Nurturing Calm: Wholesome Practices for Anxiety Management

As the first frost of winter set in this year, I found myself kneading dough in my kitchen, seeking comfort in the rhythmic motion. It's moments like these—simple yet profound—that I've come to cherish in my dance with anxiety, a topic we unravel in this week's 'Journey to the Soul' podcast. Wrapped in a blanket of intimate storytelling, I invite you on a journey through the lesser-spoken paths of meditation, the delicate balance of physical health, and the transformative art of self-care. We delve into the shadows that anxiety casts, exploring how the adoption of nurturing practices can lead us back to a state of calmness and equilibrium.

Have you ever felt the weight of the world lift as you sipped a calming herbal brew? This episode is much like that—offering a blend of soothing insights and rejuvenating tales. I share my own pivot from a caffeine-laden existence to savoring the steadying embrace of herbal teas, illustrating the impact of such shifts on mental well-being. As we navigate through the landscape of meditation and breathwork, I recount my explorations from the silent retreats of Vipassana to the compassionate echoes of loving kindness meditations, underscoring the importance of finding a personal practice that resonates with you.

Closing this heartfelt exchange, I offer a trove of strategies aimed at managing anxiety. From the power of journaling to the enchantment found in joy-sparking activities, we examine a variety of tools designed to quiet the inner turmoil. With guided visualizations and an invitation to engage in a dialogue with your anxiety, we consider how to dismantle the fears that often lurk behind it. I'm grateful for the chance to connect with you, my dear listeners, and encourage you to intertwine your voices with mine, whether in comments or across the social media landscape. Hold tight to the wisdom shared here, and until next week, may our shared journey continue to be illuminated by love and light.

You can pull up your Human Design chart HERE
Superhuman Activations is wonderful if you want to dive more deeply into visualizations or writing practices to help with anxiety

Instagram: @jacendamarie

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Hi, loves, welcome to the Journey to the Soul podcast. I am your host, jacinda Villa, a spiritual life coach and holistic health coach. Every week, we will be diving deep into all things purpose, wellness, spirituality and creating the life that you dream of. This space is meant to be safe and transformative for you to dive into the deepest parts of yourself. I will share what I have learned from my journey along this path years of research and mentors along the way. Having spent many years living life out of alignment and afraid to go after my dreams, I know firsthand what it means to take the first step down, living a life authentic to you. We are on this road of self-discovery together. It is time for you to live the life you imagined. Hello, my loves, welcome to another episode. I hope you are having a beautiful start to your week and that you had a wonderful weekend as well.

Speaker 1: 1:10

I have really been enjoying my weekend, enjoying the cozy winter. I have been in a baking mood the last couple of weeks. I feel like every week I have been baking some kind of bread banana bread, pumpkin bread. I'm going to make some carrot cake too tomorrow. I think this time of the year always makes me want to bake more than I do during other times of the year. I think that has a lot to do with not being able to go outside certain days because it is colder or rainy or stormy or icy. So having to spend a little bit more time at home makes me just want to spend more time baking, and food is one of my love languages, so I absolutely love it. I'm not complaining at all, but I hope that you guys had a really nurturing and nourishing weekend doing whatever fills your heart and soul up.

Speaker 1: 2:31

I'm really excited to dive into this and share with you guys some really tangible things that you guys can try to implement if you struggle with anxiety. I have struggled with anxiety for many, many years and a lot of the things that I'm sharing with you are things that I have tried over the years to help me with my anxiety, and some of them I maybe don't do them anymore, but I did at some moment in time and maybe turned to a different practice but all of these things are things that I have applied to some degree in my life, but I definitely feel like so many people are struggling with anxiety. More and more people are having these conversations about experiencing these feelings. It's definitely something that people are becoming more aware of, or rather, starting to call these feelings within themselves something, because that's really what it is, and it's something that I also feel that more and more of us have been struggling with, and it has a lot to do with the world that we're living in and our fast-paced world, and it's so easy for us to move at this pace and to feel the need and the desire to want to keep up with how everyone else is moving through the world, feeling like we constantly need to be doing something or pushing in order to just keep up with the masses. The problem with this is that it often happens at the detriment of our well-being. It costs us our peace, it costs us our health, it costs us so much more than we're even aware of, and I know that that lifestyle doesn't align with a lot of us, but we live in a world that values it, and it can be really hard for us to step away from that and really honor how our energy feels good to us and how we're meant to function individually in this world.

