Here we go again. The world is opening up and I for one can feel the frenzy building. I’ve heard and read that many people are as anxious about returning to the modern lifestyle of the ‘before times’ as they were about the unexpected mandatory pause. I feel like this is prime time to truly evaluate what works for us, each of us, and take steps to create the life that feels right to us. The pace, the connections, the responsibilities…if we don’t decide for ourselves how many plates we can spin, then others will decide for us.
For those experiencing anxiety related to the state of the world and all of its turbulence and unknowns (who isn’t??) then I hope you add some herbal additions to your daily life might help. Adaptogens and nervines specifically are the herbal categories to consider. Adaptogens help the body to adapt to stress of all sorts and nervines work on balancing our nervous systems. I’ve linked to places where I’ve written about both, but if you use the search bar you’ll find more articles addressing these two categories of herbs and also other natural anxiety relieving options such as GABA, CBD, and L-theanine.
But I think we need to remember to think holistically about where extra stress and anxiety build and flourish in our lives. We can take all the herbs and spray all the essential oils, but if our life is out of whack on a daily basis, it’s like putting a band aide on a gushing wound. Those natural aides might help you adapt to a pace of life that is uncomfortable, but it’s still an uncomfortable pace of life. It’s worth thinking about how to adapt your life to you. We can’t all spend every moment doing exactly what feels right to us in that moment, but we can make it a priority to move our lives in that direction so we can feel in charge of our lives instead of stuck in reaction mode.
This brings me to the Slow Movement which came out of Slow Foods. If you are not aware of Slow Foods, it is an international organization that promotes good, clean, and fair food for all people and the planet. It was named as a reaction to fast food and has grown into a multidimensional organization with themes including slow wine, slow meat, slow cheese, and promotes food fairness awareness from seed to plate. One of my favorite projects of theirs involves school gardens and they just are an organization I greatly admire. Just check out the website and join a local chapter if you feel moved to do so. The Slow Movement takes these concepts of good, clean, and fair, and extends them beyond food to encompass all areas of life. This is not an organization to join, it’s more of a philosophy to employ, which is why I linked to the Wikipedia page instead of an official page. This concept really resonates with me. I love the idea of quality over quantity and doing things better instead of faster. Our world keeps speeding up, and since the invention of the printing press, there’s been collective unease about technological advances outpacing human ability to adapt. Below is an interesting less than 10 minute Ted Talk that gives more insight into this.
I wanted to share this short article from New Hope Network that shows recent findings linking gut health with digestive health. This is something that has long been documented by Ayurveda, the oldest healing system in the world, by linking both to the vata dosha. There have been other studies as well, and even products aimed at optimal health for both. If you suffer from psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, OCD, and/or others, it is worthwhile looking at healing your digestive health as well. Here’s the article:
(This part of the post was provided by New Hope Network. I am a member of the New Hope Influencer Co-op, a network of health and wellness bloggers committed to spreading more health to more people.)
A Columbia University study has found that adversity early in life is associated with increased gastrointestinal symptoms that may affect children’s brains and behavior as they mature.
“It is too early to say anything conclusive, but our study indicates that adversity associated changes in the gut microbiome are related to brain function, including differences in the regions of the brain associated with emotional processing,” said Nim Tottenham, a professor of psychology at Columbia and senior author on the study.
The study, “Mind and Gut: Associations Between Mood and Gastrointestinal Distress in Children Exposed to Adversity,” was published online March 28 in the journal Development and Psychopathology.
“One common reason children show up at doctors’ offices is intestinal complaints,” said Tottenham, who is an expert in emotional development. “Our findings indicate that gastrointestinal symptoms in young children could be a red flag for future emotional health problems.”
Scientists have long noted the strong connection between the gut and brain. A history of trauma or abuse, even in the second through sixth weeks after birth, is associated with a higher risk of irritable bowel syndrome and more than one third of mental-illness diagnoses in one’s lifetime, according to previous research. This study was designed to determine when childhood adversity begins to affect the gastrointestinal system.
