lovenotfear Thoughts and inspiration for a happier you




Calm yourself (before you harm yourself)


5 simple techniques for reducing anxiety

If you’re someone who gets wrapped up into a tight little ball of nervous anxiety when you’re stressed and you don’t really do anything about it, I have a question…

If there was a way to be able to control that nervous energy and bring everything down a notch or seven, would you use it? Yes?

Good news, guys. There is a way. Several ways, actually. Tools you’ve heard of, read about. Maybe you’ve even tried a couple. But in my experience as a serial befriender and dater of anxious people, you guys seem to shun the very methods that could help the anxiety. It’s not your fault; after all, it’s the opposite of what your body naturally wants to do when you’re in a heightened state of anxiety. So, it’s not easy. But maybe, just maybe, you haven’t given them a proper try? What if something works?

What about now?

Studies have shown that anxiety has severe effects on the body and mind – both short-and long-term. The more serious of these is heart issues, gastrointestinal issues, heart problems like increase risk of heart disease, various illnesses from a lowered immune system, gastrointestinal disorders including irritable bowel syndrome, memory problems and frequent migraines.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

1. Breathe

If you suffer even just a little bit from anxiety, you’ll know that your breathing can become quite shallow and quick when you feel out of sorts. By learning to control your breath, you can learn to control your anxiety. And if you learn to manage your anxiety – needless to say, you go into the next phase of your life a little bit calmer, able to deal with life’s ups and downs a little easier. Intentional breathing has a calming effect on the nervous system and the mind – it’s almost impossible not to feel better after a series of deep, slow, intentional breaths. There are a variety of methods to try – google and see what resonates with you. Better yet – watch this great TED talk and then find the method that works for you.

2. Meditation

Whether you lie on your bed listening to a guided meditation or try the “just sitting” method, it will help you. You will find that any instruction around meditation starts with deep breathing. (Funny that.) Once you master the art of stillness, you can use it any time to bring your anxiety level down. Any. Time. The major cause of anxiety is worry, and if you learn to “just breathe” and “just sit” and “just be”, you can learn to let go of worry, even if just for a few minutes at a time – at first.

3. Mindfulness

Mindfulness is simply the art of knowing what is happening, as it’s happening, without any judgement. It’s about being present in the moment. How might this help you? As you become more mindful, you can more quickly and easily notice when your anxiety levels go up, and you can then use one of the tools to calm yourself. This involves doing only one thing at a time, and for those who suffer from anxiety, it’s an invaluable way of being. By training your mind to focus on only one thing at a time, you learn to shut down all the incessant chatter in your head. If you’re eating, just eat. Don’t eat while working or while trying to come up with a solution to your problems. If you’re in a meeting, just be in the meeting – don’t start rehearsing what you’re going to say to the person who upset you most recently.

4. Mantras

I am lucky in that anxiety only hits me every now and then, but when I feel it rising in me, I do something about it immediately. If I have time, I will sit and breathe or meditate for a while. If I only have a few minutes to get back to good, I simply take a few deep breaths and I remind myself that everything is under control. I might need to do it a few times over the space of an hour, but the action I take ALWAYS helps. Always. Another mantra I use is NNTP, which of course stands for No Need To Panic. It makes me chuckle and that, friends, is yet another way to reduce your anxiety. Find something to laugh at.

5. Solve a problem

If you really have something causing you severe anxiety, ask yourself: What’s my main problem, really? If the problem is something quite real, and it is within your power to change it, then spend some dedicated time writing, thinking and/or talking about the problem, and find a workable and realistic solution to it. Of course, if it’s on your mind while you’re chasing a deadline or doing your work, then use one of the other tools to calm yourself. Decide right there and then on a time and place that you are going to actively work on a solution – whether for an hour or a morning. Put it in your diary if you have to. Then breathe, say your mantra, be mindful and remind yourself that there is no need to panic - you have set aside time to work on the solution and for now, worrying isn’t going to change anything.

I’m not saying it’s easy, and of course I’m not professing that people with major anxiety disorders should sniff lavender and do their “ohms” and all will be right in the world. But if it’s something that tends to get the better of you and you haven’t yet started intentionally working on your anxiety, why not give these simple (and super cheap) tools a try? You might find it’s a lot easier than you thought.

Most importantly though, it’s a conscious, intentional step in the direction of self-love and self-care. And that’s always a powerful thing. It might seem dramatic to say you could harm yourself, but you know deep down that your anxiety is doing you no good.

