0:12

Welcome back to the Anxiety Slayer

0:14

Podcast. I'm Shan Banderleak, here with

0:16

my brilliant friend and co-host Ananga

0:18

Seveer. This week on

0:21

the podcast, we're reflecting on what you

0:23

can do to create more peace and calm

0:25

during the wintertime. In the

0:27

northern hemisphere, December can be dark

0:30

and busy. We often

0:32

receive questions from our listeners about how

0:34

to support their mind through

0:36

the darker months. I know

0:38

it's been a challenge for us over the

0:40

years, but we've got some really good ideas

0:42

for you and some tried and true tips

0:44

and suggestions that have worked for us. Welcome

0:48

back, Ananga. Hey, Shan. Podcast

0:51

number 671. Sometimes

0:57

I write those numbers down and I'm

0:59

just like, wow, look at us go. Coming

1:01

up 700. Yeah,

1:03

yeah. And just a quick shout

1:06

out to everyone who supported us

1:08

and sent us good wishes and invested

1:11

in our online courses for our anniversary

1:13

sale. We really appreciate it so much.

1:16

And to all of our patrons, thank

1:18

you for continuing to support the podcast.

1:21

Yeah, big thanks. Today,

1:25

we're talking about how to create

1:27

calm in the darker months.

1:30

And that really begins with

1:32

protecting yourself from expectations.

1:37

Yeah, it can feel quite an

1:39

overwhelming time. I think the energy of

1:41

the dark months causes to slow down.

1:44

I read this beautiful book called Wintering

1:46

by an author called Catherine May. And

1:49

she really explains and shares

1:51

beautifully this thing that we're

1:53

drawn to do in the winter. We don't

1:56

really hibernate, but we slow down and we

1:58

need to do things differently. as we often share

2:00

in the podcast. There's this

2:03

expectation in the West to be the same 24-7 all year

2:05

round. We

2:08

live under artificial lighting, we've got the

2:10

heating, we've got the aircon

2:12

in the summer and it is supposed to be

2:14

the same. Everything is supposed to be the same

2:16

and there's that expectation to show up

2:18

the same, but it's not how our bodies work,

2:21

it's not how the seasonal clock works.

2:24

So I think it can be a time of

2:26

great pressure where we're expected

2:29

to socialize more and be out more

2:31

when our inclination might be to be

2:34

in more and slow down more. That's

2:39

so true. Anytime I

2:41

think of the word

2:43

expectation, I replace it with

2:45

invitation. It's something

2:47

that I've been practicing for

2:49

years and have taught other people as well, because

2:51

we have so

2:54

many things tugging at

2:56

us right now. Whether

2:58

it be family, neighbors,

3:01

work projects, travel,

3:04

we might be traveling for the holidays,

3:06

there might be just

3:09

all of these additional tasks

3:12

and to-do's. Not that that's a bad

3:14

thing, but sometimes it can just be

3:16

too much. I like to

3:18

look at all of those

3:21

things as invitations. What am I

3:23

invited to participate in versus what

3:25

am I expected to participate in?

3:28

I've heard you say that many times over the years,

3:30

but today it's landed differently on

3:32

me. I've always appreciated that, but as

3:35

you were saying it today, I was thinking that with

3:37

an invitation, say it's a

3:40

wedding invitation or something, there's a RSVP.

3:44

If it's a printed invitation

3:46

on the back, it often says

3:48

accept or decline. That's

3:51

what I'm taking from what you're saying

3:53

today is, yeah, it's a softer

3:56

way of looking at things and

3:58

to respect ourselves. with the option

4:02

to decline if that's time

4:08

before you respond. Where

4:10

I get myself into a lot of

4:13

trouble is I'll respond quicker than maybe

4:15

then I should. And if I would

4:18

have sat with something for 24 hours

4:20

I might have a different idea

4:23

about how I want to proceed,

4:25

I might not want to be involved, or I might want

4:27

to be involved. Yeah. Give

4:29

yourself that time to really sit

4:31

with it. I realized that around

4:34

the world as people are celebrating the holidays

4:36

there's a lot more before us and there's

4:38

a lot of pressure to be

4:41

with family let's say or to travel

4:43

to see family. And

4:45

even in that space it's still an

4:47

invitation because it's not always something

4:50

we can do. Yeah. It's

4:52

not always something we can do to travel

4:55

several hours or across the

4:57

country and that needs to be okay as

5:00

well because it's not that you don't

5:02

love your family, that's not that you don't

5:05

necessarily want to be there, it's just

5:07

sometimes it doesn't work out and you need to

5:09

let yourself off the hook for that as well.