Speaker 1: 4:58

Like I mentioned, this was my normal for so many years and my anxiety definitely evolved over time. It was really over the span of like 10 years where it was really bad, mostly during the same time that I was going through my eating disorder. I feel like an eating disorder and anxiety go hand in hand. But even now I can look back to before then and see how it even started before then. So this was my normal for so much of my life living in a constant state of anxiety. And when I was younger, when I was like 15, when I was in college, is the first time that I actually thought I don't know if this is normal, but the years where I started really struggling with anxiety, I didn't know that I had anxiety. I didn't know what that was. I didn't know that what had anxiety? I didn't know what that was. I didn't know that what I was experiencing was anxiety. And I think it also has to do with that moment in time where not as many people were talking about those things.

Speaker 1: 6:18

So for a lot of that time to me it was just my normal. This was kind of how I moved through my day. It was part of my everyday. You know, it was like this little shadow that kind of wouldn't go away and kind of put this tinge to my everyday life.

Speaker 1: 6:37

I know in college it was particularly bad, and that was when I first started to notice that maybe this wasn't right and what I was experiencing was something more than what I really thought that it was. I would unconsciously scratch all the time while I was sleeping, while I was awake or doing something. My skin would be raw and bleed and I just couldn't stop. I just had the desire to really want to scratch. It was very hard for my body to feel into a new possibility, and this is really how we move through our anxiety, because anxiety is fear. It is an unease that we have and it can be about the future. It can be the fear of the unknown. It can also feel like panic or nervousness.

Speaker 1: 7:45

Our anxiety can feel a little bit different for each and every one of us and this really takes time and dedication to feel better and to see results, because it slowly happens over time and I still struggle with anxiety on some days. Some days it's very prevalent and it's a feeling that's very dominant in my life that day. But I always come back to these tools to help me feel more grounded and to come back to myself. These are things that I have been putting into practice over the years that have truly helped me make leaps and bounds when it comes to my anxiety. I used to be afraid of going out and had social anxiety, anxiety about food, anxiety about everything the future. So these are the things that I use to help me work through that over the years, and they still show up from time to time. And they still show up from time to time. But now I am much better suited to help work through those parts of myself. And that's why I want to share these tools with you guys, because I know that struggling with anxiety is hard. It can be so debilitating and really impact your life. I know it's really hard. It's hard to feel into the unknown. So some things to try if you're struggling with anxiety, things to try if you're struggling with anxiety when you feel it coming up. These are some of the tools, some of the things that you can try implementing in your life. Maybe you want to try one to begin with and maybe adding another one in at some point, or maybe there's one in particular that speaks to you.

Speaker 1: 10:07

Let's dive in. The first thing that I want to share with you guys is simply creating more space in your day Space to be and move at a pace that feels good to you. A lot of the times, we create this for ourselves by moving in a way that isn't aligned for us, and this really requires us to have some level of self-awareness and honesty with ourselves. Is the way that I'm moving through life really nurturing to me? This was something that I really had to work on with myself, because I used to plan every moment of my life, every hour, every second of every day, that I would constantly just be moving from thing to thing to thing to thing and I didn't have any room ever to breathe. I know I am not the only one that probably does this. Another depth to this particular thing is if you have studied human design or if you are familiar with it. I am making a podcast just about human design that will be coming out soon. But if any of my listeners are familiar with human design, figuring this out this particular part of my chart out absolutely changed my life, so I want to share it with you as well.

