Anxiety and Your Healthy

Nancy Radding, Fitness Director at The Oaks at Ojai

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Choose your term of choice- stressed out, anxious, apprehensive, concerned, afraid....all of these negative emotions, if not handled correctly, can compromise your overall health and sense of wellbeing!

Stress and Anxiety are going to come our way, it's a part of life, it's figuring out what we can do to AVOID what we can, MANAGE what we can, RELEASE what we can, and RELIEVE what we can that may make the difference in the end result.

 Know the roots of your anxiety. Are they in your control? If so, CHANGE something! Changing your thought process can change your emotional state. Your emotional state will feed your attitude, and your behavior will follow the attitude change.

 The things that you CANNOT control need to be managed, released, and relieved somehow:

*Journal your journey. What's eating at you? Clarify it and see what you may be able to do.

*Walk it off. Ready to blow? Walk away! You'll probably need to go back to "it", but even a little walk will clear your head, calm you down, & give you perhaps a new perspective on the problem.

*Feel the weight of it. The weights, I mean! Muscle Conditioning is an effective stress reliever! It fools your body into thinking that you've escaped the source of your stress as your blood circulates, helping to flush out over secretions of stress hormones like cortisol.

*BREATHE! Never underestimate the value and power of a good, deep breath. Do it right now. Breathe in for 4-6 seconds through your nose. Breathe out for the same 4-6 seconds through nose or mouth. Feel better? Grandma was right- take a deep breath! It slows down every system of the body and is a very real calming mechanism. Ahhhhh!

*Slow Down with Supper. (Breakfast, Lunch, and Snacks, too). When we feel anxious, we tend to "scarf" our food. Fast eating cuts off the signal that we're full, so we tend to eat too much, quickly! Chew. Enjoy your food and this may calm you down.

*Give in to your cravings. A little. When we are anxious, we may crave something salty or sweet. If you totally deprive yourself, it may backfire and you may end up on a binge. Try instead to indulge your craving, just a little, (100 calories), and you may feel better. 

*Laugh! Out Loud! A happy heart is good medicine. A good chuckle can lower your blood pressure and release your stress and relieve your anxiety.

*Slow down on the caffeine and the alcohol. Both can take you up on a mountain, but both tend to dump you back into the valley rather rapidly. If you're already feeling anxious, caffeine literally stimulates more of the same feeling. Alcohol may feel like it's calming your jitters, but it's a short term fix. You'd be better served by drinking enough water.

*Sleep it off. Nothing enhances anxiety like sleep deprivation. Getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night on a regular basis helps us to stay in balance on every level, including our level of stress and anxiety. The more sleep deprived we are, the less able we are to respond properly to stressors that are bound to come our way!

I hope I haven't over simplified what I know is very real to all of us in one way or another. At the end of the day, we're all just aiming towards that goal of good health. Learning to identify and address what makes us anxious, fearful, apprehensive, concerned, and stressed out is just another part of our process!

 So, know what you need to know about ANXIETY AND YOUR HEALTH!

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