The Best Natural Remedies for Anxiety

Spread the knowledge!

Do you really need medication for your anxiety?

This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my affiliate policy. If you are purchasing from perfect supplements you can use my code JESSB10 for an additional 10% off

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical professional, and this post should not be taken as medical advice. Please do your own research. Material on this blog is provided for informational purposes only. It is general information that may not apply to you as an individual and is not a substitute for your own doctor’s medical care or advice.

First let’s discuss why we get anxious.

Anxiety never comes out of the blue, as much as it seems that it does. There is always a context to it, an anxiety trigger. Always some perception of vulnerability that triggers the physiological response and the emotional response. But have you wondered why we get anxiety in the first place? For someone who has struggled with a ton of anxiety and depression in the past, I never would have imagined that I would find a way out of it all. It still manages to creep it’s way back up from time to time. Doesn’t it seem like everyone and their brother has anxiety? It is because they do. It is an epidemic. Our world is changing fast, and everything is speeding up. Our consciousness and the rhythm and vibrations of our body are being affected. This is causing an increase in anxiety rates.

Anxiety can be recruited into our lives in a variety of ways, but usually something happens to us that makes us feel vulnerable. When we are under stress, hormones are released throughout the body to give us energy to protect ourselves from danger. If you are not in physical danger, just perceived vulnerability, anxiety of anxiety, anxiety over guilt, etc., the energy we conjure to protect ourselves actually frightens us more.

Anxiety snowballs from there, as all sorts of frightening and disturbing thoughts come to our mind to make it worse; not to mention self-judgments. For anxiety to last, we have to be afraid of it. We have to think we cannot handle it.

Most relatable causes for anxiety:

1. Stress
2. Trauma
3. Major life changes
4. Illness or death in the family
5. Not setting boundaries
6. Your diet/Health problems
7. Anxiety causes anxiety (no really, it does)

Understanding ourselves, knowing what triggers our anxieties, and knowing what natural remedies help are all vital pieces of wisdom that we need in order to get in control of our anxiety disorders.

So how do you reduce your anxiety naturally?

Well, there’s no ‘packaged’ answer – everyone’s different. But there are things you can use to combat anxiety both in the short-term and long-term. Before I talk about the best natural remedies to reduce your anxiety, I want to talk about the power of your mind. There is a ton of research to back up these claims when it comes to your own intrusive thoughts. I HAVE FOUND THAT SETTING STRICT BOUNDARIES FOR WHAT I ALLOW MY MIND TO BE EXPOSED TO HAS HELPED SO MUCH. Also creating boundaries in your relationships with friends, significant others, co-workers, and family can have a huge impact. Boundaries can be confusing, terrifying, and guilt ridden if you come from codependent dynamics.

Boundaries can be in the littlest form such as:

• Not taking on more tasks than we can manage
• Designating self care
• Saying “No” without saying sorry or an explanation
• Not masking your feelings with drugs/alcohol when sad
• Treating our bodies with respect
• Not trying to change/heal someone
• Walking away from toxic situations or relationships
• Designating screen time
• Only taking responsibility for the things we should

The intention behind setting boundaries is not to make you feel restricted or unfilled. Rather, they are meant to protect your energy, values, wellbeing, and essence. It takes practice and intention. Be clear about what you want, be direct and don’t apologize for your needs. There will be people who will resist but don’t let that deter you. Our mind is not separate. It is all interrelated to how we live our life that affects our mind.

I have come to find that our habits are the starting point, and it is what will help us recover or to go completely astray. I really wanted to put emphasis on this topic because it is the foundation to help reduce anxiety.

These are powerful life changing techniques to help reduce anxiety.

Let’s breakdown the top natural remedies to help reduce your anxiety.

1. Grounding/Earthing

Grounding is the process of releasing positively charged ions or stuck thoughts and emotions into the Earth. You simply need to connect your physical body to Mother Earth. Most often, this consists of walking barefoot on the Earth and feels incredible! By touching the ground in some way, you are harmonizing your electromagnetic field. Earthing has even been shown to reduce stress (cortisol levels that can cause weight gain), pain, helps people sleep, and reduces anxiety.

The best way to achieve this is to simply go outside and walk barefoot on the grass. If you live in a busy city, you can “Earth” by sitting, sleeping or working while connected to a “conductive system” that transfers the energy from the ground into the physical body. This is what is known as a grounding mat.

2. Red light therapy

There are several studies showing that red light therapy can have excellent results in reducing anxiety. Red light therapy helps to eliminate that feeling of lethargy that accompanies low mood and anxiety. Mitochondria are the ‘powerhouse’ of cells and are stimulated by red light therapy. This energy is then distributed where it is most needed. Red light therapy supports your mental health by stimulating areas of the brain related to certain types of depression and anxiety. There has been significant success in clinical trials and studies using red light therapy with animals. Such as reduced levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, increased serotonin levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and reduced nitric oxide intensities in those same areas of the brain. There are great red light therapy lights like this one (I personally have this one), which covers a large area, or you can purchase just the bulbs.