5:12

Yeah. I think that's where the pause is

5:16

especially helpful to gain some

5:18

clarity and that gives

5:20

us an opportunity to respond with

5:23

love to the invitation and

5:26

also to be clear for ourselves where it might

5:28

be pulling on us.

5:30

And for myself I've always traveled to

5:32

be with my parents every

5:35

single Christmas never miss until the last couple of

5:37

years when I'm not able to do that I'm

5:39

not able to make that journey.

5:42

I'm not well enough to make the journey and

5:44

it doesn't therefore feel safe. I'm

5:47

not going to risk putting myself in danger

5:49

or if you're living with a chronic health condition

5:52

you might just be able to pull it out of the

5:54

bag and do a journey but then

5:56

you might pay for it and crash a couple of

5:58

days later and then there's the journey back. And

6:01

if I have to commit to even a short

6:03

journey these days, and I think I'm going to

6:05

be anxious about making the journey back because my

6:07

health is quite choppy, I can't do that.

6:09

I'm not going to do it to

6:11

my nervous system. So taking that pause to

6:13

think, why is this making me

6:16

feel a little anxious, a

6:18

little uncomfortable, and respecting ourselves

6:21

in what we need? And there's a great quote

6:23

I shared recently, we were having a

6:25

chat with Shan for our patrons

6:28

about what we were reading. And I shared, I just

6:30

read this great book by a 102

6:32

year old doctor called

6:34

Gladys McGarry. And

6:37

this to me, sits well with what we're talking

6:39

about. She said, even as

6:41

we choose, our automatic reactions are

6:43

likely to tug at us. We've

6:47

got that automatic response that comes up

6:49

in us. So again, I think that

6:51

pause gives us a

6:53

clearer and more balanced opportunity to

6:56

choose. Yes.

7:00

And I think it's also important

7:02

to share that when

7:05

we do choose, and depending on what invitations

7:07

are before us, sometimes

7:10

a no thank you is plenty.

7:14

You don't need to get into it any more

7:16

than that. Now with family, it's different with close

7:18

friends, it's different, of course. But

7:22

do not feel like you have to share

7:25

your rationale behind

7:28

your decision making process. You do not

7:30

have to. And that's something that women,

7:32

I think, need to hear more than men. Because

7:35

we want to often

7:38

make everybody happy. And, and

7:40

sometimes we need to

7:42

just allow ourselves to

7:45

be happy to make the choice that is

7:48

best for us without going into all

7:50

of the reasons why

7:52

we said no thank you.

7:56

And that's a practice in and of itself, isn't it?

7:58

That's something I've had to... really work on.

8:00

Yeah, we don't like to disappoint people. We

8:02

don't like to feel like we've let people

8:04

down, but we also need to make sure

8:06

we're not letting ourselves down. A

8:08

good practice. And then earlier

8:11

we were talking about how releasing

8:14

resistance is important when we're

8:16

feeling extra anxious or generalized

8:18

anxiety is popping up. Can you speak a little

8:21

bit more to releasing

8:23

resistance? Yeah, there's

8:25

that famous quote, what you resist

8:28

persists. And I

8:30

think with anxiety, it's not just that

8:32

it persists, but it gains energy. There's

8:34

that pushback with anxiety when

8:37

we're not able to accept

8:39

it and allow, just

8:41

allow its space. Again, it's another kind

8:43

of pause. Okay, my anxiety is up.

8:46

What do I need? And not

8:48

fighting it. When we fight anxiety, we've

8:50

already got an unsettled nervous system. If

8:52

we live with anxiety, and if we're

8:54

fighting it and resisting it, we're just

8:56

churning our nerves up more.

8:58

We're churning our mind up more.

9:01

And it just gives it so much more

9:03

energy. And I think a

9:06

really important part of calming anxiety and

9:08

why it's relevant to this time of

9:10

year is to be able to sit

9:12

and accept. Some of us

9:15

feel more low in the darker months.

9:17

November is often a very challenging month

9:19

for me. And probably our

9:22

listeners know because I share it a lot, I

9:24

keep journals and then I can see the

9:26

pattern where I have

9:28

to be extra careful with my

9:30

mind in November, October, November, it's

9:33

just got a certain energy that creeps in

9:35

that I have to be careful

9:37

with and look after it. So maybe

9:40

that's how we roll. Maybe

9:42

it is that there are a couple of months of the year

9:44

that can be a bit more challenging than

9:46

others. Maybe we find the darker

9:48

evenings more challenging. Maybe our energy is just

9:51

low because we're not getting it out so much.

