Ahhh, Anxiety is in the Air!

Anxiety is in the air!  At least that’s what approximately one out of every three of you is telling me lately. This anxiety and nervousness is pretty sneaky, or as one of you said, “coming right outta left field.” So I just want to check in to see how you're doing << Test First Name >>. Stress can make us feel overwhelmed, especially when we can’t even trace the source with certainty.  
 
A little stress can be a good thing, prompting us to meet a deadline, perform better athletically, or meet a goal.  But extreme stress taxes the nervous system and sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight response) so much so that a simple short message system (SMS) or a phone call can cause panic, when in reality that call or text was good news, a compliment from a friend or workmate, or a great review.
 
What is going on, you’ve been asking. Planetary alignment, global chaos, the political arena, or simply a gut hormone imbalance which can let anxiety flood the gates? I can’t say, but I’ll share that I’ve not been exempt from it either. 
 
So let me share a few simple things you can do to support your nervous system that will impart ease, security and a feeling of being grounded in your body, so that panic or anxiety can subside.
 
Breathe: Pause for a moment to see where your breath is. No need to do a method or a technique, just notice where your breath is or where it isn’t. Is it deep or shallow, warm or cold? In one lung or both? In one nostril or both? Is your breath in your feet or in your head? Ideally it’s in all places. See if you can find flow. 
 
Food: Food is such an influence on how the body responds to nearly everything. Is food an ally, helping soothe in stressful times, or the enemy, loading the digestive system too much heavy lifting!  Try to eat foods that nourish the stomach, the body and the spirit. Fresh and local when you can. Lots of water to stay hydrated, colorful fruit and vegetables, and my passion, eating seasonally. Eating seasonally grown foods really helps ease the body’s transition from season to season. This was the only way our ancestors ate. But because we humans are adaptive, we don’t realize that eating out of season may have an impact on our bodies, but it can. For instance, eating summer grown crops works to cool the body. We now eat these crops year-round, cooling the body in cold or rainy months when we would benefit from eating foods that warm the body and ease digestion. Wild animals naturally eat seasonally, and providing them with off season foods can make them ill.  For example, it can be detrimental or fatal for a deer to eat out-of-season foods.
 
Movement or Play: Stir up the chi! Get the blood moving! Take a five-minute walk, stretch, dance like nobody’s watching.  If you’re able to include laughter even better!
 
Massage: Especially abdominal massage. Our bodies and the gut contain a network of nerves, therefore massage in general does the body good. In abdominal massage, because the Liver and Spleen nourish the muscles and tendons, we can target the governor of the system. When we relax that network of “the second brain” the body falls in line.

Meditation
 
So be well, relax, and take good care of yourself. :)

​Copyright © 2016 Jada Delaney CMT, All rights reserved.
 Transformational Abdominal Massage

---