Alternative Treatments for Anxiety Disorder. If you suffer from anxiety, you know very well how it shows up in your life: overthinking, ruminating on worst-case scenarios, social isolation and feeling like everything is spinning out of control. But what you may not know is that anxiety is not just a mental health condition – it also affects your cells, energy body and consciousness. For the 18 percent of American adults who struggle with this disorder, learning to bring it under control and keep from downward spiraling takes a holistic approach to treating anxiety that involves not just the mind, but the body, soul and spirit as well.
Creating Gut Health Relieves Anxiety
Food fuels us and affects all aspects of ourselves, and it profoundly impacts the way we feel. The foods we eat can either promote inflammation and disease, or they can be used as medicine to correct our imbalances.
Your gut and brain are intimately linked: many of the neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin that make you feel relaxed and well are actually produced in your gastrointestinal tract. When you eat whole, nutritious, anti-inflammatory foods, your gut microbiome comes back into balance – and you feel less anxious as a result. According to nutritional psychologist Dr. Maya Feller, bad gut health “causes a surge of excitatory neurotransmitters, which creates even more anxious thoughts and feelings,” which is why anxiety levels are directly related to the amount of inflammation in your body.
According to Harvard Health, a diet that promotes healthy anxiety response should include plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and provide a good balance of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and antioxidants.
Somatic Therapy for Anxiety Disorders
Somatic therapies are body-based techniques that use your mind-body connection to help you release any stored tension that may be affecting your emotions and behavior. These can be a great complement to talk therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), as they help you let go of any physical sensations that come up during counseling sessions. Somatic therapy can include yoga, massage, dance, and other forms of gentle movement designed to heal trauma and restore a healthy energy flow.
Just as your body has a natural fear response, it also has natural ways of letting go of that fear. Sometimes to break the cycle of anxiety, all it takes is a gentle reminder to remember how to calm the mind and reconnect with your physical self, to move past your fight-or-flight response and relax into the present moment again.
Holistic Anxiety Treatment in Relaxing Sedona
If your anxiety is interfering with your ability to live your life according to your soul’s calling, The Sanctuary can help you identify what’s causing it and safely manage its systems using a variety of integrative holistic techniques. Our organic superfood nutrition program uses local, high-vibrational produce and teas to help you get your gut back on track to support your mental health, and our experienced wellness therapists offer a variety of somatic therapies designed specifically to help with anxiety.
To learn more about holistic anxiety treatment methods, see our article: Alternative Treatments for Anxiety Disorder – Are They Effective?
To find out about our program options and see what’s best for you, call us at (877) 710-3385 or email us at [email protected].
He is the Founder, Administrator, Counselor at the Sanctuary at Sedona. He has a BA in Political Science and is currently Senior teaching staff at Four Winds Society, an international school of energy medicine. His credentials also include being an Ordained Minister; a Certified Shamanic Breathwork® Facilitator; a Founding Member Society for Shamanic Practitioners; a Member of Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology; a Member of the National Institute for Holistic Addiction Studies. [email protected]