“The role of trauma in increasing vulnerability to both gastrointestinal and mental health symptoms is well established in adults but rarely studied in childhood,” lead author Bridget Callaghan, a post-doctoral research fellow in Columbia’s psychology department, said in a released statement. In addition, animal studies have demonstrated that adversity-induced changes in the gut microbiome—the community of bacteria in the body that regulates everything from digestion to immune system function—influence neurological development, but no human studies have done so, she said.
“Our study is among the first to link disruption of a child’s gastrointestinal microbiome triggered by early life adversity with brain activity in regions associated with emotional health,” Callaghan said.
The researchers focused on development in children who experienced extreme psychosocial deprivation due to foster or institutional care before international adoption. Separation of a child from a parent is known to be a powerful predictor
of mental health issues in humans. That experience, when modeled in rodents, induces fear and anxiety, hinders neurodevelopment and alters microbial communities across the lifespan.
The researchers drew upon data from 115 children adopted from orphanages or foster care on or before they were 2 years old and from 229 children raised by a biological caregiver. The children with past caregiving disruptions showed higher levels of symptoms that included stomach aches, constipation, vomiting and nausea.
From that sample of adoptees, the researchers then selected eight participants, ages 7 to 13, from the adversity exposed group and another eight who’d been raised by their biological parents. Tottenham and Callaghan collected behavioral information, stool samples and brain images from all the children. They used gene sequencing to identify the microbes present in the stool samples and examined the abundance and diversity of bacteria in each participant’s fecal matter.
The children with a history of early caregiving disruptions had distinctly different gut microbiomes from those raised with biological caregivers from birth. Brain scans of all the children also showed that brain activity patterns were correlated with certain bacteria. For example, the children raised by biological parents had increased gut microbiome diversity, which is linked to the prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain known to help regulate emotions.
“We observed that early adversity was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms in youth aged 3-18 years (with the largest effects observed in late childhood),” the authors wrote. They also found that adverse caregiving experiences in the earliest days of life alters the gut’s biome; that variation affects how the brain’s emotion networks develop.
“The fact that early experiences of caregiving adversity increase the risk for both GI and mental health problems, as well as being associated with changes to the GI microbiome, suggests that the timing of this exposure (infancy to early childhood) coincides with the sensitive period for the maturation of each of these systems,” the authors wrote.
More research is needed, but Tottenham and Callaghan believe their study helps fill an important gap in the literature.
“Animal studies tell us that dietary interventions and probiotics can manipulate the gut microbiome and ameliorate the effects of adversity on the central nervous system, especially during the first years of life when the developing brain and
microbiome are more plastic,” Callaghan said. “It is possible that this type of research will help us to know if and how to best intervene in humans, and when.” Callaghan and Tottenham are working on a larger study with 60 children in New York City, New York, to see if their findings can be replicated. They expect the results later this year.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Dana Foundation, the American Australian Association and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
(Me again) If you missed my digest blend DIY (above) a while ago, the link is here. Thank you for reading and please share with anyone who has digestive or emotional/mental issues! Best health to you and yours <3.
For those of you who don’t know me personally, I’d like to share that I’m currently going through a divorce. I won’t be sharing specifics here, but it’s been rather difficult the last few months to carry on with the pace of things that modern motherhood dictates, to say the least, as well as continue to consistently write, look for more freelance and herbal work, give herbal and English classes, look for more ESL work, realizing all the education and experience I have don’t readily add up to any sort of mainstream job, especially one with benefits, meanwhile going through intense grief equal to death of a loved one and being a full-time mom to two teenage sons and shielding them from the worst of things, plus all my family and closest friends are thousands of miles away. That’s all I intend to say about that, and don’t worry, I’m making it through and have found pieces of myself I’d completely forgotten about over the years and I’m very happy to get reacquainted with those bits and explore where they will take me. (More on this at the bottom of this post.) This is all just to say, that this article I found on the natural media site (New Hope Network) of which I am a part really struck a chord. You don’t have to be a mom or going through a divorce to know deep down that this modern set-up we call life is deeply out of balance and wrong on many levels. All the talk about self-care seems so…..superficial to me most of the time. When I read those self-care tips I always think, it’s not enough. It’s not enough to schedule a hot bath and mask on Sundays, or meditate 10 minutes a day, or get 30 minutes of exercise or 10,000 steps. The pace of things is just not sustainable when life is so full of distractions and deadlines and agendas. I don’t know about you but mostly those tips make me stressed out about being expected to add yet another thing to my plate.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, please read on. This article below by Julie Marshall has not only a couple of darkly funny and wholly relatable stories (you aren’t alone!) she has some tips for easing the overwhelm. Personally, I need to get better at delegating and letting the kids help more. It’s always good to see these reminders because daily life goes by so quickly that it’s easy to think if you just power through a day the next one will be easier. Powering through can only last so long though.
