tame anxiety
Anxiety can consume your life
According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults in the US, or about 18 percent of the adult population. This statistic refers to those who have been diagnosed with the mental disease. However, there are millions of adults and even children who suffer from low-grade or situational anxiety and never get an official diagnosis. Anxiety can become an all consuming part of your daily life and whether you seek treatment or are in search of ways to lower anxiety on your own, you can benefit from the following anxiety-busting activities.
1. Hang with your favorite friends or family
Hormones don’t have to be your monthly enemy, in fact sometimes they can be your best friend. According to a study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, bonding with people can increase your level of progesterone, a fluctuating hormone that, in addition to providing pregnancy protection and balancing the effects of estrogen, can have a calming affect, reduce anxiety and aid sleep. While most people intuitively sense that connecting with others feels good, now science shows that forming an emotional closeness can benefit your mental health and general well-being.
"Many of the hormones involved in bonding and helping behavior [such as oxytocin] lead to reductions in stress and anxiety in both humans and other animals. Now we see that higher levels of progesterone may be part of the underlying physiological basis for these effects," explains researcher Stephanie Brown, lead author on the study’s findings published in the June 2009 issue of the peer-reviewed journal Hormones and Behavior.
2. Try yoga
It turns out doing that doing Downward Dog can actually boost your brain’s own calming chemical. Researchers with Boston University’s School of Medicine found that the practice of yoga increases levels of GABA, a key neurotransmitter in the brain. Participants in the study who did yoga for an hour had a 27 percent increase in GABA levels while the comparison group who read for an hour had no increase.
GABA induces a state of relaxation and reduces irritability, stress and anxiety. As the brain’s natural valium, GABA has the unique paradoxical effect of slowing down your busy brain so you can fall asleep at night, yet it can also help you feel focused, alert and relaxed during the day. Cobra pose anyone?
3. Tune in to a funny movie
While laughing out loud might be last on your to-do list, it’s still the best -- and cheapest -- medicine. In the 1970’s, Norman Cousins, a writer and magazine editor of the Saturday Review fell ill with an autoimmune disease. He was intrigued by the idea that if stress could kill you, then experiencing positive emotions should improve a person’s health. With his doctor’s approval, Cousins watched a series of humorous videos. In response to laughing through hours of comedy, his disease went into remission, prompting him to write his book Anatomy of an Illness: A Patient’s Perspective. Cousin’s findings led to the introduction of a new field called whole-person care or integrative medicine, now called lifestyle medicine.
Check out these funny cat videos or get a laugh at these funny dog vids!
Since that time, scientists have shown that mirthful laughter can have a positive impact on a person’s health. In the 1980’s Dr Lee Berk found that when people anticipated in joyful, sincere laughter, two hormones -- beta-endorphins (the family of chemicals that elevates mood state) and human growth hormone or HGH (helps with optimizing immunity) -- went up by 27 percent and 87 percent respectively.
In a subsequent study, the researchers found the same anticipation of mirthful laughter reduced the levels of three detrimental stress hormones: cortisol (termed “the steroid stress hormone”), epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) and dopac (the major catabolite of dopamine). Dr Berk adds, “Lifestyle choices have a significant impact on health and disease and these are choices which we and the patient exercise control relative to prevention and treatment.”
4. Combine all three
Too much of a good thing might be just what you need to ease your anxiety. If you can’t decide whether to spend time with loved ones, practice yoga or laugh out loud, do all of them at the same time to reap the combined mental and physical health benefits.
Health benefits of laughter yoga
Rally a few friends and family members and try laughter yoga, also known as Hasya yoga, which has grown in popularity across the US, India and other countries. Participants usually start with a warm up, stretches and breathing exercises followed by a series of laughter routines that can range from stirring up a case of the light giggles to rip-roaring belly laughs.
“The biggest effect that I’ve gotten from laughter yoga is what it’s done for me mentally, and that it has lightened up my day and my week,” says Deborah Slosberg, a participant in laughter yoga classes.
It's natural to feel periods of anxiousness and tension, but don't let anxiety get the best of you. Find other ways to have fun in your daily life and put anxiety in its place.
More ways to reduce anxiety