9:53

We're not getting so much sunlight, but

9:55

to accept rather than resist. That's

9:58

how it is. to look at

10:00

how we can support ourselves and

10:05

lean in with extra

10:07

acceptance, extra compassion, and good

10:09

self-care rather than thinking it's

10:11

a flaw or a problem

10:13

with us. And I think especially at this time of year,

10:16

we hear a lot from people that

10:18

are struggling with heightened anxiety or low

10:21

energy, more easily overwhelmed. And

10:24

if that's how it is, that's how

10:26

it is. And we can't help it unless we

10:28

meet it with kindness. Sure.

10:30

And to be in that place of observation

10:33

as well. Yeah. To

10:35

say, like you just did, I

10:38

generally notice that

10:41

I struggle during October and November. So

10:44

what do I know I need to do? How

10:47

do I need to take care of myself to

10:49

move through those couple of months with

10:51

more ease and grace? Because

10:53

then you're not falling

10:56

into feeling hopeless and

10:59

just wanting to curl up and hide

11:01

from the world and let

11:03

anxiety have all of this power over

11:05

us. You get to come

11:07

at it from a place of, all right, we've

11:10

been here before and I know

11:13

what to do. And the

11:15

first thing that I'm going to go through your list

11:17

of what you know helps. And

11:19

this brings you back around to that space

11:22

of knowing that you're

11:24

loving yourself up, you're accepting

11:27

that it is what it is, and that

11:29

you know how to oil

11:31

up, you know how to

11:33

keep yourself warm and cozy socks

11:35

on your feet and

11:38

even a wrap if you need to. My

11:40

house is a hundred year old house and

11:42

it gets very drafty and we don't

11:44

keep the heat up really high. So

11:47

I have a blanket in my

11:49

office, I have one in my chair, I

11:52

have, you know, just to take care of,

11:54

oh, okay, warming up. And what else

11:56

do I know that I need? What

11:58

else do I know that it that I might want to

12:01

stay away from this time of year. And

12:03

it's just, again, it's

12:05

just such a beautiful way to

12:07

say, oh, wait a minute, anxiety

12:10

doesn't have power over me. I

12:12

know how to go with this, how to

12:14

move with this, and what my body

12:16

and mind need. Yeah, right. And

12:18

if we fight it, it will have power over

12:20

us. It will increase

12:22

its energy, and we will not stand

12:25

by ourselves in support. And then we

12:27

start thinking, why can't I do

12:29

this? Why am I always like this? We get

12:31

these generalistic negative

12:34

statements coming, this negative outlook of ourselves.

12:37

And although I've shared that, I'm

12:39

aware that October, November can be challenging

12:41

months for me. They're nowhere near as

12:43

challenging as they once were. And

12:46

there's a real sweetness in

12:48

wrapping up and doing the things you need

12:50

to do. I shared with you earlier you

12:52

sent me a gift of a lovely soft

12:54

scarf a couple of years

12:56

ago. And I've taken to putting that on early in

12:58

the morning when I get up to meditate. I

13:01

put that around my neck, and I get my thick socks

13:03

and my ginger tea. And I've got

13:05

my routine. But when we settle

13:07

into that routine of doing what we know

13:10

we need, and it's really important if we've

13:12

got a high butter nature, as we often

13:14

talk about in, I've waited

13:16

to keep our neck and chest warm.

13:19

So to pick a lovely scarf

13:21

with an uplifting color and do

13:23

that as an act of self-care, it

13:26

helps. This is what I know I need to

13:28

do to look after myself. And our

13:30

nervous system gets on board. And our general

13:33

health and well-being gets on board because we're

13:35

not poking at ourselves and

13:37

exhausting ourselves. So it can be a very

13:39

sweet experience if we can just turn to

13:41

it with self-compassion and

13:44

being open to acceptance and being at

13:48

peace with our nature. Anxiety

13:50

is a form of communication, right?

13:53

The body and the mind are communicating

13:55

stress. Fear,

13:57

warning, warning. And we can respond.

14:00

by sending calming messages back.

14:03

Whether that be through deep breathing exercises,

14:05

through our yoga practice,

14:07

through qigong, meditation,

14:11

anything that helps let your nervous

14:13

system know, it's

14:15

okay, I hear you

14:17

and I'm gonna help you. I

14:19

always think of that as being like drenched

14:22

in warm honey, like, oh, my

14:24

nerves are gonna be fine.

