How to remove anxiety from the body

[dominick]

Hey all. What exercises have you found effective in removing anxiety from the body? I have a belief that we store stress/tension/anxiety in the body. I've seen this personally when I go to yoga class. When I'm very stressed or anxious my movements aren't as fluid as when I'm more relaxed. It's almost as if I feel "shaky".

What I have noticed is that there are certain things that seems to rid the body of this tension. Yoga is fantastic for this. Also, certain types of massage can be great. Sex of course also seems to help.

I'm wondering if anyone has found other things that are helpful, maybe even more helpful than the stuff listed above. I'd love to hear any ideas.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for establishing a baseline as to how much tension one is feeling? Typically it's anecdotal for me. I'd like some more objective way of saying "Today, I'm at Level 8 and therefore I need to take some down time and go to yoga and get a massage." Something along those lines.

With food we can often tell if we're eating properly because it shows on our body, face, etc. However, with stress/tension it seems to be more subtle. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by dominick

What exercises have you found effective in removing anxiety from the body?

- EFT
- Kinesiology
- regular exercise
- chakra cleansing
- present moment awareness (The Power of Now)
- reclaiming Power (Busting Loose From the Money Game)

[dominick]

- EFT

I've tried EFT. It wasn't extremely powerful for me but I could give it another try.

- Kinesiology

Say more. I'm not sure what you mean here.

- regular exercise

Yes, for sure.

- chakra cleansing

Where's a good place to start for this?

- present moment awareness (The Power of Now)

Definitely!

- reclaiming Power (Busting Loose From the Money Game)

I will check that out. Thanks!!

[dannielo]

Meditation - closing eyes and either clearing your mind, or focusing on your breath.

[jfrancis]

When I first started having anxiety, what literally kept me going was singing in a choir - all that breathing, movement, plus a certain amount of mental exertion to get my mind unstuck really calmed me. Since then I have found that any kind of activity that has one or all three of these components to be extremely helpful.

[dominick]

Meditation is huge. I've been doing Holosync lately and that has been very helpful. It's more of a mental calming than a physical calming but since mental stress is probably the #1 cause of physical stress it's definitely helpful.

And yes, breathing seems to be huge as well. Wild Divine is pretty awesome for this. I also really like the concept of the Stress Eraser but I can't get it to work for me (I must have a light pulse). If there are any other biofeedback devices that you guys know of that help with making deep breathing habitual I'd love to hear about them.

[Fullcrum]

Strangely enough, reading the free chapter on truth from Pavlina's new book calms me.

Most stress in my life is probably caused by school. Even though I'm in all AP courses (I'm a Junior, 11th grade, in high school) and well deserve to be, I have retained old patterns from my youth that looks upon homework as a negative instead of something to build discipline, and bad habits like looking at having lots of work as a burden of "Why me?" instead of a fun, interesting challenge that will build skills in focus and determination for the rest of my life.

When I feel I am aligned with truth, acceptance stems naturally from the activity I may have resisted, and enjoyment sometimes, though in my current state it's not consistent.

So I take an honest look at the task in front of me, at how I feel, and just further align myself with truth. Usually, acceptance and flow state follows.

You might find this gives a more consistent result than other methods, especially if you use these methods to shield yourself from truth.

All the above methods are awesome, and work on a short-term basis, and with consistent use, longer term. But this is a very direct way of dealing with stress: transcending it by understanding the truth of the situation.

[dominick]

Fantastic. I will definitely check it out.

And man, I wish I had your wisdom when I was in 11th grade...

[sbdiane]

Walking is the best.

First of all, your legs are a like a second heart. When they move they physically help to pump blood through your body. When you sit all day, blood pools in your extremities. People who take long flights are actually at risk of blood clots in their legs traveling to their hearts and killing them. You are meant to walk and move the blood.

When you walk you increase your blood flow, heart rate, oxygen flow but at a mild level. People who can't run more than a few blocks can walk for hours. You can walk anywhere, too, and it requires no special equipment or clothing.

The rhythm of your legs' movement is meditative as well. Walking gets you out of yourself and clears your thoughts. It also helps you focus and think things through.

When you walk you move slowly through the world and you notice more things. You notice the wildlife in the city. You notice interesting gardens in your neighborhood. You see little kids learning how to ride a bicycle or birds eating walnuts from a tree. You notice that your neighbors are nice people and the world is a decent place and everything you see in the news or experience on the freeway isn't what real life is like.

If you walk in nature you can start to feel the essence of life. You can climb a high peak and feel triumphant. You can enter a dark and scary wood and feel vulnerable. You can be refreshed by the mist of a waterfall. You can learn about your body and what it is capable of, and in turn your body can teach you knowledge your brain can't figure out on its own.

[dominick]

Thanks sbdiane. The times when I struggle most with anxiety tend to correlate highly with when I'm most inactive. Lately I've been working long hours and it's been almost all computer work so it makes sense that it has been a bigger issue. It's funny how it's almost always the simple things that we're most likely to forget about.

[Brazilian83]

meditation and relaxing or classical music

[Hyperchiller]

Dancing is great too. It's just another form of exercise but it's a pretty effective one.