Anxiety and Stress
We see Anxiety everywhere today. I even see it on my massage table occasionally. Definitely I see the effects of stress pass through my office daily.
Could it be that we move so fast in our world nowadays, that we just don’t quite know what it feels like to slow down anymore? Or perhaps, even for those who have less-busy schedules but still experience anxiety, could it be they are accustomed to hearing/thinking/feeling enough negativity/fear/anger (which all have a busier, frenetic kind of energy as compared, to say, peace/love/joy) in their lives, that it is what they tend to focus on by default? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could create a default attention to nicer feelings in life – like calm, peace, trust, love, joy instead? Maybe we can.
Nuero-science has recently been able to prove that we are literally carving neural-pathway grooves into our nervous system by the habitual things we think, do and feel on a regular basis; effectively creating default, hard-to-break habits of being and feeling. Learning a new skill until it becomes second nature is precisely this.
In his book, “The Open-Focused Brain”, Les Fehmi speaks of being able to calm anxiety (as well as calm ADHD, reduce pain, improve performances in athletics and singing/the arts, etc) by changing our habitual hyper-focused minds to be more open and diffuse. Doing this slows our brainwaves down, (which can calm our nervous systems and can help balance our body’s structure) giving us a different experience in how we relate to the world around us.
Fehmi has several exercises in his book. One that is remarkably quick at slowing the brain down is… Sit comfortably, close your eyes and try to imagine the space between your eyes. (Automatically, brainwaves start to slow down to a more calm, alpha-brainwave state. Take the exercise further for deeper effect…) A few moments later, see if you can imagine your eyeballs themselves sitting in your eye sockets. A few moments later, imagine the space that your eyes, eye sockets and the space between them occupy. A few moments later again, see if you can imagine the space within your sinuses, behind your eyes. Then, imagine the space your sinuses occupy. You could stop here, open your eyes and see how you feel. You could also chose to go on – imagining the space down your throat and into your lungs, then perhaps the space between your ears, then at the base of you head and so on. You could continue traveling through your whole body with your awareness, noticing the different spaces within your body, as well as the space your body itself occupies. It is quite a nice feeling to slow down a bit and just feel – without judgement or agenda, just feeling from a different perspective than our usual hyper-focused feeling habits. Take a couple minutes to try it, see if you can feel it’s effects.
This is a form of body-centered meditation. (Similar in some aspects to the body-centered meditations in Healing From The Core trainings I’ve attended and that I incorporate into massage sessions occasionally.) Whenever we bring our focus to the ‘here and now’ and FEEL, not only can we slow our brainwaves down, but we can create an environment of profound healing within ourselves…
When we are tense and rushed, perhaps with anxiety, our bodies are in ‘fight or flight’ mode. In fight or flight mode, our adrenals are stimulated, blood pressure rises to pump blood to our limbs so we’re ready to fight or run away from the real or perceived danger threatening us. Our vision is narrowed and focused, alert for danger. Our breathing is tight and shallow. We’re poised to survive. In this mode, our bodies slow our digestive and lymph systems way down to be able to put all the energy possible toward other survival functions in our bodies. It’s a healthy response to immediate danger – as in the common example of running from the lion or bear chasing us. However, we can’t live everyday life in fight or flight without severe health consequences. We really do need to come out of fight or flight when we are not in danger, so that our bodies can heal from daily wear and tear and recover enough to be able kick fight or flight mode responses in again the next time we really need them.
It’s really no wonder that the number one massage request I receive is to help reduce stress. Even more than the request to help reduce pain, is the request to help people relax. It is only in that relaxed state that the body can truly heal and find balance again. When we are relaxed in the ‘Rest and Digest’ state, our breathing can deepen, relaxing the diaphragm and psoas muscles, which helps to take the literal squeezing pressure off of the Adrenal glands, allowing the cortisol response to stress ease so the relaxation response can further set in. Circulation comes back to the digestive and lymph systems so they can properly do their jobs of nourishing and cleansing the whole body. We can even think more clearly, learn more easily and take in the wider picture of life. It’s fun to hear clients say how much they notice massage helps them mentally as well as physically, much to their surprise. 🙂 We instinctively know we need this relaxed state, but sometimes just have a hard time knowing how to get there.
So, here are a few ideas…
Meditation, like the ones found in “Open Focus Brain” by Les Fehmi
Body-Centered Meditations from Suzanne Scurlock at Healing From The Core
Light and Sound Therapy (it’s like passive meditation) – offered at Art of Healing Family Massage and available for purchase if you want one of your own at home from Tools for Wellness.
Being still, breathing gradually deeper and slowly looking the eyes side to side (signaling safety to the body, giving it permission to relax).
Massage Therapy with a grounded, attentive therapist.
Being in nature without technology.
Snuggling with a pet or loved one without major distractions has also proven to have relaxing effects that lower blood pressure and change brainwaves.
*You may also consider limiting Caffeine and sugar, which are stimulants that lead toward fight or flight rather than away from it; and staying hydrated, which has many benefits including helping the neuro-transmitters of the brain to function smoothly.
If one can experience what calm, slower brainwaves feel like often enough, they can carve a new set of neuro-pathway grooves into their nervous system and perhaps gain access to the feeling of calm by default, rather than defaulting to anxiety or stress.