Here’s the article which I’m sharing as part of the New Hope Influencer Co-op, a network of health and wellness bloggers committed to spreading more health to more people. Scroll to the end for more real talk about divorce.):
Task Masteress
Facing an online work deadline while making dinner for her visiting parents, 11-year-old twins and one emotional teenager, the final straw for Katherine Kingston
was the moment her tired, overworked husband walked in the door and started complaining about his workload.
“I’d had it,” says Kingston, who also works part-time from home. “I walked out the door.”
Overburdened and stressed-out women like Kingston are not hard to find, according to articles and blogs nationwide. Look in the mirror, or talk to your best friend or neighbor, and you will discover another household taskmaster who is juggling work, volunteering, raising kids, and managing every detail that falls between morning and night.
Experts have a name for it: Mental overload, the process in which women who multitask as the CEO of the household try to balance ridiculously busy lives. Underlying the managing of digital calendars, chauffeuring kids to piano lessons and meeting work deadlines is the emotional labor women undergo to manage the feelings and emotions of everyone circling within their orbit—and all of this adds up to serious emotional and physical tolls.
This health scenario affects all women of all ages and lifestyles, experts say. But there are many things women can do to alleviate stress and find balance, including exercise, meditation and advocating for their own health.
The day she walked out the door, Kingston ended up at a friend’s house, where she found relief in a cup of tea and a compassionate ear. “It’s one thing I do that really helps.”
Serious Symptoms
As a naturopathic doctor at Boulder Natural Health in Boulder, Colorado, Rosia Parrish sees an increasing number of women suffering fatigue, weight gain and overall neglect of their health, she says.
“It’s because they are so taxed caretaking for others, and they don’t prioritize their own health,” she says. It’s these women who wind up with hypertension, prediabetes, obesity, hair loss, insomnia and low libido.
These are serious symptoms and conditions that can get worse, in some cases leading to anemia, heart failure, thyroid disorders, autoimmune disease, viral infections, digestive disorders and more, Parrish says.
Self-care is important, and Parrish advises a host of options, such as mindful practices, breathing exercises, staying hydrated, being in nature daily, exercising often, taking daily Epsom salt baths and getting adequate sleep.
For Kingston, knitting, pottery and time with friends help her relax, refocus and de-stress, but her favorite decompression method is a dance class at a local calming yoga studio.
“There’s always a motivational theme in class,” she says. “Last week was creativity as it relates to dance and to life. I was able to move about freely, while being introspective and creative.
I got mind, body and emotional health in just one class.”
Summer is a great time to dance, because it’s the hardest time of year, says Kingston, 42, who has the twins and a 14-year-old at home, and a husband who works 60-plus-hour weeks outside the house. In addition, her elderly and
ill parents recently moved to town so she can help with their care.
“The problem is that I can never get away from work. The kids, the house, my paid job. If I go to the back porch so I don’t have to hear the kids yelling or look at the pile of laundry, then I see the gardening that needs to be done,” she says.
“My husband and I have no time to connect, and everyone wants my attention. I feel dumped on,” Kingston says. “And then my in-laws come to visit. Last summer, my mother-in-law looked under my kitchen table and explained to me how I should clean it.”
