According to a recent study published in Nature, 42% of Americans (sample size 2,036) reported experiencing more anxiety than they did before the pandemic.
Not tending to chronic stress can lead to digestive issues and headaches and is linked to a higher risk of anxiety, depression and heart disease. If your coping mechanisms aren’t cutting it and you’re looking for practical new ways to ease your unease, consider de-stressing by calming your mind. Simple meditative techniques can be practiced anywhere at anytime.
Calming your sympathetic nervous system (the part responsible for that fight-or-flight response) can be key to improving your response to stress overall. Som simple techniques for doing this include:
- Making a list of things that cause you stress so that you can develop strategies to address these
- Do 3 cycles of 4-7-8 breathing
- Practice mindfulness by slowing down to notice your surroundings, engage your senses and avoid judgments. Some examples: pick a flower and examine it, eat a meal mindfully, shower mindfully
- Try some meditation in a quiet, private place
- Imagine yourself in a calm, relaxing place such as a beach or the mountains, take a few deep breaths and walk through the setting in your mind
- Listen to music that you find relaxing or energizing
- Practice restorative yoga poses, such as child’s pose, can help focus your mind and help you slow down
- Laugh! Laughter really is the best medicine. Try watching or listening to your favorite comedian.
Here are 12 Quick Mini-Meditations to Calm Your Mind and Body. For folks who find meditation to be difficult or challenging, try going into action mode: 5 Ways to Calm Your Mind Without Meditation.
For some adaptive coping techniques, check out this video from UCHealth.
If you are concerned that you have an anxiety disorder or depression, talk with your primary care provider about a referral for therapy. If you are in crisis, please call 800-273-TALK for the Suicide Prevention Hotline.
At Satori Integrative Medicine, our services include integrative medicine, ketamine and lidocaine infusions, IV supplements, and medical acupuncture. We encourage our patients to incorporate lifestyle practices into daily life as part of a comprehensive treatment plan for: major depression, the depressed phase of bipolar disorder (bipolar depression), postpartum depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia and complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), also known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), and addiction.
If you or someone you know suffers from any of these conditions and this approach to health and wellness resonates with you, please contact us for more information.
Recent Comments