Finding Your Zen Amidst Anxiety
Anxiety—it’s a sneaky beast, isn’t it?
It doesn’t care who you are, how old you are, or what you do. It can creep up on anyone, anytime. Sometimes it’s a fleeting feeling, linked to a specific situation. Other times, it lingers, becoming a constant companion, especially when life keeps throwing stress your way.
I’ve walked that road myself. My anxiety wasn’t just one thing; it was a tangled web of triggers. Growing up with an alcoholic parent, surviving a house fire, bouncing around a dozen different schools—these were the main sources. Then there’s the more subtle kind, the low-level hum of chronic work stress that’s always there, just beneath the surface.
But before we can tackle anxiety head-on, we need to understand what it really is and how our bodies react to it. It’s more than just a feeling; it’s a full-body experience.
Remember the Tiger
Picture this: You’re not living in a high-rise, staring at a screen all day. You’re out in the wild, and there’s a hungry tiger lurking nearby. Your body isn’t concerned about tomorrow’s meeting or that awkward text you sent—it’s focused instead on survival.
Enter the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS), your body’s autopilot sensor for danger and safety. When that tiger shows up, your Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) kicks into gear, pumping out adrenaline, making your heart race, sending a jolt of energy to your muscles. You’re ready to fight, flee, or freeze. That’s the “Fight, Flight, or Freeze” response in action.
But once you’ve outpaced the tiger and the danger has passed, your body needs to chill. This is what happens when you see animlas in the wild shake involuntarily after a threat has passed - it's an involuntary shudder to release that adrenaline. That’s when the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) takes over, releasing acetylcholine to slow your heart rate, and letting you rest, digest, and heal. This balance between the SNS and PNS is crucial for keeping you healthy.
Balance is Everything
The trouble is, in today’s world, we’re not running from tigers—we’re battling deadlines, emails, and endless digial notifications. Our bodies are stuck in overdrive, with our SNS constantly firing. Even when we put the phone down, our minds are still racing, replaying the day’s stresses on a loop. This chronic stress keeps cortisol levels high, especially at night, making it hard to sleep and even harder to relax.
Flipping the Switch: Activating ‘Rest & Digest’
So, how do we break the cycle and give our PNS the reins? Here are some of the most effective strategies I’ve come across:
Engage the Vagus
The vagus nerve is your body’s secret weapon for calming down. One way to tap into this power is through an FDA-cleared device called AlphaStim. It’s an electroceutical gadget with over 100 peer-reviewed studies backing its effectiveness, especially within military and civilian populations. In 2019, a study from the University of Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre, in collaboration with the NHS, found that AlphaStim reversed anxiety in 44% of patients and provided significant relief for 63% of users.
Ketones for Clarity
When your brain feels foggy and your anxiety spikes, ketones might be your answer. DeltaG is an exogenous ketone supplement that crosses the blood-brain barrier to give you sharp, instant clarity—even if you’ve just indulged in a carb-heavy meal. Dr. Rhonda Patrick swears by it before speaking engagements to stay focused and calm (note: she was using an earlier, DeltaG licensed version called HVMN). This supplement isn’t just hype; it’s based on a patent held by Oxford University’s Professor Kieran Clarke, with research ties to NASA and the US Department of Defense and funded by DARPA, the same group that gave us the internet.
I tested DeltaG myself a few months ago before speaking at the Women of the Square Mile conference in London. Let me tell you, it worked wonders in calming my nerves and sharpening my focus.
For those who live with serious anxiety issues, I highly recommend reading the book, Brain Energy, by Harvard Medical School Psychiatrist and Associate Professor Christopher Palmer. He gives you both the science behind the benefits of a ketogenic diet for those with chronic anxiety, ADHD, addicition, and anorexia, as well as for those with more serious conditions such as bipolar and schizophrenia. The science has been reproduced at Stanford Medical School as well.
Box Breathing
This technique, used by Navy SEALs and Rangers, is a quick way to dial down anxiety by activating your PNS. Here’s how it works:
Inhale through your nose for 5-8 seconds.
Hold the breath for 5-8 seconds.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 5-8 seconds.
Hold the empty space in your lungs for 5-8 seconds.
If 5 seconds feels too long, try 4 seconds on each side of the “box.” If it’s too short, increase to 8 seconds.
Not a fan of box breathing? Try “rectangle” breathing instead:
Inhale through the nose for 5 seconds.
Hold for 10 seconds.
Exhale through the mouth for 5 seconds.
Hold the emptiness for 10 seconds.
Humming: The Sound of Calm
Ever wondered why yoga instructors tell you to chant “Om”? It’s not just for show—the vagus nerve connects to your vocal cords, so humming, singing, or even talking can activate it and help you relax. One device that helps you connect with this is the Sensate, a large, gray, pebble-shaped device that you place on your sternum and connect up to your headphones with Bluetooth. While listening to a menu of relaxing instrumental compositions, binaural beats are playing in the background. This is where one beat is piped into one ear and a different one into the other. The brain has to match them up and this helps you move into a state of relaxation. At the same time, the music you're listening to uses a humming sound produced by the Sensate 'pebble' which is also vibrating the bones in your skeleton (via your sternum) and thereby activating your vagus nerve. Clever, right? And super relaxing in fact. I've liked miine so much I have the early version and a more refined, newer version.
Cold Therapy
Cold exposure is another powerful tool. Beyond its benefits for fat loss and reducing inflammation, cold therapy stimulates the vagus nerve. While the thought of a cold plunge might make you shiver, you can start small by splashing cold water on your face. It’s a quick way to trigger a calming response.
You can also do longer plunges in colder, even freezing water, but do use caution and always start slowly. If you feel it's too cold, out you should come. Listen to your body and work up to longer exposure, utilizing calming breath and a professional cold exposure coach to guide you and keep you safe. Women should especially take care as there have been a few tragic fatalities where women pushed themselves too much. You can perhaps see now why I'm a bigger fan of brief cold exposure in your shower!
Hopefully this list of tips to keep anxiety at bay will help you tap into your body's own healing abilities by triggering the Parasympathetic Nervous System.
Have your own tricks to do this? Share them below to help benefit others!
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30098653
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuOAg7Ji1t4
https://hvmn.com/blog/ketosis/ketone-ester-ketosis-and-anxiety
https://www.dpag.ox.ac.uk/team/kieran-clarke
https://time.com/4316151/breathing-technique-navy-seal-calm-focused/