As soon as the in-laws left this summer, Kingston developed a horrible sinus infection and earache from the stress.
Why do women take on this role if it’s so stressful? “Perhaps it’s biological,” Kingston says.
Science doesn’t yet offer a clear answer, Parrish says, adding that there are some positive benefits to being a multitasker.
“Women are achievers, successful in their career and family, and they can mobilize others, including family members, to achieve.”
And although some men do help with household chores, when it comes
to emotional labor, women seem to carry most of the load. As clinical psychology doctorate student and writer Christine Hutchison puts it, “Women, on average, have a PhD in emotional labor, and men are trying to pass third grade.”
Emotional Labor
Licensed clinical psychologist Marla Zeiderman laughed out loud when she heard about a mom who was at back-to-back meetings, while her husband, who was at home with the baby, fired off text questions such as “Where is the flyswatter?” and “Should I give the baby the whole pouch of purée?”
Zeiderman hears this scenario play out many times in her work at Kaiser Permanente. “I laugh, because it’s all too familiar,” she says.
“If you poll moms at home and moms in the office, you find the same stories. While there are plenty of dads involved in the household, generally it’s the mom who stays on top of everything that’s going on in the business of the family.”
The result can be toxic chronic stress, Zeiderman says, which can make you vulnerable to anxiety and depression, worsen existing illnesses such as asthma, and chip away at the ability to handle stress at all.
“I ask people, ‘Are you chewing your nails? Road raging?’ because these are warning signs that can lead to those bigger health problems.”
Once aware, women are more willing and able to break the cycle, Zeiderman says.
Talking with friends is a wonderful way to de-stress, Zeiderman says. Date nights and apps with short meditative exercises (such as Aura apps) you can do in the grocery store are a good bet, other experts say.
Shifting your priorities to find balance is key, Zeiderman says. “The worst thing
I could possibly suggest to anyone is to get up earlier to get it all done.”
Instead, women should look at the bigger picture and ask themselves how important is it to drive to six more soccer practices?
“Every successful CEO will delegate,” Zeiderman says. “Women may ask me, ‘How do I get the help I need if my spouse doesn’t even know where soccer practice is?’“
Probably the most important thing to do is sit down and work out the partnership, Zeiderman says. “Get vulnerable and tell your partner, ‘I’m overwhelmed; I can’t take all of this on,’ and then accept that everything won’t go exactly the way you want it to, but your child will probably get to soccer.”
10 Ways to Ease Your Burden
If you’re going to be the family CEO, then act like a CEO by delegating and putting systems into place that will ease your burden. Here are a few ideas to start now.
Streamline Meals. Declare standard meals for certain nights of the weeks, such as Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday or Spaghetti Wednesday, and then delegate those meals to other capable members of the family.
Embrace the Carpool. Find another over-stretched mom at your child’s practice (trust us, she won’t be hard to find) and chat with her about the idea of starting a carpool so you each have certain nights or weeks where this task is completely removed from your schedule.
Get Kids Involved. Delineate clear tasks with a points system (for example: take out the garbage = 1 point, clean the toilets = 3 points, etc.) on written notecards. As each child completes a task, they place the card in a basket. Each card in the basket (or reaching a certain points mark) goes toward a reward.
Take Advantage of Convenience. You may just be in the life stage where it makes sense to pay a little more for the pre-cut veggies or to take advantage of a cleaning service or dinner prep service. What is a take that takes up too much of your precious time? There’s probably a convenience item or serve that can make your life easier.
Do Errands in One Swoop. Make a list of 10 or so errands you must do and knock them out in a single block of time. Pay all bills digitally at the same time. Pick up all cards and gifts for the next month or two in one trip. Make a single or twice monthly trip to the bank, pharmacy or post office. Try to schedule all doctor or dentist appointments at a convenient time on the same day.
Make Extra Meals. Cook meals in big batches and freeze leftovers for the days when there’s no time or energy to get dinner on the table. Soups, casseroles, pasta dishes and cooked meat all freeze and thaw well.
