3 Ways to Manage an Anxious Brain

 By Sandy Jolles, MS

You may be familiar with the feeling of your heart beating rapidly in certain situations.  Maybe you find that your palms start to sweat, or you feel a sensation in the pit of your stomach. This is anxiety, which is the body's normal response to stress.

An advanced state of worry makes your brain anxious, and worry can become a constant state of "what ifs" that keep nagging, doubting, and scaring you. This drains your emotional energy and can increase your stress response. Because of this, your anxious brain makes it difficult for you to go about your everyday life, achieve your goals, and maintain healthy relationships.

The good thing is that it is possible to break this behavior, and in this article, you will learn three ways to manage an anxious brain.

1. Think Positively About Situations
The tendency to think of the worst-case scenario in every situation is called "catastrophic thinking." In stressful situations, it can cause anxiousness and even panic attacks. For instance, assume you are awaiting the results of a medical test. Naturally, your mind begins to imagine what would occur if the test is positive, and before you know it, you're mentally planning your funeral. These types of thinking increase your anxiousness and hinder your progress.

Try redirecting your focus toward self-compassion, rather than using logic or thought, to break this negative thought cycle. Every apparent unfavorable event is a chance to learn and grow, whether via patience, resiliency, or a lesson not to overextend oneself.

Your brain can better manage anxiety if you have an optimistic outlook. Trusting that your anxious feelings will dissipate, believing that you can get through this, and treating yourself more gently are all important components in managing your anxious brain.

2. Take Deep Breaths
Deep breathing is one of the most effective strategies to quickly reduce stress and manage the anxious brain. During stressful conditions, you are prone to shallow and quicker breathing patterns. When you take short breaths, your body feels stressed, which can cause you to breathe from your chest instead of your diaphragm. This unfortunately upregulates the fight or flight response in the brain.  However, when you take a deep breath from your diaphragm, you can break this cycle, and activate our rest and digestive response. So, when you feel anxious in the future, try these steps:

• Close your eyes, relax, and take a break from your work.
• Place your hands above the belly button and your feet firmly on the ground.
• With your eyes closed, breathe in and out slowly. Imagine your stomach as a balloon when inflating and deflating.
• Inhale deeply through your nose, then exhale through your mouth.
• Think of all that stress melting away as you breathe out.

Your anxious brain will feel better in a few minutes. Ensure that you practice these techniques while you are not anxious so that you may utilize them in times of stress. By gently and deeply inhaling, the body ceases to release stress chemicals and begins to relax. Focusing on your breathing might also help to distract your attention from whatever is triggering your anxiousness to focus solely on the present.

3. Consider Supplementation
Taking a nutritional supplement that contains Magnolia officinalis and Phellodendron amurense is another way to help support an anxious brain.*

Magnolia bark is an effective nutritional supplement ingredient that is derived from the bark, leaves, and flowers of the Hou Po magnolia tree. Phellodendron amurense is a species of Amur cork tree in the Rutaceae family, native to eastern Asia, and has been traditionally used to support individuals experiencing stress and anxious feelings.* 

The combination of Magnolia and Phellodendron extracts has been proven to support weight management in individuals who struggle with stress-related eating, while also helping to balance the hormone cortisol, which is associated with stress, as well as the perception of stress and anxious feelings.*

A study found that taking Magnolia bark extract and Phellodendron bark extract together every day helps to balance cortisol levels and assist with feelings of daily stress, while improving mood parameters and supporting feeling more energetic.* These findings indicate that moderately stressed adults can benefit from a natural method of mitigating the negative health impacts that chronic stress can have on the body.*

You can get Magnolia and Phellodendron extracts by taking a potent and high-quality HealthyBest Calm supplement to support your everyday stress levels and help manage an anxious brain.* In addition to these two powerful Chinese botanicals, HealthyBest Calm contains the B vitamins (including the active forms of vitamins B2, B6, B12, and folate) that have been shown to promote a positive mood and help mitigate the effects of stress.* B vitamins help the body convert carbs, proteins, and fats into energy and play a key part in maintaining health and wellness.* These vitamins are the building blocks of a healthy body, so they affect your mood, how well your brain works, and how your cells use energy.*

Try HealthyBest Calm to help maintain normal cortisol levels, support an anxious brain, assist with overeating in response to stress, optimize a healthy weight, promote normal DHEA levels, and benefit overall health and well-being.*

The Bottom Line
If you constantly feel anxious due to high-pressure situations, these three tips may help with modulating your stress response.* Ultimately, you can teach your brain to be more patient during stressful situations by taking deep breaths, changing your perspective, and considering HealthyBest’s Calm supplement.