39 percent of Americans felt more anxious this year than last year. As the Los Angeles Times put it, "We're all living in the United States of Anxiety."
What's stressing us out? Safety, finances, and our health are the top problems.
When anxiety hits, turn to deep relaxation techniques. Calming techniques can help you feel grounded when your body wants to panic.
Read on for five of the best and most natural ways to combat high anxiety.
1. Belly Breathing
Belly breathing is a funny phrase for a useful exercise. When we're anxious, our breathing can get out of whack. Belly breathing helps you re-center yourself.
It works like this: slow your body down via breathing. Focus as much as possible on your breathing. Take breathes that are long and slow, not short and frantic.
Closing your eyes can help. If not, try focusing on a single object in the room, like a light switch or ceiling fan.
2. Mindfulness
You hear a lot about mindfulness, but it may sound too complicated for you. It's really not that complex, though.
In short, it's a lot like the breathing exercise above. But mindfulness goes even further. You're supposed to focus as much as possible on the present.
That means focusing on the sights and sounds around you. Don't worry about work tomorrow. Don't fret about your date last night.
Exist in the moment as much as possible.
3. CBD gummies
You've no doubt heard about CBD oil for anxiety. But if you don't feel like dealing with CBD drops, you have other options.
If you like gummies, you'll like CBD gummies even more. They don't get you high, but they can help you chill out. For some, they even make it easier to sleep at night.
As a bonus, CBD gummies can both smell good and taste great.
4. Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is about finding scents that relax you. Standards like lavender and chamomile may work for you. If not, feel free to do some exploring.
You can buy essential oils or candles if you want. But if you like vanilla, you can also bake something with vanilla in it.
The scent of vanilla wafting through your house will help relax you. And when the oven timer sounds, you get to eat something delicious.
5. Music Therapy
You're stuck in traffic and feeling tense. Then your favorite song comes on the radio, and it's an instant mood booster.
Listening to music can take your high anxiety down several notches. You don't have to wait for a traffic jam either.
Next time you feel anxious, grab your earbuds or headphones. Then play some of your favorite songs and shut out the world for a few minutes.
Beyond Deep Relaxation Techniques
Your life may not be getting less stressful anytime soon. But learning the art of deep relaxation will help you cope with the next curveball that comes your way.
Relaxing activities are helpful, but they aren't the only thing you need. There are some cases where you want to get your heart rate up. We're talking about exercise.
Exercise does more than give you muscles. It can also be a potent weapon in the battle against anxiety and depression. Check out our blog post on the topic for more.
Studies show that essential oils can actually work as a complementary therapy to treat anxiety and stress.
With healing properties and delectable aromas, there are lots to desire when it comes to using essential oils to improve your health.
However, each one comes with different properties and benefits, which might make it seem overwhelming when you’re trying to decide which of the hundreds, to begin with.
Here’s the lowdown on the seven best essential oils for your health.
Peppermint
Peppermint is great for boosting energy and helping with digestion. But, it's one of the most diverse essential oils for many of its other benefits. Use it to:
- Relieve muscle pain
- Increase respiratory function
- Help relieve symptoms associated with allergies
- Increase energy
- Improve athletic performance
- Cure headaches
- Support oral health
You can also vape peppermint oil. If you are vaping other types of oils that have terpenes, you can add a drop or two of peppermint oil into your vape pen to get breath-freshening benefits and relieve headaches.
You’ll want to learn more about terpenes to ensure you’re mixing the right ones with the right oils for maximum effect.
Tea Tree
Tea tree oil is great for fighting infections and boosting your immunity. Because it has such strong antibacterial properties, you can also use it to treat skin infections.
In general, it’s one of the best healing essential oils in regards to the skin. That’s why it’s used as one of the natural ingredients in shampoos for dandruff and dry scalps.
To really reap the benefits of tea tree oil, you can mix it with aloe vera and put it on your skin as a face mask or treat small blemishes.
If you're going to use it as a face mask, however, it's important to note that you should always dilute it with another agent to ensure you're not putting too much oil on your skin.
Rosemary
Rosemary oil is a stimulant. If you’re feeling sluggish or tired, you can inhale rosemary oil for a quick boost of energy. It’s also known to stimulate brain activity and help the part of your nervous system that controls organ function.
However, it’s not just used for stimulation. Studies show that it can also help decreases levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
The best part about rosemary oil is that you don’t have to inhale it or apply it topically to get the benefits. Diffusing the oil works great as the healing properties are present when airborne too.
Lemon Oil
Are you trying to gain muscle and can’t? It might be because you’re not allowing your body to properly repair itself. Lemon oil can help with that.
In fact, recent research showed that D-limonene is great for its skin-repairing and anti-inflammatory properties. If rubbed on the affected muscles and skin, you’ll see that lemon oil works to increase your circulation and promote blood flow as well.
While you can use this oil for healing, it’s also great for cleaning. The scent itself is enough to leave your home smelling fresh and clean.
For a quick boost of energy, you can also diffuse lemon oil at home or in an office.
Sage
If you need help focusing, you might consider sage, as it can help with memory and concentration. Sage is also one of the best essential oils for your health when it comes to hormones and menstrual pain.
It’s a nerve tonic and it has warming components, which makes it great for cramps. Rub a couple of drops of essential oils into your skin and press a warm towel on top of the area.
One study even showed that the inhalation of clary sage oil reduced cortisol levels by 36% and improved thyroid hormone levels.
Lavender
Can’t sleep? Add a couple of drops of lavender oil on your pillow before bed to help you get a good night’s sleep.
The calming effects of lavender are great for stress or tension in the body. Adding it to bath water or a home diffuser can help you relax.
However, lavender is so diverse that you can use it for just about anything. For example, mixing lavender oil with witch hazel is one of the best all-natural face toners.
It can also even be used for motion sickness. Bring it along for a boat ride or long road trip and place a couple of drops behind your ears or on the tip of your tongue.
Eucalyptus
Looking for an immunity boost? Try eucalyptus oil. It’s the best essential oil for boosting your immunity due to its antibacterial properties.
If you’re already sick, you can mix it into boiling water and inhale deeply for about 5 to 10 minutes. After, rub some on your chest and on the outside of your throat.
When using this oil in a diffuser, it’s best combined with lavender or lemon oil. The aroma is delectable and the calming, healing effects are even better than when used alone.
Because eucalyptus has so many immunity-boosting benefits, it’s a great idea to put it in a diffuser and use it as your main essential oil all throughout flu season and the winter months.
Using the Best Essential Oils for Your Health
Not all essential oils are equal. To ensure you’re getting the most out of these healing oils, you’ll want to do some research into the brand beforehand.
The best essential oils for your health are ones that are pure. To see if your oils are pure, you can put a drop onto a white piece of paper and let it dry. If there’s an oily ring left around the drop after it dries, then this is a sign that it’s not pure.
It’s also a good idea to do some research about how the company produces its essential oils to ensure they’re not impacting the environment in a negative way.
And, make sure to follow a healthy diet and exercise routine as part of your daily life. If you need some help getting started, take a look at our Fit for Her nutrition and exercise guide.
