Anxiety – a vicious cycle

Have you ever noticed tapping of the foot, continual picking at the body, finger nail biting, fiddling with things, pacing up and down, starting something, then moving onto another project before the first is finished. Or cleaning something then going back to clean it again? Not you, someone you know or have experienced in others? Well, this is anxiety! Anxiety represents a constant flow of hot blood that disturbs the mind, starving it of rest and depriving it of valuable peace. Anxiety begins in the mind as a reaction to a fear. This fear (False Evidence Appearing Real) is a result of not understanding the situation at hand, creating a state of confusion and letting the mind run rampant. A confused state will be totally unconscious because the conscious mind is preoccupied trying to work out where the problem originated. The body then reacts through the liver heating up as toxins develop from the stress leading the organ to work overtime dealing with the negative chemical reaction being experienced. This hot blood quickly circulates through the brain tissue throwing the whole homeostasis balance out. This leads to the mind becoming unsettled with thoughts becoming more blurred, eventuating in increased confusion. The process doesn’t stop there; as the blood is over-heating it starts to irritate the heart, the heart then beats irregularly causing palpations and the occasional panic attack. While all this is occurring your body and mind is still trying to work out how to resolve the problem, and that’s not the end of it. Your organs naturally support each other, however when an organ becomes unsettled, like the liver it will send a negative message, aimed at the digestive system (hence experiencing indigestion when upset at the dinner table). So how does Acupuncture/Chinese medicine deal with this? We start at the root of the problem – that is the physical root. Acupuncture has an amazing ability to calm the internal organs when unsettled in addition to providing the mind with some peace for a while. At that point (pardon the pun) your body and mind is given time to regather and think through problems in a relaxed and rational manner. To continue to keep that peace one should take up relaxation techniques like Meditation, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, Yoga and or Yoga Nidra. One helpful tip, if the problem that caused the initial confusion is something that needs serious attention, then consider learning all you can about that subject. For example, if the problem is related to relationships, study relationship behaviour, learning from success stories and any ideas that make relationships work. Talk and learn from the experiences and skills of people that have overcome such conditions – there are some great books out there. Everything we become comes from a learning experience, these can be both negative and positive, naturally any negative experience is only going to produce a negative outcome or in relation to the above subject matter, anxiety. On the opposing side is any positive experiences generally lead to positive results – leading to a lack of anxious moments and better health, for the body and the mind! Back On Your Feet