What is it? Anxiety is a feeling of fear, worry, and uneasiness. It can cause physical feelings such as nausea, stomach upset, dizziness, dry mouth and tension. Everyone experiences stress and anxiety at some point in their lives. Anxiety is normal when faced with difficult or stressful situations. It becomes more common with older age and is most common among middle-aged adults. This may be due to a number of factors, including changes in the brain and nervous system as we age, and being more likely to experience stressful life events that can trigger anxiety. Although, this doesn't dismiss the fact that anyone can experience anxiety; children as young as age 3 to 11 continuing through to teenagers aging 12-19.
What causes it? As mentioned before, high volumes of stress is what triggers and ultimately causes anxiety. For example, teens are more likely to experience anxiety before or leading up to major milestones such as a driver's test, college acceptance letters, or final exams. Whereas adults may experience stress-based anxiety from finances/bills, job promotions, or future plans surrounding retirement. Sometimes, however, anxiety is manufactured by a combination of feelings and therefore has not one, but multiple causes for it. An example of this would be social anxiety or chronic anxiety that seems to follow one no matter what they do, where they go, or how they're feeling. Anxiety can come in all shapes and sizes and it is certainly - without a doubt - one of the worst feelings ever.
How does one overcome anxiety? There are medicinal treatments targeted to those who deal with anxiety, but here at Teesha Yoga, we like to encourage natural treatments such as exercise & yoga, gratitude journaling (or just regular journaling), improving your diet, and increasing your outdoor time/spending more time with nature. As you know, exercise has been used as a coping mechanism for the longest of times and it is truly of the most effective ways to treat anxiety. Yoga, more specifically, would be the best ways to treat anxiety because it focuses on breathwork and meditation, and pushes you to do breathwork while organizing and training your mindset to have more positive thoughts. Journaling is something we also encourage as it allows you to track your own mental thoughts, connect and follow your own patterns, and allows you to physically release any pent up emotion you may have been holding on to that lead to the anxiety. Diet improvements typically lead to more energy which leads to an increased serotonin. Lastly, being connected to Mother Nature has been the go-to remedy for all things anxiety - taking a deep breath and observing the physical traits of this beautiful earth always allows us to take a step back and appreciate the things we do have.
If you or anyone you know is experiencing anxiety, and would like to take a chance by joining us for a session in the Teesha Yoga experience, reach out to us! Subscribe to our emailing list for a complimentary session or give us a call at 470-591-0167. We'd be happy to help you on your journey to a happy, healthy lifestyle. Until next time, stay safe!
Namaste.
-TEESHA YOGA