Stress & Anxiety
I have come across many people who are under a lot of stress & anxiety due to this pandemic COVID-19. Many are worried about their immunity, their jobs, business, their future, and a lot more. But burdened with so many questions they forget one very important thing that, this stress & anxiety can create an adverse effect on their physical & mental health.
Characteristics of Stress & Anxiety
Anxiety & stress are the two of the most common features of everyday life. With life becoming more intense and hectic, more & more people are suffering from anxiety & stress. This uncomfortable state of being is characterised by:
– Lack of energy
– A constant feeling of being rundown
– Poor sleep quality (such as insomnia or waking up tired)
– Inability to relax
– Lack of motivation or difficulty focusing and a general feeling of apathy.
All the above symptoms can further lead to:
– Mild to moderate depression
– Poor memory function/ brain fog
– Uncontrollable anger/ frustration as well.
While these symptoms may develop gradually and impact your mental and emotional wellbeing, they can eventually begin to dominate, leading to some physical ailments like:
– Teeth grinding
– Digestive problems
– Headache or migraine
– Weight gain/ loss
– High blood pressure
– Heart diseases
– Exhaustion & many more
Ayurvedic View on Stress & Anxiety
According to Ayurveda, stress and anxiety can create an imbalance in your life by unbalancing your dosha. Once you start getting the signs of stress and anxiety, it does not only affect your mental health but starts deteriorating your physical health as well. This can be explained with a simple example; whenever someone is under a lot of stress, they do not feel any appetite or their digestion is too slow, while in other cases, people eat a lot during stress & anxiety, even if their stomach is not asking for it. This is called emotional eating in some cases. In both cases, we accumulate too many toxins in our bodies due to improper digestion. These toxins further weaken our immune system & cause many diseases.
Treating Stress with Ayurveda
It is very important to treat anxiety and stress holistically with an approach that takes into account both your physical & psychological well-being. This allows a treatment to be designed that works at the root cause of your issues. An Ayurvedic line of treatment can help you to enhance your mental ability & building the mind-body connection. There are many well-known Ayurvedic herbs such as, Brahmi, Shankpushpi, Jatamamsi, which can help to overcome this condition. Along with the herbs, Ayurveda also talks about pranayama (breathing technique), yoga & meditation. They contribute a lot to overcome stress & anxiety. So Ayurveda is not about treating a disease, but also preventing yourself from being diseased. Ayurveda is a science of life that teaches us an appropriate lifestyle to live healthy & happy.