What’s Eating YOU? Put down the chocolate and let’s talk.

Anxious anyone?

“If you had an alarm going off in your home every 15 minutes, you would unplug it wouldn’t you? Then why don’t you unplug that anxiety alarm in your head?

You know what I’m talking about. Those snags in our psyche that reduce our life energy to fumes?. The gut-churning, head-splitting and jaw-clenching moments that operate in the background of our lives. We learn to put up with them, push them away until they emerge in nightmares and put us in park.

I hear from women all over the world and one thing I have learned from you, is that we are all anxious. In fact women are twice as likely than men to suffer from GAD, Genera Anxiety Disorder.

We feel other people’s feelings, we worry for the starving children, the victims or war and disaster and the economic fallout. We strive to help, intercede and hold everything together. In the process we eat our hearts out, literally.

Secondly, we have these hormones. Whether you see them as blessing or curse they drive us around and tell us where we get to go. Most of us go up and down and then when they are through with us they throw us right out of the car. That could cause some angst, right? Then there are mammograms and pap smears where we all wait like we are waiting for sweepstakes results that may or may not come right away to your mailbox. Exciting–not.

Not to mention the dosing of caffeine, sugar and salt in our diets. The impossible schedules and expectations of ourselves as mothers and wives that fill in those potentially, peaceful moments. And I haven’t even begun to talk about the fear of public speaking, failure or death. How do we stop the insanity? Let’s look at where it all started.

In the Beginning…our ability to feel fear was designed like a built-in alarm system that brings the full weight of our mental and physical prowess to bear whenever we sense danger. This is why occasionally you read about a woman lifting a car to free her child and other heroic acts that defy gravity. This acute “fight or flight” response triggers a complex interplay between mind and body to deal with a perceived threat — whether real or imagined. The imagined is where the twisting of a good idea ends. Women have really great imaginations. So what do we do? Here are three things to begin practicing today with more ideas on the way:

Become a relaxation expert. Anxious people who learn how to mellow out can undo some of that potential damage.
We all think we know how to relax. But chilling out in front of the TV or computer isn’t true relaxation. (Depending on what you’re watching or doing, it could even make you more tense.) The same is true for alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. They may seem to relieve anxiety or stress, but it’s a false state of relaxation that’s only temporary. What the body really needs is a relaxation technique — like deep breathing, tai chi, or yoga — that has a physical effect on the mind. For example, deep breathing helps to relax a major nerve that runs from the diaphragm to the brain, sending a message to the entire body to let go and loosen up.

Practice the power of 8:
Get 8 hours of sleep,
Drink 8 glasses of water
Spend 8 hours connecting with family & friends and doing something your love ( hobby, job, mission, ministry)
Every day.

Eat well: Choose fruit, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains for long-term energy (instead of the short bursts that come from too much sugar or caffeine). And exercise to send oxygen to every cell in the body so your brain and body can operate at their best.

In the next week, I want to begin a conversation with you about what you do to deal with your anxious moments.

Please feel free to share with me, or all of us what works for you. What hasn’t worked or what you want to know more about. Please feel free to repost or share with your sisters and friends.

It’s time to hear the alarms going off in your life

Unplug them.

And stop what’s eating you.

Contact me directly at kathy@runlikeagirl.org

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