Speaker 1: 11:52

But if you have an open root center in human design and the root center is focused on stress, adrenaline, pressure, momentum, 40% of the world has this particular center open and if you have your human design chart or have it accessible or have it accessible, it is the center. It's a box at the very bottom of your chart. It is a square. So that is the root center. That is what I am referring to. But 40% of the world has this open, which means we don't have consistent energy. Here we can feel the stress of the world around us and take it in as our own, so other people's timelines and stresses and pressures. So something to work with, if you have this root center open, is learning to honor your energy's natural ebbs and flows, because it's not always meant to be consistent, and that's okay. That is how you were meant to be in this life and to experience this, and by fighting this part of ourselves, we can create even more anxiety. If you have never pulled up your human design chart, and if you are interested, I would love if you share as well with me in the comments below or send me a message through Instagram if you have an open root center. But I'm going to link Jenna Zoe's website below so that you can pull up your human design chart if you are interested in seeing if this thing is open or defined for you. Regardless, creating more space in your day whether you have consistent energy or not is something that we can all do to just allow us to move at a pace that feels good and is more intuitive for us and our nature.

Speaker 1: 14:29

The next thing that I wanted to share is meditation. This is where I began, when I started healing from my eating disorder and was just overcome with so much anxiety. I didn't even know how to move through my day. It was literally paralyzing. So meditation was the first thing that I reached for, along with a handful of these other things, but it really was the catalyst for me to actually make progress with my anxiety.

Speaker 1: 15:11

And there are so many kinds of meditation out there. There truly is so many resources that we can look at. You can try guided or non-guided meditations, there is apps, and I personally have played with many kinds of meditation over the years. I've done Vipassana, I've done mantra meditation, I've done loving kindness meditation. There is so many things out there and they all kind of bring their own thing to it, and what I tell people that maybe struggle creating a practice with meditation is to find something that you enjoy.

Speaker 1: 16:05

Don't do meditation in a particular way, because that's what you saw someone else doing is that you really need to try multiple things and see what actually feels good for you, because the end goal is going to be slightly different for all of them. Some of them are going to give you more self-awareness, some of them are going to make you feel more grounded or feel gratitude. There are so many different kinds of meditation and they all serve a different function, so you can try one kind of meditation for maybe a week or two and maybe try another kind of meditation and really be honest with yourself about which one is actually doing something for you, and meditation is really just creating space. That is all that it is doing, and it allows you to see your anxiety so much more clearly because you are just aware that is what you are practicing is a level of awareness, so you can see your anxiety as being separate from you and you and your anxiety not being one thing together.

Speaker 1: 17:26

Disassociating from it is really one of the key things that we can do to start disengaging with it. It's so amazing to me when we meditate and you are just focused on being. You're focused on being in the moment or your body, and you can see so clearly where you are not free, you know, if it's certain thoughts that keep coming into your mind or a certain sensation in an area of your body. These are all signals. These are all places where we can really learn how to be more grounded in or let go of certain things so you can explore whatever comes up when you meditate more deeply, because it might be the key for you to actually work through your anxiety to an even greater depth. Along with playing with different kinds of meditation, you can also play with the length you know. Try something that's shorter or longer. Some people like doing five, ten minute meditations, and that works for them. Other people have longer practices 20 minutes, 30 minutes, even an hour and again, it's just what feels good to you. And what do you feel is actually making a difference? Because this is going to look so individual and different for each and every one of us and different for each and every one of us.