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Is there prana in this banana?


Throughout my adult life, every few years or so, I would start to look like I ate all the pies. The reason for this, is that I ate all the pies. And most of the pizza and also, a lot of the potatoes.

Every few years I would suddenly start to wonder if all my clothes had somehow been shrunk as some sort of joke, or if I had someone else’s jeans on and then I’d realise “Oh, no, I’m just getting fat. Again.” So I would reactivate my gym membership and try to lay off the crisps and pies and within a few months, I could wear actual clothing without feeling like the oros man.

But then, it would happen again. “Are these my jeans? Oh.”

And I knew about calorie counting, carbs, sugar, fat, chemicals, banting, paleo, eat for your blood type, preservatives, vegan etc. I got all this stuff. But it’s all just too much and none of it resonated enough to prevent the next wave of chubbiness.

UNTIL a couple of years ago, when I attended a breathing course, and learnt a simple, ancient philosophy that actually did resonate with me, and has helped me to understand the link between food and the rest of my life. And I’d like to share with you what I learned.

According to Ayurveda, every living thing has a universal life force flowing within it. You may know this as Chi, or Qi or Ki. In ayurvedic or yogic principles it is known as Prana. Prana is good. We want as much prana as possible, and we can increase our prana through breath, water, exercise, sleep, the environments we choose to be in, the way we think and of course, the food we eat.

This philosophy also states that every living thing, including animals and plants are made up of three energetic qualities (known as gunas), which are present within us in varying degrees with one guna dominant at different times. What we think, do and eat all contribute to how much of each guna we possess. These three gunas are sattva, rajas and tamas.

I would like to invite you to try to figure out which guna is most dominant in you.

SATTVA

Sattva is related to lightness, creativity, clarity, harmony, peace and truth… The best parts of you are sattvic. Nicest you. Happiest you. Most grateful you. Healthiest you. A DOLPHIN is an example of a sattvic animal. On an apple tree, apples that are just ripe are sattvic and contain the most prana.

RAJAS

Rajas is about activity and movement - it’s what gets you to an early morning spinning class or makes you work towards that promotion. Too much rajas and we become restless and hyperactive, overly competitive, materialistic, talkative, frenetic. Think TIGER. Aggressive, swift, a force to be reckoned with. On an apple tree, the apples that are in the process of becoming ripe are rajasic.

TAMAS

Tamas relates to inertia, dullness, heaviness, boredom, moroseness, depression, oversleeping, obesity, laziness. An example of a tamasic animal is the HYENA. On an apple tree, apples that are over-ripe or rotten are tamasic.

Which guna do you think is most prevalent in you, right now?

The Good News is - You can influence which guna you allow to dominate, through the choices you make and particularly the food you eat.

Sattvic foods are fresh, light, easy to digest, and eaten as close to the source as possible – spinach fresh from the garden is sattvic and contains more prana than pre-chopped and packaged spinach. Organic fruit and veggies. Organic unpasteurised milk, raw, organic honey. Nuts and seeds. sprouted lentils, chickpeas. Foods that are as close to LIVING as possible.

Rajasic foods stimulate and irritate the mind and system and include excessively sweet, spicy, bitter or salty foods. Chilli, most spices, coffee, sugar, pickles, eggs, fish are rajasic and should be consumed in limited quantities with sattvic foods. Eating too many rajasic foods, and doing rajasic activities (martial arts for instance), is said to increase emotions like aggression, and the need for power.

Tamasic Foods have no prana and do not support life. Alcohol, tobacco and marijuana are tamasic. Pork, beef, lamb. Anything leftover, fermented, deep fried, canned, frozen, processed or over-ripe, including over-ripe fruit! Also, no matter how healthy the meal, overeating is also considered tamasic. We should really avoid tamasic foods completely.

NOW YOU KNOW the 3 gunas - sattva, rajas and tamas, along with the foods you can eat to increase your sattvic qualities and thereby increase your prana.

Understanding prana and the gunas hasn’t turned me into a skinny vegan yoga instructor who ends arguments with namaste (yet), but it is slowly changing the way I see food. These rules are not given to me by advertising or labels or on boxes. This is about energy. It’s about love, rather than fear.

This knowledge has made me make better choices more often, and I realise I am out of balance way before I start to suspect a clothes-shrinking conspiracy. These days, instead of finding myself at the Charlys Bakery counter wondering if two pies is too much for lunch, I find myself in the fruit and veg wondering - Is that spinach sattvic?
Is there prana in this banana?

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