Gently Release Your Anxiety

Underlying Causes of Anxiety

Ongoing stress, a life event, and past trauma are at the top of the list for causes of anxiety. Medications, genetics, and health conditions can also play a part in anxiety. Whatever the cause, the anxiety needs to be gently released, managed, and healed over time.

What is the Parasympathetic Nervous System?

Your parasympathetic nervous system's (PNS) job is to reduce anxiety by counteracting the stress response. However when the PNS is under-active or imbalanced it prevents the body from returning to a calm "rest and digest" state after stress. This keeps the body on high-alert, "fight or flight" mode, creating a cycle where even small stressors become overwhelming because the PNS fails to effectively dampen the sympathetic nervous system's effects.

How Anxiety Disrupts the Parasympathetic Nervous System

1. The PNS has an Impaired Stress Recovery and is unable to stop the sympathetic system's stress response. The body gets stuck in a state of heightened awareness, even after the threat has passed.
2. An underactive PNS creates a Lower Heart Rate Variable (HRV) not allowing the nervous system to adapt to stress. In this state the body is less flexible and more prone to chronic stress.
3. An overly active sympathetic system causes you to be Stuck In High Alert. The PNS can't adequately counter it, heading to a constant state of hyper-arousal and symptoms of anxiety. 

How a Healthy Parasympathetic System Helps With Anxiety

1. Manages the body's "Rest And Digest" state, slowing heart rate, aiding in digestion, and promoting a sense of calm and safety.
2. Counterbalancing Stress. The PNS releases hormones and signals to relax the brain and body, allowing the individual to return to baseline after a stressful event.
3. Promotes Resilience, allowing the body to adapt to stressors and recover more efficiently, fostering greater resilience against anxiety.

Try This Gentle Anxiety Release Technique

1. Be seated comfortably in a chair.
2. Take three deep inhalations and exhalations, taking in new energy on the in breath and releasing stress and tension on the out breath.
3. On your next breath, inhale. Upon the exhale create a humming sound emptying all the air. Repeat two more times.
4. Increase in increments of three, doing nine humming breaths.

Your humming breath can be done as a daily practice when you're not experiencing anxiety or when anxiety is low. You could also implement the technique during an anxiety attack. The technique gently releases anxiety by resetting the parasympathetic nervous system, counterbalancing stress and creating harmony in your brain and body.

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