Get Out of Your Head. Make a list of everything that needs to get done in one place (a physical paper list or on your smartphone) in the order of priority. Just writing out the list can relieve stress that you’ll forget something and will give you a clear plan of what to tackle next.
Unplug at Night. Every evenings, enforce a no-electronics rule for you and anyone in your home where all devices must be closed down at a certain hour. This gives your minds time to unwind and greatly increases your odds of sleeping well.
Treat Yourself. Each week, choose something that you’re doing only for yourself, whether it’s a yoga or fitness class, massage, self-improvement class, lunch or coffee with friends, or a trip to the quietest corner of your local library.
Say No. You can’t do everything, and only you can make the decision about where, when and how to share your talents, time and energy. Say no the next request or project that doesn’t fit in or bring you joy, and do so unapologetically. (The End)
I hope this last month of summer brings you joy, peace, and simple, easy living. Just keep in mind, life goes on, no matter what~ it doesn’t matter if there’s laundry to be done and gardens to weed and shelves to dust. I remember being surprised at the person in the mirror the week my husband left. I was at my son’s orthodontist appointment (b/c life really does keep going on) and walked into the restroom where I saw someone familiar out of the corner of my eye, and that person was me in the mirror. I think it was the fact I was someplace unfamiliar that made my own familiar reflection seem so shocking~ I still looked a lot like my old self with an in-tact family and it seemed oddly wrong to still look like the same person. I mean I looked terrible, but I was still me, if that makes sense. I took a picture of myself in the mirror (below, left) to remember what I looked like at the worst moments with the intent of taking occasional updated pics to prove to myself things were getting better. The picture on the right is one from about a week ago, which means 4 months in the divorce process. I am getting better, but I was wrong about the first days being the worst ones. Those days at least had the numbing element of shock to them. That wore off to uncover many, many more layers to deal with.
Ahh, the holidays….nothing like high expectations and extra obligations to turn up the heat on stress and anxiety levels. It’s a shame that the most joyful, festive, family-oriented time of year also has to be one of the hardest for many people. Stress and anxiety cause problems all year long of course, but it seems like this time of year people are rushing around much more with longer to-do lists and shorter fuses. Luckily for us, the natural world has plenty of help to offer, so much so that it seems pretty clear that nature would really like to tell all of us to chill out a bit. Since there are so many options out there, I’ve limited this post to just a few herbal and natural choices that cover the range of stress and anxiety from mild to intense but it’s still rather long. If you don’t see what you are looking for, feel free to contact me.
Nervines are a class of herbs that focus on the nervous system. They share similarities with adaptogens, which I posted about earlier, which are a different class of herbs that offer help with stress and anxiety by balancing out the body overall, with specific attention paid to the endocrine system. A great, concise article about the difference between adaptogens and nervines and when to use which can be found here. Nervines are good for any kind of stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and certain types of pain. They range in their strength from gentle tonic (such as Skullcap) to powerful sedative (such as Valerian). Most fall in-between the extremes and you can find plenty of blends that allow the herbs to work in a synergistic way.
Kava Kava is one of the most popular calming herbs, but it’s also an herb that has some warnings attached to it. Although it’s been in use in the South Pacific for it’s relaxing and euphoric qualities since ancient times, there have been a couple of issues recently that could indicate Kava might be damaging to certain people’s livers. It’s all quite inconclusive but some products do come with a warning on it, and some stores just stopped selling it, although it is still readily available in capsules, tinctures, and teas both online and found at brick and mortar stores. If you have an overload of toxins in your body, or a compromised liver for any reason, you might want to stick to other calming herbs or blend of herbs. Also, if you are taking it as a tincture, be prepared for it to numb your lips at first~ that just means it’s a potent product and it is a good sign.
Valerian which is also found in tincture, pill, or tea form is deeply relaxing and often part of herbal sleep aides. If you are not familiar with the herb, be forewarned that it has a strong scent although it doesn’t taste bad at all. More than once I’ve smelled the herb near someone or in their pocket and mistakenly thought the person was ill because it is that strong (and I have an over-active nose). If you need to address insomnia, Valerian is a good place to start.