Speaker 1: 19:13

If you drink caffeine, try limiting your caffeine intake to just one cup a day, or just try limiting your caffeine intake, because I know that this can be hard, especially if you have been a heavy caffeine drinker for many years, which I will raise up my hand and say that I was Four years ago. I really cut back on my caffeine, but before that, you guys, I used to have six to eight cups of coffee a day, sometimes more. I'm not even lying by noon. I had four cups on an average day, but I felt like I needed it to function. And this was now looking back many years later. What I kept telling myself is that I needed this to function. The truth of the matter is that I really wasn't giving my body what it needed. I was neglecting it. I was not sleeping. I was sleeping four hours a night, every single day, and I was pushing through my day with caffeine and not shocking, but that deteriorated my health immensely. So now I drink one cup in the morning typically. Sometimes I don't even crave it and I don't have one. I've started drinking more herbal tea as well, which I always enjoyed tea, but now I definitely enjoy tea during the day as well.

Speaker 1: 21:01

And if you are a heavy caffeine drinker, just trying to cut down in the smallest way and giving yourself time to actually let your body assimilate, having less caffeine is going to be key. So just give yourself time. Very few of us are going to be able to go from drinking six cups of caffeine from one day and then overnight going to none. So rip off the band-aid slowly, because your body is used to this as well, so you need to give it time to slowly wean off of it. If not, you may feel some side effects from cutting down, and so many of us also underestimate the effects that caffeine has on us. It puts our bodies in an immediate stress response and I know that's why so many of us reach for it. It's like having your first few sips of coffee. It's like all of a sudden you feel alive and full of energy and you feel invincible, like I'm going to do everything today. I totally resonate. I totally resonate, but just keep that in the back of your mind is that it does put our bodies in an immediate stress response.

Speaker 1: 22:34

However, what I will say is that we are so bio-individual, so caffeine will affect us all differently. Some of us will be more sensitized than others. Some of us will be able to drink a cup of coffee and feel very nominal effects, while others of us will drink one cup of coffee and feel like they're on cloud nine for 12 hours. So really notice how you feel when you are drinking caffeine and just be very honest with yourself. I know I share this in another episode, but I really do have an all or nothing mentality and a lot of that also stems from just my past, with my addiction tendencies. So for me, really limiting my intake has just helped me immensely. But you know yourself best. So just be honest with yourself about how caffeine may or may not be affecting you and you ultimately will know what that is for you.

Speaker 1: 23:46

Breath work is another great alternative to meditation. Maybe you have tried meditation and meditation is just not your forte. That is okay. It's not for everyone. I do believe that, even though I feel like in the health and wellness space so many people preach about meditation, to me it's about creating space. So if there's something else that allows you to create space and notice and create a deeper connection with yourself, that isn't meditation. That is okay.

Speaker 1: 24:29

Breathwork is short and effective. Typically it's only done for a couple of minutes, and there's so many kinds of breathwork as well, just like there are so many different kinds of meditation. But you can do something very simple like box breathing, which is also sometimes be referred to as the 4-4-4 technique, and that's where you breathe in for four seconds, you hold for four seconds and you breathe out for four seconds and you do that for as many times as you want. Essentially, if you are new to breathwork, I probably wouldn't go past, maybe the 10-step mark, just because if you're used to breathing in a different way not as deeply or not taking in as much oxygen you could get dizzy. So, again, this is something that your body could get used to if you don't breathe as effectively as we think we do. So working up to it could be key. But there are also some breathwork exercises that are 15 or 20 minutes that you can do and there's plenty of things on YouTube.

Speaker 1: 25:54

But breath work is almost always stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system, so it is just trying to get you grounded and feel safe and not be in your fight or flight response. Safe and not be in your fight or flight response. There's alternate nostril breathing. That's a very common breathing technique in yoga practices. The options are truly endless, but sometimes just just sitting down and taking a couple of deep breaths. We notice a difference when we stop and do that, and that's really what breathwork is here to do is just setting the intention to breathe through whatever emotion you are experiencing, which in this case, we're, you know, talking about anxiety. So breathwork is a great thing to consider, if maybe meditation seems a bit overwhelming.

