Written by: Hanna Hanula, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
So many of us suffer from anxiety these days and willingly take medication or try to talk it through with a therapist. But, as these are definitely great to begin with, they won't solve the root cause of anxiety.
So let's look at three mistakes that drive your anxiety and what you could do instead.
Mistake 1 ‒ Not treating gut dysbiosis.
In a healthy human, the beneficial gut flora tightly controls the opportunistic microbes. However, we talk about gut dysbiosis when this balance is disturbed due to stress (emotional, mental, or physical), poor diet, antibiotics, or other diseases, and the harmful flora takes over control.
The truth is that if you want to be anxiety-free, you need to eat real, whole food, balanced meals (protein + veg + healthy carbs ) to keep your blood sugar stable, reduce inflammation and feed the good bacteria in your gut. If your diet is packed with sugar, gluten, and ready-to-eat meals, your inflammation will be high, and you will feed pathogenic bacteria that contribute to your anxiety.
This is where most women fail, as they turn to food for emotional comfort. But, unfortunately, taking medication and STILL eating chocolate, cakes, and fries won't fix your anxiety.
One of my clients, Erica, used to drink a coke with every meal. This bubbly drink full of sugar has contributed to her general anxiety disorder and fed her gut dysbiosis.
As she likes bubbles, I recommended replacing soda with low-sugar kombucha. So not only did she not feel deprived of her sparkling habit but she also enjoyed the extra benefits of living probiotics, helping her restore the balance of her microflora.
The result: she followed my method, healed her gut, and is medication-free without following a restive diet.
So what can you do?
You may want to implement a gut healing protocol focusing on :
eradicating the pathogenic bacteria,
reducing the inflammation,
restoring the healthy balance of your microflora
replenishing with nutrients that are cofactors of neurotransmitters production (feel-good chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA).
Mistake 2 ‒ Not working on regulating your nervous system.
The truth is that the enteric nervous system sits in your gut and communicates with your brain through the vagus nerve. So if your nervous system is dysregulated, you get easily triggered, which activates the stress response.
This response activates stress hormones that pump inflammatory chemicals, causing more inflammation. When stress is prolonged, your body uses its inhibitory compounds like serotonin and Gaba to mitigate the stress response. However, over time, the changes in the gut flora and dietary needs can lead to impaired neurotransmitters production that results in bloating, weight gain, insomnia, brain fog, difficulty concentrating, anxiety and depression.
A learned coping mechanism is an unconscious addiction to keeping your nervous system in a highly activated state. This process explains why you turn to food or alcohol to numb your feelings. Understanding why your system is dysregulated can help normalize it.
How to fix it?
Regulate your nervous system through resourcing. Come to the present moment by looking at the flowers, enjoying the sun's warmth on the skin, hugging a loved one, or eating a nourishing meal. Simple, easy life pleasures help you restore the sensation of safety in the body.
When you get triggered, pause instead of reacting. Try to notice where the trigger is coming from and find a more conscious way to release your emotions.
Manage your stress by finding the activities that help you relax and reconnect with your body. Yin yoga, dancing, walks in nature, and meditation are great and bring the most results if done daily.
Try energy healing therapy that will allow your system to relax and activate the body's auto healing forces.
Mistake 3 ‒ Not addressing the root cause.
Childhood experiences have a powerful impact on the construction of identity that includes awareness of ourselves, the structure of our self-esteem, behavior, and character, together with the ability to live healthily and integrate emotional experiences. If there is any emotional trauma, it can profoundly influence anxiety.
The truth is that medication is only a plaster on the wound, and it doesn't address the origin of anxiety. Depending solely on meds will not help you understand why you developed anxiety in the first place, and only by finding the root cause you can truly heal.
The reasons may be unresolved trauma, emotional wound, repressed emotions, blocked energy, high sensitivity, early childhood conditioning, limiting beliefs, poor body image, diet, antibiotics, stress, or a mix of them all.
My client Liz came to me with anxiety, depression and severe bloating as 'the last hope'. She tried everything the market offers, from medication to various alternative therapies and doctors, but no results.
After applying my G.E.M (Gut healing, Energy medicine, Mindset) method, she realized that trapped emotions manifest themselves physically. So we removed the 'blocks' that kept her anxious and drove her painful distentions, and now she is thriving, enjoying her life with a new partner medication-free.
The truth is that your mind avoids the truth, and then the body takes over.
How to fix it?
Your body, which is basically your unconscious mind, keeps all the secrets. So in order to go deeper and find the root cause of your symptoms, you may want to reconnect with your body, your hidden parts, and your inner child. Only your subconscious can tell you what happened in your childhood that caused you to adopt various coping mechanisms and behaviors. For example, you might be feeling not good enough, not worthy, insecure, abandoned, emotionally neglected, have poor body image, or feeling easily stressed and nervous.
Talking about it won't fix it as it is only a mental exercise. However, it will help if you find someone who can create such a safe space that you can easily connect with your inner self and release old programming.
I do this with my clients by using my own healing channel, somatic experiencing, and hypnotherapy, among other tools.
If you would like to become anxiety-free without medication or talk therapy, then get in touch with me. My Holistic Anxiety Reset might be the right fit for you.
Hanna Hanula, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Hanna Hanula is a leading nutritionist, naturopath, and mindset coach specializing in the gut and mental health. She is a former sufferer of high functioning anxiety, ADHD, social anxiety, and several digestive issues (mainly IBS, Candida, Sibo, and food intolerances) who healed herself by working holistically on the gut-brain axis. She then developed her own unique method called GEM based on gut healing (G), energy medicine (E), and mindset (M). She became passionate about helping others understand the importance of the influence of food on our mood. She is a founder of Souliciously Hanna, a coaching practice through which she runs group programs called Holistic Anxiety Reset and coaches private clients. She is also the author of Stress & Anxiety – the ultimate remedies guide. Her motto is that if you really want to heal your anxiety and feel comfortable in your body, then you need to address your emotional center – your gut.