Skullcap is also found in insomnia formulas but is milder and can be used throughout the day as a tonic for the nervous system. This is a particularly good herb for you if you find that your brain gets stuck on repeating anxious thoughts or has circular patterns of negativity. Capsules and tea forms are also available.
Blends are a healthy option if you are not sure which herb is best for you. Herb Pharm makes one which has a unique lavender taste and also comes in capsule form.
Most people know St. John’s Wort is good for minor depression such as the kind caused by seasonal affective disorder (SAD). It takes two to three weeks to feel the benefits of this mild tonic nervine but it really does have the ability to make one’s outlook a bit sunnier. In fact, St. John’s Wort can increase one’s photo-sensitivity so if you live in a sunny climate, do be aware that your skin just might surprise you with its quicker than usual darkening or reddening. I actually love this about the herb because SAD is related to lack of sunshine and vitamin D, so what does St. John’s Wort do? Increases your sensitivity to the sun! All the citrus essential oils act in the same way by the way~ they too increase your photo-sensitivity and they are also anti-depressants, so if you are using them in a body oil or body spray you should keep that in mind.
A word about deciding how to take your nervines. Tinctures are a great option because if you put the liquid right under your tongue you will feel the effects almost immediately. (It might burn so have some water nearby to wash the rest down your throat.) Stress and anxiety often lead to less than optimal digestion which may inhibit the results of a capsule or tablet, so if you use a tincture or tea, that alleviates the potential problem of not getting the most out of your supplement (and therefore your money). Of course, use whatever form works best for you because in the end, the best form is the form you actually take.
There are other natural products that help with stress and anxiety as well. B vitamins are important for daily stress management and are often even labeled with the word ‘stress’ right on the front them. If your daily tension levels are high then looking into a total B could prove beneficial.
As discussed earlier, vitamin D plays a role in SAD and is especially important in places where the word ‘overcast’ is in the daily forecast. Using a liquid formula is the most affective way to take D, other than getting at least a half hour of sunshine on some bare skin every day. (And that includes no sunscreen for that half hour.)
For times when your anxiety is high because of a certain event, or you are anticipating something stressful, then GABA might be your answer. GABA is a neurotransmitter already found in our brain that has anti-anxiety action. This study gives a brief explanation of one test and what the results were if you are interested. My naturopath actually first suggested GABA to me for times when I had to take my kids to get shots because of the extreme stress around those situations. (The GABA was suggested for my kids but I needed it too!) We use the chewables or lozenges because they are faster acting and personally, I feel the effects far greater than with capsules.
Essential oils are really at their prime working on stress and anxiety. They are definitely nature’s messengers telling us silly humans to relax, enjoy beauty, and quite literally to stop and smell the roses, or at least the rose oil. Neroli blossoms used to always be part of bridal bouquets because of their calming attributes and the essential oil continues that tradition of being a powerful anti-anxiety oil. Lavender is well-known as a relaxing scent and it combines beautifully with almost any other essential oil. Combining it with Neroli creates an affective anti-anxiety spray or oil, and combining Lavender with a citrus oil creates a lovely uplifting scent for diffusing or wearing. As mentioned above, all the citrus oils are anti-depressant (and also mildly stimulating), but the best ones for uplifting your mood are Orange, Grapefruit, and Bergamot.
Making body oils is a great way to wear your anti-anxiety and anti-stress essential oils like a shield. You can put the oil on the bottom of your feet, all over your body, or make a stronger scented perfume oil or spray that you can reapply to your pressure points throughout the day. There are so many natural options for help with stress and anxiety that you really don’t need to just push through those moments, days, or seasons alone. Of course, always consult a medical professional if you are struggling to the point of it disrupting your daily activities, but know there are plenty of natural options to help you enjoy your life fully and with optimal health.
Peace to all of you this season and please share this with anyone who might be looking for a little natural help with stress, depression, and/or anxiety, and subscribe for more posts like this one on a weekly basis.
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