Speaker 1: 27:02

Going for a walk outside or moving your body in some way, walking outside is truly one of the most healing things that we can do for ourselves, for so many different reasons. But even just doing 15 minutes of yoga or 15 or 20 minutes of Pilates or jump rope or anything that you enjoy, will help move the energy that you are experiencing in some way. I really want to emphasize that this should be something that you enjoy. I don't like using the word exercise. I like using the word movement and I am a big believer in us moving our bodies in ways that we enjoy moving them, because it's supposed to be a celebration of what our body could do. But just moving your body, whether that is going on a walk or doing something at home or going to a class, is really going to help you move through the anxiety in your body. This is one of the things that I come back to all the time. I feel like on the days where I don't move my body in some way, I just am more anxious. After you know, exuding some energy, whether that's through yoga or walking or Pilates, I just feel so much more grounded and I find that if you are a sacral being in human design, so if you are a generator or a manifesting generator in human design, I think that this particular point is even more helpful for us. So find something that you enjoy. It doesn't have to be anything crazy, it doesn't have to be a whole workout. It can be the most micro thing, it can be sun salutations, but getting the energy moving, the stagnated energy that's in your body, this is going to be so key. For that better, I really recommend journaling.

Speaker 1: 29:37

What are you feeling in this moment? Where in your body do you feel it? This allows you to try and gain some clarity about what is happening in that moment. And a lot of us are really disconnected from our anxiety. We don't even know where it comes from. But being able to recognize what creates anxiety within us is going to be so pivotal for us to be able to work through our anxiety. It really helps you get to the root of it. Anxiety, it really helps you get to the root of it when you are writing these things down. Even if it doesn't make sense, just write down whatever you think of first, whatever comes to mind, whatever feeling you're feeling, wherever that is in your body. And the reason I say this is because our anxiety can come from something that we experienced so long ago that we may not even remember that memory at this moment in time. So by writing it down, we can start walking the path of recalling where it comes from. Bit by bit, we'll be able to work with it at a deeper level. So journaling really helps us connect with spend enough time doing the things that we actually enjoy.

Speaker 1: 31:26

What is something that brings you joy? Do it and get your mind immersed in that activity. It allows you to get your mind and your body in a different state of being. It will automatically elevate your frequency because you will be in a state of joy. Maybe it is reading a novel, playing the piano, baking something, dancing, cuddling with your dog. What is that thing for you when you feel the anxiety coming in? Or if it's there and you're experiencing it in this moment? Go do something that brings you joy, something that puts you into that state immediately, and don't just lean into these things when you are feeling the anxiety, but having them as part of our everyday life to some degree is pivotal to our well-being. I know that I have spoken about that in another episode, but experiencing things that bring you joy and that fill you up are pivotal for your overall livelihood. So do something that brings you joy and that gets you in that frequency.

Speaker 1: 32:57

Getting enough sleep is so important if you struggle with some kind of anxiety. Lack of sleep affects us in profound ways. A lot of the times we disregard this, but sleep is so important as well for our well-being. If you are not getting enough sleep when you wake up in the morning, you are already in a state to breed anxiety. Our chemical processes function completely different when we are not well rested, because our body is not in a symbiotic place. So getting enough sleep and making sure that you're giving your body the rest that it needs so that your body can function the way that it's supposed to is going to help limit the anxiety immensely. And I know a lot of us can notice the differences on the days where we sleep through the night and wake up feeling refreshed and energized for the day, and on the days where maybe we woke up a few times and then didn't even need our alarm, but woke up before that and are feeling tired and don't know how we're going to get through the day, and on those days your body feels completely different. Sleep is pivotal if you are struggling with anxiety. So notice are you getting enough sleep? Are you getting enough quality sleep? If not, what can you do to change that?

