The Body Leads The Way: Proven Methods to Reduce Stress, Anxiety, & Increase Productivity

Photo by Ashley Batz on Unsplash

In today’s world, stress and anxiety are at an all-time high, even though we’re all well aware of the implications that stress can cause to our health. Learning to deal with stress and anxiety can be challenging.

We’re told to take supplements like ashwaganda or double down on vitamin B. Some states have even regulated the use of Psilocybin mushrooms in small doses. And that’s all fair and true, but it’s avoiding the root of the problem.

Stress, anxiety, and depression, though rooted in the mind, can be dealt with through the body.

Two Minds, One Body

We have two minds. Our conscious mind, and our body mind. Our conscious mind experiences stress and anxiety through our thoughts, which can often run rampant if unchecked. However, our body mind experiences stress and anxiety through feelings.

If you pay enough attention to the body, you’ll notice that stress can produce a tightening sensation, as well as an elevated heart rate and high temperatures. Anxiety also produces feelings such as the sensation of butterflies in the stomach, lightheadedness, and heart palpitations.

What you might not be aware of, however, is that stress and anxiety are first produced in the body before it consumes the mind.

Those who practice mindfulness meditation will tell you that regulating your breathing can produce a calming effect that helps negate the feelings of stress and anxiety in the conscious mind — but you have to be conscious in the first place.

Our conscious mind isn’t always conscious. By the time we reach 35, most of our actions are regulated through behavioral patterns that developed through repetition. Most of our daily activities are done unconsciously.

By practicing mindfulness meditation — following the breath — one can learn to maintain a state of consciousness. By doing so, you can feel the effects of stress and anxiety through the body before it reaches the conscious mind.

When we achieve a constant state of consciousness, we can identify certain feelings in our body and make the necessary adjustments to regulate our conscious mind…