Herbal Remedies for Anxiety by Michael Logan

Taking medication isn't for everyone and if you're the type of person who doesn't like to take medication, you should be aware that there are herbal remedies for anxiety. No one is immune to the mental and physical trouble that anxiety can bring on but none of us have to put up with living that way. The longer that the anxiety goes on without treatment, the worse the physical symptoms can become. See if you recognize the following side effects of having anxiety.

Fast, rapid breathing is one side effect, heart feeling like it's beating too fast is another. Feeling an almost overwhelming sense of doom is how some sufferers describe what they're going through while battle a tense, nauseated tightness in the pit of the stomach.

Tense muscles and having trouble paying attention and focusing on even simple tasks are some of the problems that anxiety can cause. You can have all the symptoms or a few and they can come when a trigger that flips the anxious feelings is tripped.

There are many health problems that can cause anxiety so before you assume that yours is normal anxiety, go see your doctor. Health problems that can make anxiety develop are trouble with the heart-an undiagnosed heart condition or disorder, anemia, diabetes and problems with the thyroid gland. Once you've been checked and ruled those out, then you can take herbal remedies for anxiety and find successful treatment.

For hundreds of years, herbs have been used to help heal a variety of ailments. While many over the counter and prescription drugs have dangerous side effects, when used the right way, herbs can be safely ingested.

If you're not sure which herb to use for anxiety or how much of it to use, seek the guidance of a doctor who specializes in alternative medicine. You'll find numerous doctors who practice naturopathic medicine and you can look them up under holistic practitioners too.

Anxiety and stress are bonded together much like a circle of metal. You can't see where one part ends and the other begins. Stress is not bad as long as it's not overpowering. Some stress that can be helpful for you is the stress of a project deadline. It keeps you steadily working toward meeting that goal and that's not a bad stress to feel. But relentless stress can be counterproductive.

Herbal remedies for anxiety can relieve you not only of the anxiety but also of the stress you might be feeling. Herbals can help you to relax and put you in a better frame of mind as you seek to find the underlying reason that's causing the trouble.

Biofeedback is another very powerful tool to have in your anti-anxiety tool box. Biofeedback technology has grown more and more sophisticated in the last 30 years, and it is possible now to train both brain waves and heart rate variability using computerized programs.

Biofeedback is learned, so it is much more permanent than binaural beat tones for example, or visualizations.

I have been using the emWave heart rate variability biofeedback tool personally and professionally for quite some time, and I think it is an excellent tool to use with herbal remedies like green tea, with l-theanine.

When I first bought the heart rate variability biofeedback tool, I had no idea how long it would take for me to learn how to use it.

Turns out it took 6 one-half hour practices for me to feel confident that I could induce the relaxation (and is it relaxing) physiology without being hooked up to the computer. In other words, whenever I feel stress or anxiety, I can use my cue thought and breathing tools, and feel the relaxation replace the stress and anxiety.

The important thing to remember is that I need to continue to pay attention to the eustress/distress continuum and adjust my breathing and thinking tools regularly, sort of like how I steer a car, with many tiny adjustments.

In the background of your thinking, you might remind yourself often that too much adrenaline and cortisol inhibits your brain's ability to grow new brain cells daily, which is called neurogenesis.

As far as I am concerned, bigger is better when it comes to brains, so I will learn to pay attention to my thinking and feeling, and I will use herbal remedies for anxiety, like green tea, which is also full of antioxidants, another important part of the brain fitness continuum.

So remember, you can impact anxiety with herbs used as directed, and they are really effective when included in a brain fitness lifestyle. Here is to a bigger brain.