Holistic Approaches to Managing Anxiety and Depression

If you or someone close to you is experiencing anxiety and depression, there are natural treatments such as taking vitamin supplements or engaging in meditation that may help.

Mental health therapists can assist their clients in recognizing anxiety triggers and providing strategies for overcoming them. Psychotherapy may also aid with lifestyle changes and dealing with trauma.

Meditation

Meditation can be an extremely effective way of managing anxiety and depression symptoms. There are various meditation techniques available; choose the one that works for you best; yoga, acupuncture or mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR).

Be mindful that meditation may increase feelings of anxiety or fear, so aim to strike a balance by acknowledging what’s present in your experience and accepting what comes up without fighting against it. This helps you step back and observe anxious thoughts rather than being consumed by them.

Doing something relaxing such as sitting quietly, breathing evenly, counting to four or focusing on an image like a waterfall or forest can help. Also consider keeping a journal where you can write out any worries and fears, which may help clear them from your mind.

Yoga

If you suffer from anxiety, holistic treatments may help relieve its symptoms. While traditional approaches like pharmacotherapy may work, there may be associated risks and side effects; yoga provides an ideal complementary therapy that may assist in treating anxiety and depression.

Many people mistake yoga for impossible physical postures, when in reality it is an effective means of experiencing reality as it truly exists. Yoga’s meditative/mindfulness elements help people cope effectively by activating prefrontal cortical areas such as VMPFC while decreasing drive on bottom-up stress pathways.

Start out easy pose or upward facing dog to help regulate breathing and release any pent-up emotions, then work up to more challenging postures that build confidence in your body.

Acupuncture

Anxiety can be an inevitable part of everyday life, yet uncontrolled anxiety can quickly become debilitating and lead to serious medical conditions. Luckily, holistic methods exist for controlling it.

These include exercise, restricting caffeine intake and meditation. Meditation is a mind-body practice which involves sitting quietly while breathing evenly and clearing one’s mind of worries – research shows it may even reduce anxiety!

Qigong and massage can both help to alleviate anxiety. Vitamins and supplements, like magnesium, may also provide comfort. Aromatherapy offers relief with its relaxing lavender fragrance; light therapy using special lamps that simulate sunlight can be an effective treatment option; just be sure to check with your physician first as some medications might react negatively with direct sunlight exposure.

Vitamins and Supplements

Vitamins and supplements can be an integral component of an integrative approach to combating depression and anxiety. Certain vitamins can help regulate brain and hormone functions that impact mood; for instance, taking GABA supplements may reduce overactivity in the brain and relax muscles, while passionflower can promote positive emotions while improving sleep.

An holistic approach can complement traditional treatments like psychotherapy and medication by including lifestyle modifications that promote good sleep, nutrition and exercise – such as enough restful zzz’s, eating healthily, getting enough restful zz’s and exercise – in addition to alternative treatments like yoga, acupuncture and mind-body therapies such as mindfulness meditation or glucose tolerance tests, which may identify and treat hypoglycemia which often contributes to anxiety.