affirmations - I like the 'I am' app and how I can choose fave affirmations on a topic that I am looking for support with (such as wealth, mindset, health, addiction etc). APP DOWNLOAD HERE.
2. I play the Into the vortex meditations by Abraham Hicks: I cannot tell you how much I LOVE these. I have listened for over 9 years and some nights I'll play three or four in a row until I drift off to sleep. The app is a premium investment at $20 however as I said, 8 years of use, sometimes multiple times a day. It has paid for itself about 1M times (And even though you can listen to these for free on youTube, the app gives you the ability to do it without wifi so you can listen as you fall asleep). APP DOWNLOAD HERE
Here’s a FREE eBOOK for you that I created around these Into the Vortex meditations. You can see how to listen to them for free in here.
3. I move my body to sweating point. I move my body in a flow, a dance, or in a way that allows my muscles to compress. This releases myokines in the body that increase feelings of happiness. Walking is great too and if you can get outdoors, even better. (pssst, but if you can, sweat 😉)
4. I eat good, fresh, whole, healthy food. I drink as much hydrating, detoxifying tea as I can. I nourish my body as if my mental health relies on it (because it does). For me, this looks like a predominantly high fat, lower carb diet so that I’m not riding the highs and lows of an insulin roller-coaster. Less rice cakes, grains, breads, and white foods, more fat, colour, meats and eggs.
5. I make my living space clean, I diffuse oils that lift the space and rooms such as peppermint, frankincense, grapefruit, green mandarin, easy air, peppermint, citrus bliss, Adaptive, or lemon.
6. I go to sleep as early as I want or can. I sleep as late as I want or can. I rest and restore. I roll calming oils onto my chest, around my neck, and I massage them into my breasts, my hips and my stomach. I love Vetiver, Myrrh, Lavender, Balance. - At night I diffuse Lavender Peace, Vetiver, Easy Air, Frankincense or Bergamot.
7. I will rub Frankincense, bergamot, or Adaptiv blend directly onto the palms of my hands and take deep inhalations. This helps. This REALLY helps. All of these oils have properties that have been researched to support anxious feelings.
8. I take Adaptiv capules + Copaiba softgels if I know I am going to have a day that may increase feelings of anxiety. Adaptiv capsules contain a supportove blend of essential oils, and GABA and Botanical extract Sceletium, which comes from a succulent plant found in South Africa known as Kanna.
Sceletium Extract is responsibly sourced from a sustainable supply with endorsement by the South African indigenous knowledge holders. A unique phytochemical ingredient found in Sceletium Extract, brings a feeling of “alert serenity.”*
A quieting neurotransmitter, GABA, also helps promote relaxation.* GABA has a natural comforting effect and helps reduce feelings of apprehension and fear by decreasing neuronal excitability.* Sometimes called “the brakes of the brain,” because it lowers the activity of neural cells in the brain and central nervous system, it has the effect of moving the brain and the body into lower gear.*
By inhibiting neural activity, GABA reduces mental and physical strain.*
Copaiba essential oil has around 60% BCP compound. Traditionally used to provide relief from anxious feelings. Because of BCP's interaction with our endocannabinoid it can bring relief in the same way that CBD does. It can also be considered a cannabinoid. It selectively binds to the CB2 receptor and is also a functional CB2 agonist. However, it does not bind to the CB1 receptor, so it’s non-psychoactive. (As in, you feel chill maaaannnn but you don’t get ‘stoned’. ;))
9. I place all contact with social media and anything I can scroll ‘the fu*k’ down. These devices stimulate our nervous system and down-regulate us. The colour, the lights, the ‘hooks’ into your inner-conversation and comparison and the speed of it all are so unhealthy when we are already feeling anxious (and in fact we may be feeling anxious in large part due to the hold this already has on us. Trust me, if you spent a week in the bush without your phone you may remember what peace really is.).
10. In ACUTE anxiety, I have to stand still, and speak to myself (sometimes I do this aloud). I say 'I know this sucks. I know I feel sick/rushed/hyper/spiralling/spinning, and I know we have been here before. I know that this is going to be okay. We are just going to get through this moment and then we will find space. - I also need to remind myself that it is not me in this moment that 'can't deal', but that it is typically me as a child who did not have her needs met/did not feel safe that is still living through these moments in a trauma pattern I am working to release. I calmly LOVE and MOTHER my message to myself and speak to myself as if speaking to someone I cherish.
If you are feeling anxious, please know you are not alone. This is a time of really big emotions and at times, heavy feelings and this can come and go in waves.
Use as many tools as you can. Create rituals and reminders for your wellness that you know you can fall into at any time. Be kind and loving to yourself.
Use natural tools where-ever possible. Mother Nature is a healer (this includes you and what is already within your body and mind). And please don’t hesitate to reach out to a phone or online support in your area.
Essential oils that are historically used to support anxiety - here is some information on the traditional/historical uses for essential oils for anxiety.
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
“The Handbook of Essential Oils: Science, Technology, and Applications, Second Edition” states that there have been a number of clinical trials involving the inhalation of lavender essential oil that indicate a reduction in stress and anxiety.
One study using oral lavender essential oil via capsules found that heart rate variation significantly increased compared to the placebo while watching an anxiety-provoking film. This suggested that lavender had anxiolytic effects.
Frankincense (Boswellia carteri or boswella sacra)
Frankincense is great for treating depression and anxiety because it provides a calming and tranquil energy as well as spiritual grounding. In aromatherapy, it helps deepen meditation and quiet the mind, which can relieve issues like chronic stress.
Mixed with bergamot and lavender oils in a 1:1 ratio in an aroma hand massage, frankincense was found to have a positive effect on pain and depression in hospice patients with terminal cancer in a Keimyung University study in Korea.
A wonderful starter kit to support anxious and stressful times
The image below is of our best-selling Essential Oils Starter Kit, the Home Essentials Kit. It has the top ten oils every home should have regardless of wants or needs and it is a phenomenal 38% off RRP when purchased as a starter kit. There’s ten bottles of oil, with 250drops in each bottle AND you get a diffuser to start diffusing with straight away so you can inhale the oils aromatically.
Many people use this kit as the foundation for anxious support. Here’s the top oils for this (including the two above).
Frankincense, Lavender, Easy Air, Lemon and Peppermint.
You also get access to personal customer support and education and can purchase any future oils at a ridiculous 25% off retail, if you simple follow the instructions below.
How to purchase
Step 1: head to: www.mydoterra.com/alicenicholls
Step 2: Click 'Join and Save'
Step 3: Select your Language & Country of Residence
Step 4: Choose Wholesale Customer or Wellness Advocate
Step 5: Select the starter kit you would like (and waive the joining fee)
Step 6: At Enroller id, make sure my number 3288471 is displayed then click verify to see my name Alice Nicholls
Step 7: Fill out shipping info
Step 8: Process your order!
Home Essentials Starter Kit $339AUD
Your dōTERRA Wholesale Account (dōTERRA oils + products at 25% off!)
Oregano 15mL
Tea Tree 15mL
Lemon 15mL
Frankincense 15mL
On Guard® 15mL
Lavender 15mL
Peppermint 15mL
DigestZen® 15mL
Easy Air® 15mL
Ice Blue® 5mL
Petal Diffuser
