In the San Francisco Bay Area we have now been sheltered in place for two months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For some of us, this new situation has created profound anxiety over health, finances, and overall security and safety. Furthermore, when our anxiety is quite high it makes it harder for us to care for our families the way we need to.
Thankfully, Chinese medicine has a number of herbal remedies that help to relieve anxiety and its symptoms. Below I’ll share what you need to know about how anxiety may be affecting your body. Then I’ll tell you how herbs can help.
Anxiety in Your Body
Anxiety can create many unpleasant feelings in the body. For some people, anxiety is a thought pattern that runs around and around in their head. For other people it comes along with chest pressure, a feeling of your heart beating fast, a squeezing sensation around the chest, butterflies in the stomach, or other types of stomachache. Anxiety can cause insomnia — either having difficulty falling asleep, waking multiple times during the night, or waking too early. Prolonged anxiety and stress can also result in high blood pressure, abnormal sweating, headaches, and more.
Very serious experiences of anxiety can be felt as panic attacks and may involve difficulty breathing, overwhelming fear, nausea, lightheadedness, shaking, and many of the symptoms listed above.
Anxiety Relief with Herbal Medicine
While resolving the root cause of anxiety is important, herbs can be useful to help shift the body’s pattern towards anxious behaviors and sensations. Chinese herbs can help in the following ways:
- Sedative. When your body feels “wound up,” your thoughts are racing, and you’re struggling to sleep, sedative herbs can be helpful. They encourage the nervous system to relax and often result in a feeling of peacefulness.
- Stress relieving. When you’re having sensations of chest tightening or chest pressure, cold hands and feet, and overall tension, stress-relieving herbs help improve circulation and relax tension. These herbs can be used during the day or at night to decrease stress.
- Anti-anxiety. When your body has a flushed and fluttery feeling, when you’re sweating and thinking fearful or anxious thoughts, anti-anxiety herbs can calm your nervous system. They will help you breathe more easily and steadily, help your heart rate decrease, and help your digestion improve.
Chinese herbal formulas can be made with combinations of these types of herbs to match your particular symptoms. If you are also suffering from high blood pressure, digestive disorders, or premenstrual syndrome (PMS), additional herbs can be prescribed to help your body feel better.
If you need herbs to support your health during shelter-in-place, schedule a phone call with me to discuss how herbal medicine can help you.
