by: MP GEULAH
If anxiety is affecting your health and sleep, know that you are not alone.
Over 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder, with insomnia being the most common disorder.
Anxiety & Insomnia are closely related. Anxiety is one of the top causes of Insomnia and Insomnia, in turn, leads to feelings of anxiety.
Anxiety has reached crisis levels in the United Stated and it's affecting the lives of millions.
In fact, 25% of women suffer from stress and anxiety. Women are twice as likely as men to experience anxiety disorders. In fact, women and young adults are propelling the huge rise in the use of anti-anxiety drugs.
These anti-anxiety drugs have major side effects, such as weight gain (which can make women even more anxious if they care about their appearance), sleep disturbances, slowing of mental function, sexual dysfunction, tremors, nights sweats, and IBS or stomach upset.
These drugs are also addicting, despite what the doctors tell you.
I am no stranger to stress and anxiety. Since my early twenties, coping with stress, anxiety, and depression have been a struggle for me.
I've avoided going on anti-depressants, but coping isn't a way to live. In the last months, I've been working on being able to overcome stress and anxiety once and for all and live in freedom.
I've discovered a few tricks that really have changed my life. These methods have helped me feel more optimistic, experience deeper sleep, and feel less stressed.
Why Do We Experience Insomnia?
Major causes of Insomnia include Stress, bad sleep habits, medications (like certain antidepressants, blood pressure medications & pain medications), work schedule, & late night eating.
For me personally, high stress levels cause insomnia, and late night eating contributes to low sleep quality.
Vice Versa, lack of sleep causes stress.
THE STRESS AND INSOMNIA CONNECTION
Chronic stress causes dysregulation of the sleep-wake cycle, the internal clock that tells the body when it is time to sleep and when it is time to be alert. When people experience stress during the day, they are more likely to have trouble falling asleep and report poor sleep quality that night.
Stress may reduce deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, both of which are important for mental and physical health.
Below I will share the steps I am taking to reduce stress and to achieve better sleep.
Following these steps has greatly reduced my stress levels in the last month, and is helping me achieve deeper sleep, which in turn has greatly improved my sense of wellbeing.
5 tips to Reduce Anxiety & Relieve Insomnia with Medicinal Mushrooms
1) Medicinal Mushrooms- Medicinal mushrooms have been widely consumed for centuries to treat illness. Specific mushrooms have special properties that can help deepen sleep and reduce anxiety.
Some mushrooms have analgesic (pain relieving), anti-inflammatory, anxiolytic (anti-anxiety).
For me personally, the mushroom blend below greatly improved my sleep quality. I felt for the first time in months that I was getting deeper sleep.
It also helped me relax physically, relieves aches and pains. Sometimes high stress causes tense muscles in the back and neck. The mushrooms helped ease my muscle tension.
To Purchase the Special Mushroom Blend for Sleep & Anxiety Click here:
Relaxxation Mushroom Blend - Promotes Deep Sleep & Anti-Stress – Joseph's Organic Bakery (veganbakerymiami.com)
2) Dance & Exercise
For me, dancing and music are lifesavers. And lately I've gotten back into it. If I'm feeling stressed, I turn up the music on my stereo and dance away my worries. It really works, I feel my mood changing within minutes.
Instant happiness!
Added Benefit for me: after exercising or dancing vigorously, sleep comes easier.
If music or dance doesn't speak to you.
If your'e in a stressed state go out and take a walk. Just breathing fresh air and getting outdoors is sometimes enough to get us out of an anxious state, and all of a sudden things don't look so bleak anymore.
As everyone knows, exercise releases endorphins, the happiness hormone, so it doesn't really matter what exercise you choose as long you get moving.
Plus, when we return home, we have the mental clarity to tackle whatever needs to get done that day with a clear head. Aim to exercise regularly at least 5 times a week for 30 minutes each time.
3) Bask in the Sun
Bask in the sun for a quick mood boost. Light directly affects mood.
Try to be in the Sun for 20-30 minutes a day via direct or indirect sunlight.
4) Vitamins & Minerals
Vitamins and Minerals for mood include Vitamin B6 (depleted by the use of birth control pills, lack of B6 causes irritability and PMS)
Vitamin B3 (Niacin has been used to treat depression and anxiety with much success),
Magnesium (low magnesium causes anxiety depression and muscle tension), Calcium (take along with magnesium) and
Vitamin C with bioflavonoids. Vitamin C with its bioflavonoids (found in the white pulp inside the orange peel for example) is necessary for the production of serotonin.
5) Adopt a Healthy Diet to Get Your Colon Moving-
Constipation and bowel disorders can contribute to stress and depression. The connection between diet and mental health is profound. A sluggish or irritated colon causes impaired nutrient absorption and a lack of the B vitamins impacts mental health.
In fact, Studies have shown that females with IBS have very high incidence of clinical depression.
Constipation lowers our energy reserves.
High Protein Diets which are a fad nowadays contributes to the constipation problems we are seeing nowadays. The Standard American diet is a diet based on refined processed foods with white flour, sugar, and refined fats.
Only a diet full of wholegrains fruits and vegetables with natural fiber will eliminate constipation and lead to the development of a healthy colon necessary for nutrient absorption.
For the healthiest bread made with wholegrain ancient kamut grain click here. This bread is high in probiotics, fiber and nutrients.
I eat 2 slices for breakfast every morning and I can attest that it greatly helps relieve constipation.
Aim to eat wholegrains and vegetables every day.