14:27

Even if I'm feeling fried, I

14:29

again know how to

14:32

communicate with myself to

14:34

get back to that sweeter

14:36

space. And

14:39

meditating daily, of course, is

14:42

something that has been recommended

14:45

for thousands of years. It

14:49

was that investment prioritizing and

14:51

mental wellbeing. I attended a Zoom meeting

14:53

on the weekend where there

14:55

was a yoga teacher, a

14:58

really fascinating guy, really amazing to listen to.

15:00

And he was talking about mental hygiene. And

15:02

he said, you know, when you say hygiene,

15:04

you think of flossing or showering or

15:06

something, but we need mental hygiene.

15:08

We need to actively take care of keeping

15:11

our mind in good and healthy shape.

15:13

And he had some great information

15:16

to share on that. So yeah, really

15:18

important. If our

15:20

mind is disturbed, everything's harder, everything.

15:24

So better to invest that time in caring

15:26

for our mental wellbeing and meditations.

15:29

One of many good practices to do that.

15:33

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betterhelp.com slash

16:34

Slayer. Before

16:37

the break we were discussing how

16:41

important it is to take effective

16:43

mental breaks. And

16:46

now we're going to roll into

16:48

some standing and seated practices that

16:50

you can do to help calm your mind

16:52

during the darker months. A

16:55

practice I really enjoy and I've been using this for

16:58

months is a

17:00

Qigong practice. Really simple and really easy

17:02

to do and my body now responds

17:05

to it very quickly. It's

17:07

great for if you're feeling stirred up or

17:09

anxious or if you've had a little bit of a shock, a little

17:11

bit of something that's rattled

17:14

your nervous system. It's a

17:17

very simple practice. You just shake your

17:19

body by bouncing on the

17:21

front of your feet, bouncing up and down on the area

17:24

around your toes and then

17:26

you just let your weight drop down onto

17:28

your heels, dropping your heels into the floor

17:30

while you're shaking out your arms and hands.

17:33

So you're just bouncing up and down on

17:35

your toes with your heels just contacting

17:37

the floor repeatedly, shaking

17:40

out your hands, your wrists as if you're

17:42

flicking water off your hands. You've got wet

17:44

hands and you're flicking water off them. And

17:46

you can raise your hands up over your head, get

17:49

your whole body as loose as you can, your neck,

17:51

your shoulders, taking deep breaths and

17:53

then let your arms come back to

17:56

your sides. You can continue

17:58

with your feet flat on the floor. and let

18:00

the springiness come from your legs

18:03

and knees for a couple more minutes.

18:06

And then just start swinging your body a little bit

18:09

from side to side and get as loose as you

18:11

can. And this is an

18:13

ancient practice and it's taught for shaking

18:15

out stress and fear and

18:17

high adrenaline states from the body. It really

18:19

works. It really

18:21

does work and it also works in

18:23

conjunction with the temple bell, I think

18:25

is what it's called, the qigong

18:28

move where you just like

18:30

a little kid stand there and let your arms

18:33

swing back and forth on

18:35

your body and just let

18:37

them flail all about. There's no control other

18:39

than just back and forth and back and

18:42

forth. And you do so

18:44

with your hands hitting different meridian

18:46

points on the low end and

18:48

on the high end of your body which is

18:50

also helpful in something that helps

18:53

move your lymph, helps

18:55

with fear and

18:58

stress just like the shaking

19:00

does. And it doesn't

19:02

take much time you guys and you

19:04

can't really do it wrong to do the

19:06

shaking and bouncing or twirling, moving

19:08

your arms. Somebody in your home might

19:10

think you're a bit silly but that's

19:13

okay. Have them join you. It'll

19:15

be good for them too. I do

19:17

both of those every morning and every evening

19:19

and sometimes after lunch I'll do the

19:22

temple bell one as well. So

19:24

helpful and as you twist you're bringing

19:26

your right hand over to pat on the left side

19:28

of your stomach, right? That one. And

19:30

then as you twist the other way, one

19:34

hand goes behind. Yeah, so shoulder kidney

19:36

and then stomach and... Yeah,

19:41

so when your hands contact the

19:44

back of your body, the back of

19:46

your hand is contacting one kidney and then

19:48

the other as you twist. So

19:50

we know from tapping and the

19:52

theory of Chinese medicine, meridian theory,

19:54

the kidneys are to do with fear and

19:57

the water element. So you're bringing... energy

20:00

and positive intentions to the

20:02

kidney organs. And when you pat across

20:05

the front of your body, your right hand goes across

20:07

onto the spleen area and your left

20:09

hand comes across onto the stomach

20:11

area. And in Chinese

20:13

medicine, both of those organs are

20:15

associated with worry. So

20:18

it really does work. There's a

20:20

science behind how and why it works and

20:22

it helps you feel grounded calm.

