Worldwide as we move through uncertainty and change this impacts on our ability to feel safe and at ease. Many more people are experiencing anxiety for the first time or are finding a resurgence of symptoms of anxiety.

There are many factors that can help support you if you find you are suffering with anxiety. Here we look at breathing, posture, safe ways to relax and the part diet can play.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder GAD is when you experience feelings of anxiety over a long period of time about different situations and issues, rather than one specific event. 

You may feel anxious most days and often struggle to know how to feel relaxed and you may have a undercurrent of constant overwhelm or feelings of dread.

Symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder vary from person to person but you may feel

• continually restless or worried

• have trouble concentrating or sleeping

• have physical sensations of increased heart rate, unexplained tiredness, dry mouth, cold hands and feet, digestive problems, dizziness, nausea, difficulty breathing, muscle tension, aching body, pins and needles especially in hands and feet.

• a sense of panic

• feeling on edge

• irritability

• loss of confidence

Although some these symptoms might be normal to experience in your daily life occasionally, people with GAD will experience them persistently and find that it disrupts their daily lives.

If you feel like this it may be worth seeing your GP/Doctor to rule out any other underlying health concerns, once these are ruled out and your GP/Doctor thinks that its possible you have GAD you may be offered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and/or medication.

There are also steps you can take to support yourself alongside what your GP may recommend, and also to help you cope while waiting for a diagnosis of GAD and if waiting for treatment is taking a long time.

These include

Checking for a breathing pattern imbalance

Due to anxiety your breathing pattern may change to a shallow fast breath, this type of breathing also leads to feelings of anxiety as the biochemistry of your body changes due to the carbon dioxide and oxygen imbalance of your system. It can create a loop that feeds the anxiety. So changing the way you breath can help tremendously.

Assessing your posture

Your posture may change due to the way you feel and it can also influence the way you feel. Anxiety sometimes leaves you feeling less confident and more closed down and this reflects in the way you hold your body. Also a poor posture, slumping, holding your head forward and rounding your shoulders inwards all impact on how you breath, which also effects your digestion and lymphatic system due to the restiction in the free movement of the diaphragm and the lack of space for the ribcage to fully expand. Often this slumped posture means you use your accesory breathing muscles as your main way to breath, which leads to discomfort and stiffness in the neck and upper shoulders.

Learning a safe way for you to relax

Sometimes trying relaxation classes or meditation can actually increase your anxiety. Its called Relaxation Induced Anxiety. This can be quite alarming and put you off trying to relax, there are specific safer ways to begin to practice relaxing that do not trigger feelings of anxiety.

I will be providing you with further information in a series of blogs looking at a selection of ways you can manage stress and anxiety with breathing, grounding, relaxation and guided visualization techniques for you if you are experiencing anxiety and explain why you might be feeling worse when you make attempts to relax that seem to work for everyone else.

Look at what you are eating and drinking

Are you drinking alot of coffee or caffinated energy drinks? high consumption of caffine can create similar symptoms that are linked linked to anxiety such as dizziness, heart palpitations, and stomach upset. Coffee can benefit your health in moderation, improving mental alertness and may slow down mental decline, so try reducing your intake to one or two cups early in the day. Green tea is a healthier alternative much lower in caffeine and with added benefits.

Most of us turn to sugar when we’re stressed and this may be because it temporarily suppresses the release of cortisol. Unfortunatly this quick fix can make us more susceptible to depression. A healthier option if youre craving something sweet would be some dried fruit with a small amount of raw nuts, such as combining raisins and pistachios.  

Even if you are eating relativily healthily it is a good idea to supplement your diet with with magnesium if you suffer with anxiety as it has been shown to improve sleep, lower symtoms of stress and the digestive discomfort that is sometimes linked (Sartori et al.)

Another recommendation is to introduce probiotics into your daily diet by eating fermented foods and yogurt. You can also take probiotics as a supplement. Again it has also been shown to reduce anxiety and depression.

These are a few ways you can take action to support yourself. Explore what works for you to manage your anxiety.