Speaker 1: 34:48

Visualization is another wonderful tool to move through your anxiety when you are experiencing it in the moment. There are so many visualizations that you could use. One of the more common ones that I think is very easy and doesn't require a lot of time is imagining a red balloon floating in front of you and imagine that this red balloon is your anxiety. Imagine that your anxiety is within this red balloon. And now imagine the red balloon floating away, with all your anxieties floating away with it. You can watch it as it's leaving and getting smaller and smaller and all those things that you were feeling and experiencing that fear, that uncertainty, that nervousness that you put into the balloon, watching it get smaller and smaller, and it suddenly disappears. And you can use this visualization with any feeling that you want to anger frustration. But I feel like it is very helpful with anxiety because it allows you to visualize your anxiety leaving. You may notice that you feel lighter. You don't feel as heavy or worried or paralyzed.

Speaker 1: 36:55

Another beautiful visualization is imagining you are in a peaceful place. What is that place for you? Perhaps it's at the beach, hearing the waves crash on the shore, feeling the Sun on your skin, the sand in your toes, the salt in the air. Or perhaps it's in a forest, surrounded by trees and Mother Earth. You can feel the coolness of the air, you can hear the birds chirping in the background and you can tap into these spaces and gain grounding and peace from it. The visualizations transport you to those places where you are in that frequency of peace. They are very powerful of peace. They are very powerful. Visualizations can shift your energy in the most incredible way. Another great alternative is superhuman, which I have mentioned in some of my other podcast episodes Superhuman activations. They actually just rebranded to activations, but there are some incredible visualizations in there to help you work through your anxiety. They have visualizations for just about anything, anything that you're feeling. So it is a wonderful resource if you want to try using visualizations to help you move through your anxiety Another wonderful thing to do to gain a better understanding of this part of yourself.

Speaker 1: 39:05

If that is what you're trying to do is to have a conversation with your anxiety. Have a conversation with this part of yourself. Challenge. It Is what I am feeling, actually true, and most of the time it isn't. So much of the times our anxiety is self-inflicted by our beliefs. But is it the actual truth? Most of us will find that it isn't. It is something that we live in and it can be so hard to see that when we are in our experience, when we are feeling the anxiety so heavily, it can be difficult to see that another reality exists and is possible. But, like the journaling, this will really allow you to understand your anxiety even better. And my last tip is to talk to someone you love about it. You don't have to go through these experiences alone. Talk to someone you feel comfortable with.

Speaker 1: 40:38

So many people experience anxiety. It can be in the smallest ways or the biggest ways, but so many of us do experience it to some degree. There's a possibility that the person you open up to may experience something similar and you can both help each other out. Know that you don't have to walk this path alone, that there are people in your life that want to help you and be there for you. It can be very lonesome to work on this by yourself, because it can feel very overwhelming, and maybe it's taken control of your life for so long that you don't even know how to take the first step forward. It's so important for us to acknowledge it, but also not numb ourselves out even more to what our anxieties are. Our anxieties are. The first step is noticing, so that you don't feed into your anxieties.

Speaker 1: 42:09

Working through anxiety takes time and commitment, devotion, gentle, love for yourself. If this has been your constant state of being for so long, you need to allow yourself time, but stay committed to freeing yourself from this. Focus on what you can do in the smallest ways every day, and over time you will see the growth and where you are more free in your life, you will start to notice the difference. Take one or two or a handful of these tools with you and start applying them to your life in some way. Give yourself time, be kind to yourself.

Speaker 1: 43:02

Share with me if you have struggled with anxiety, or if you do struggle with anxiety. I would love to know what are some of the things that help you move through this. Share it with me. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about that. Alright, my loves. That is it for today's episode. Thank you for tuning in and staying until the very end. I hope that this episode comes to you at a divine time and that you took something away from it in some shape or form. I will talk to you all next week in my next episode, sending you all so much love and light. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please make sure you subscribe so you never miss an episode, and share this message with any friends and family. I'd love to hear your takeaways, so share them with me by leaving a comment below or heading over to my Instagram at jacendamarie. I am sending you all so much love.