20:26

Such a simple thing and such a helpful thing. And

20:29

it's helpful too for kapha

20:32

doshes who might

20:34

find themselves this time of year, maybe finding

20:36

it a little bit harder to move, very

20:39

much wanting to stay in the chair with the

20:41

blanket and the hot cup of tea or the

20:43

hot cup of cocoa. And

20:46

the good news is this is easy for

20:48

you to do too and doesn't take very

20:50

much time. You could do

20:52

10 high and 10 low

20:54

temple bells and that would make a

20:56

difference. You can bounce for 30

20:59

seconds and it would make a difference. Yeah,

21:02

I do sets of 50. I'll do like 50

21:04

bounces and then

21:06

I'll do 50 temple bells. I'll do

21:08

20 on the waist and then 10 up on

21:11

the lungs and the shoulders. And

21:13

I'll go back down for another 20 and

21:16

then I might have another bounce if I feel feel

21:19

the need. And that second bouncing

21:21

session really gets extra

21:23

tension out of my neck and shoulders

21:25

and it really does help. Sure

21:29

does. As you

21:31

just shared great importance of moving. And

21:34

another thing I was reminded of from

21:36

Dr. Gladys McGarry who I quoted earlier,

21:39

she said, blood moves of its

21:41

own accord but our lymph moves when

21:43

we move. True. So

21:45

very important to keep that. System

21:48

moving and that requires a little help

21:50

from us. And

21:52

if all of this sounds like a bit too

21:54

much, just put on your

21:57

favorite music and dance around for

21:59

a whole song. Just dance. Yeah,

22:04

shake and dance and yeah. What

22:07

is that? Life requires furious dancing

22:09

or something? It's always a good

22:11

thing to get that. Fly

22:14

it free from states, benefit

22:16

from moving and yeah,

22:18

shaking the body out. Yeah,

22:21

it does. And then of course

22:23

there are seated practices that you can do if

22:26

you've listened to us for any length of time,

22:28

you know that we share the calming point and

22:31

the importance of using the calming point

22:33

while taking calm and steady

22:35

breaths. And the calming point is just a

22:38

space where if you were to take your left hand and

22:40

make a fist, the spot where

22:42

your middle finger lands in your palm of your

22:44

hand is the spot. And then you take your

22:46

right thumb and you just press

22:48

on that spot and

22:51

breathe and maybe five

22:53

or six rounds of your breath or more and

22:56

nobody needs to know that you're doing

22:58

it. It's just something that's really helpful.

23:00

We talk about it a lot because it

23:02

works so beautifully. And then

23:04

of course there's always the opportunity to

23:06

curl up somewhere and be

23:09

quiet or just listen to a

23:11

guided meditation. There's so

23:13

many guided practices and it can

23:15

be helpful for you to look around and see

23:18

what you prefer. For example, guided

23:20

breathing or a guided

23:22

body scan to release tension

23:25

or even a guided journey for

23:27

deep relaxation and escape. We

23:30

have I think 30 or

23:32

more guided meditations on our Patreon and

23:35

you can find them right at the top of

23:37

our page there next to our

23:39

Tapping Sessions collection if you want to

23:41

check out some of our guided meditations.

23:45

Guided meditations are so

23:47

very supportive. One of my

23:49

very favorite things to do when I need to chill out

23:51

is listen to a guided

23:53

relaxation. Yeah,

23:55

me too. Especially if anxiety is running high

23:58

and you're having that kind of broken record.

24:00

anxiety where your mind's just crashing in

24:02

with intrusive thoughts. Guided

24:05

relaxations, they're like a super

24:08

healthy distraction, but it's not a distraction.

24:10

It's an immersion. But you know, sometimes

24:13

we'll go to scrolling or something

24:15

just to try and stop that thought.

24:18

But guided relaxations ease the mind

24:20

into a more peaceful state by

24:23

this gradual immersion in the practice. And

24:25

you've got another voice to listen to,

24:27

somebody leading you in to the experience.

24:31

The benefits are the opposite of distraction.