3. Rhodiola Rosea

I first learned of Rhodiola rosea when I was researching adaptogenic herbs for adrenal support. I was intrigued because it seemed to be more powerful than other adaptogens. Rhodiola is a powerful brain tonic that can help with anxiety and depression, as well as improve memory and concentration.

In his book Rhodiola Revolution, Dr. Richard P. Brown reveals that many of his patients who were unable to achieve ideal mental health with prescription drugs, were able to do so with rhodiola. Indeed, he says, “In all of the studies to date, the herb has significantly lessened mental stress and anxiety while enhancing mood and intellectual performance.” He goes on to say “In recent studies, scientists have determined that besides acting on neurotransmitters, antidepressants affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis- an essential component of the stress response system. Rhodiola rosea does the exact same thing.”

4. Adrenal Support

Anxiety is a very common adrenal fatigue symptom. Experts say that there is a perfect, one-to-one relationship between chronic anxiety and fatigue.

Adrenal fatigue comes as a result of prolonged, repetitive stress. The condition makes your brain and body go into survival mode, and you end up dealing with anxiety, irritability, exhaustion, low energy levels, insomnia, and much more – on a daily basis.

And what’s more shocking is that as much as 80% of Americans go through adrenal fatigue everyday.

The connection between adrenal fatigue and anxiety lies in our hormones and stress response. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common issue in adults. Recently, studies have shown that this disorder is directly linked to over-activity in the “Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis. In other words, anxiety and adrenal fatigue go hand-in-hand because of cortisol and our stress response. Every time you feel anxious, your body is kicking the adrenal glands into high gear and releasing cortisol.

How to recover from adrenal fatigue to help reduce anxiety?

This can get lengthy, so for the sake of this post I’ll keep it basic and do a follow up post on how to recover from adrenal fatigue.

• Ashwaghanda root
• Adrenal Health Daily Support
• Lemon Balm
• Adrenal cocktail (my absolute favorite product, I consume this daily)
• Focus on your diet
• Incorporate exercise
• Magnesium

You can start with some easy at-home tests for adrenal fatigue. That, of course, is not going to give you all of the answers but it can give you a starting point. This is just a snapshot of how adrenal fatigue can cause anxiety.

5. Anxiety is not all in your mind, it’s in your gut

Research has now shown that gut health affects all body systems including the mind.  And in fact, the gut itself has its very own nervous system called the enteric nervous system.

The gut-brain connection starts developing in early life and continues to develop through early childhood.

It is influenced by what we eat, and how we feel which have a great effect on the chemical communications between our gut microbes and other cells including immune cells, hormones, serotonin-producing gut cells, and many other cells, metabolites and nerve cells in the gut.

The gut-brain connection is strongly evident. Issues such as anxiety, stress, and depression can affect gut motility.

Originally scientists thought that anxiety and depression would contribute to the  Gi problems but now it is clear that problems in the gut can cause mental health problems and mental health can also cause Gi problems.

And so it turns out that therapies that help the brain also help to heal the gut and don’t be surprised if your gi dr prescribes antidepressants next time.  These meds may act on the nerve cells in the gut and even therapies such as CBT  can help calm IBS irritation researchers says.

How do you achieve a healthy gut-brain connection to reduce anxiety?

These are the main foods to eat for gut health and for a balanced healthy gut-brain connection..

• Non-Starchy vegetables
• Fermented foods
• Bone broth
• Good fats such as beef tallow, raw butter, Organic EVOO or from fatty fish like salmon
• Meat from organic grass-fed animals
• Organic grass fed greek or Icelandic skyr yogurt

Supplements can also help. Be mindful that it can take a few weeks before you see any changes as long as you stay consistent.

• Spore based probiotic
• Prebiotics
• L-Glutamine
• Licorice root (also helps with adrenal fatigue)
• This healthy gut, happy you bundle is a great starting point

To sum up the best natural remedies to reduce anxiety,

Eating foods from the earth is a great, easy place to start. Ditch the packaged foods and go for naturally occurring fruits, veggies, lean meats and proteins. Next, skip the toxins. Try to eat organic produce when possible. There are many pesticides that create havoc on our hormones and harm our gut health. Next, add in prebiotic and probiotic foods. This will enrich your gut microbiome and allow healthy gut bacteria to flourish, which will also impact your mental health.

Start practicing on setting boundaries. Setting boundaries can take time. Don’t get down on yourself or give up if it feels hard! Setting boundaries is having the courage to love ourselves and believe me when I tell you this will help with your mental health and reduce your overall anxiety. When it comes to anxiety you may not be able to stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. Take charge of your health.