24:34

But you've got that experience of something

24:36

to listen to rather than

24:38

your own head, holding

24:41

you hostage to unwanted thoughts. Right,

24:43

it's so helpful. Yeah,

24:45

distraction can preoccupy the

24:47

mind for a while, but it doesn't

24:49

feel good afterwards. It aggravates our nervous

24:51

energy. And who knows what we're

24:54

gonna scroll and find, sometimes you're

24:56

scrolling for diversion from anxiety. And

24:58

it causes more. It

25:00

causes more. You end up finding some it,

25:03

yeah, triggering or upsetting. And

25:05

then when we start, we're left to face

25:07

our anxiety again, feeling more tired and more

25:09

out of balance. So guided relaxations

25:12

are a great way to just

25:14

step out of that high anxiety

25:16

state. Great if you wake

25:18

up in the night anxious and you can't get

25:20

back to sleep, good if you're struggling to get

25:22

to sleep, it's a good thing to

25:24

have them to hand pick a few

25:27

you know you like and

25:29

have them ready to go. So it's easy.

25:32

And then as we wrap up our

25:35

episode today, we'll just share a few other

25:37

things that help during this time of year.

25:40

Some herbs that can help lift your spirits

25:43

include cinnamon, cardamom, ginger,

25:46

cloves, cumin, you

25:48

can cook with them, you can make

25:50

a warming pot. I have

25:52

right now on the on the stove,

25:54

I have some lemon and vanilla and

25:57

some rosemary and all

26:00

just kind of simmering in the house smells so good

26:03

or you can do cinnamon and orange and

26:06

kind of mix things up. Essential

26:08

oils like lavender, breakincense,

26:11

jasmine, grapefruit

26:13

are all wonderful oils to

26:16

help. I also like

26:19

lemongrass and I know

26:22

you also love vetiver. Love

26:24

it. It's super grounding. And

26:26

neroli. Neroli is a beautiful one.

26:28

Yeah, yeah. Such

26:30

an uplifting scent. Beautiful.

26:34

And we do have a link in our show notes

26:36

to Eden's Garden. I've been getting

26:38

my essential oils from them for years. It's

26:40

not an affiliate account or anything. It's just a

26:43

great place to get 100% pure

26:45

essential oils. And if you're listening, they

26:48

have special offers this time of year.

26:51

We also want to keep warm. And

26:53

we've talked about this already about

26:55

keeping your neck warm with a

26:57

scarf even indoors sometimes. A sipping

27:00

hot water or ginger tea between

27:02

meals. I love lemon water

27:06

between meals. Three ginger

27:08

tea is one of our favorite

27:10

teas from Pucketea. You might want to

27:12

try that. There's another really

27:14

lovely tea from Pucker that's quite

27:16

warming and very calming. And it's

27:18

Pucker Relax. And

27:20

it has chamomile and ginger

27:23

and middle sweet. I can't remember what

27:25

else is in there, but it's

27:27

a real go-to for me at

27:29

this time of year, especially in the

27:32

evening. It's nice and warming and also

27:34

very calming. And yogi teas

27:36

do a nice one to a bedtime tea, which

27:38

is a beautiful blend. So

27:42

chamomile is very good for calming

27:44

in the evening, but we

27:46

want those warmer teas as well with

27:48

the ginger. That's definitely

27:50

an important addition at this time of

27:52

year. And remember to

27:55

keep moving, whether you're

27:57

shaking it out, whether you're dancing, whether you're

27:59

taking a walk. It's

28:02

far too easy to sit too

28:04

much this time of year. Give

28:07

your body the gift of movement and

28:10

even set reminders if you need to

28:12

to move if you find yourself stuck

28:14

in a chair for too long. Moving

28:17

helps your mind as much as it helps

28:19

your body. So get

28:21

moving. I've also included in

28:24

the show notes a beautiful

28:26

video on balancing emotions with

28:28

Qigong by Chunny Lin. You

28:31

might want to check that out. He's

28:33

such a wonderful person and

28:35

has so many wonderful

28:37

videos that you can follow if you

28:39

want to learn how to practice Qigong.

28:42

He's so sweet, isn't he? He's just got such a

28:45

gentle loving nature. I read his

28:47

biography years ago. It's incredible. He's

28:49

an amazing Qigong teacher.

28:52

If you want to receive even more

28:54

anxiety support, you're welcome to visit our

28:57

Patreon where you can get a deeper

28:59

dive into some of the topics we cover as

29:01

well as over 200 downloads including

29:04

all of our guided relaxations. You

29:06

can learn more at

29:08

patreon.com anxiety slayer.