0:11

Welcome

0:11

back to the Anxiety Slayer podcast.

0:13

This week we're discussing how practicing Ayurveda

0:16

can calm your anxiety and

0:18

infuse more hope into your life when

0:21

things become too much. Welcome

0:24

back, Ananga. Hey, Shan. It's

0:26

so good to be with you again this week

0:29

and to cover conversation

0:32

digging deeper into Ayurveda on hope

0:35

and help in calming anxiety. Yeah,

0:39

such a helpful understanding

0:42

to look at our individual nature,

0:44

to realize that there's so

0:46

much we can do to help ourselves.

0:49

This anxiety feels so

0:52

heavy, so stark, can

0:55

feel quite terrifying. And

0:58

I was looking through some messages in our group this

1:01

week of members who are supporting each

1:03

other and living with different

1:05

challenges. And it made me think

1:07

of the wisdom and hope that Ayurveda

1:10

offers. And

1:13

Ayurveda teaches that high

1:16

vata in the mind manifests

1:19

as fear, alienation,

1:21

and anxiety. And when

1:24

this happens, when we're in that high vata

1:26

place, we might experience

1:28

insomnia, body tremors,

1:31

amputations, an overall

1:34

feeling of just being completely unsettled.

1:37

our moods, we might be very moody,

1:39

we might be all over the place with

1:42

our moods. And it gives us

1:44

a wealth of information about how

1:46

we can calm vata. We have talked

1:49

about calming vata in the past, but

1:51

we're

1:51

going to dig just a little bit deeper. And

1:54

for this This example,

1:57

one key challenge that we are all facing

1:59

is that the

2:00

way we live tends to increase

2:02

vata. So we need to make some adjustments.

2:04

Yeah. And we need help.

2:07

We need support with that. We need some understanding.

2:09

It took me a long time to get my head around

2:11

Ayurveda when I first started

2:14

studying it, the terminology, the different

2:16

outlook.

2:18

So I think it'd be good to back up here for

2:20

just a few seconds. We've got lots of

2:22

new listeners at the moment. So welcome to

2:24

our new listeners and to explain

2:27

that Ayurveda is India's

2:29

ancient science of life, which

2:32

teaches a wealth of information

2:34

on all areas of our life, nutrition,

2:37

psychology, everything. And

2:39

it teaches that we all have different mind-body

2:42

types made up of the five elements,

2:45

earth, water, fire, air,

2:47

and ether.

2:49

So when we talk about the vata type,

2:51

as we just mentioned,

2:53

vata is one of those

2:54

three-body types and it's made up of air

2:57

and ether so it's a very light,

2:59

creative, airy,

3:01

ethereal, spacious, changeable,

3:03

wonderful body type

3:05

that happens to be the one that's most

3:07

prone to anxiety when it's elevated.

3:11

And as we've explained on previous episodes,

3:13

whatever body type we might be,

3:15

Vata can become

3:17

and tends to become elevated

3:19

in all of us. So

3:21

this week we're not getting too

3:23

technical, we're just looking at the hope Ayurveda

3:26

offers in understanding ourselves

3:28

and given a different perspective

3:30

on how our mind works and how we can

3:32

support it. And

3:35

one of the ways that we can do that is through Ayurvedic

3:37

counseling. And

3:40

Ayurvedic counseling deals

3:42

in four primary areas. Physical

3:45

factors, this is where we're looking at diet

3:48

and herbs and exercise, psychological

3:51

factors, impressions,

3:54

emotions, thought, social

3:57

factors, which include our work and

4:00

recreation and relationships,

4:03

and then of course spiritual factors that

4:05

include yoga and

4:08

meditation. It's

4:11

a full spectrum counseling

4:15

and support and it's just so potent.

4:18

Yeah,

4:18

so incredibly compassionate

4:20

and individualized and

4:23

supportive. That was the first thing that struck me about

4:25

Ayurveda was firstly, there

4:27

are things we can do. We're not just held

4:30

hostage to anxiety. We

4:32

don't have to

4:33

wake up in the morning and feel that crushing

4:35

dread that anxiety can bring.

4:37

And then the fear that, am I going to be

4:39

like this forever? Are these my

4:41

mornings from now on? Am I going to be coping

4:44

with this every day for the rest of my

4:46

life? I read a teacher's that

4:47

no, it doesn't have to be that way forever.

4:50

And there are things we can do to help

4:53

ourselves to change that.

4:54

So I find that really empowering. That's

4:57

where the hope comes with Ayurveda.

4:59

It's very respectful of our individual nature.

5:02

It gives incredible insights into

5:05

our individual nature and it encourages

5:07

us to be self-explorative

5:10

and self-healing and to be proactive

5:13

in our own healing. So it's a partnership when

5:15

you work with a Vedic

5:17

counsellor, you're sitting

5:18

shoulder to shoulder making the journey

5:20

together and you have the support, but your

5:23

input

5:24

in your own healing journey is so

5:26

valuable.

5:28

And

5:28

this is where

5:30

self-understanding naturally

5:32

leads to self-care.

5:35

And if you've listened to us for any

5:37

length of time, you know how important self-care

5:40

is to our mind, body and

5:42

soul and how much we preach self-care

5:44

whenever possible. This is where

5:47

we can practice looking

5:49

for habits and choices

5:51

that don't serve us well. Looking

5:54

for unwanted looping thoughts and negative

5:56

thought patterns is something that creates

5:59

so much. much suffering, noticing

6:03

what disturbs our minds and emotions

6:05

so that we can move

6:07

away from that, right? Move away

6:09

from the habits and choices

6:12

and things that come up. And

6:14

it does take time, but the

6:17

more we notice, the more we're aware

6:19

of what's going on, this is

6:21

where we can make the adjustments that

6:23

we need to so that our

6:26

emotional health is much

6:28

lighter

6:30

and so that we're not being

6:32

pulled

6:32

into the past or

6:34

pulled into those unwanted

6:37

looping thoughts and negative patterns. Yeah,

6:41

it's a wonderfully validating experience

6:43

when we are able to start noticing

6:47

our patterns, noticing how we might be contributing

6:50

to our own anxiety

6:52

when we're out of balance, noticing how

6:54

our environment

6:55

might be contributing

6:57

to our anxiety. When we're really

7:00

anxious, we're so caught in the whirlwind of the

7:02

experience of anxiety that it's hard to get

7:04

a

7:04

foothold and hard to get that pause

7:07

to look at what we might be able

7:09

to change. But really that's what

7:11

Ayurveda is encouraging. And sometimes

7:13

we need some

7:14

coaching support with that, some

7:16

outside support. Exploring that

7:19

with any counsellor is helpful. Talking

7:21

to somebody who can hold space and validate

7:23

your experience. It doesn't matter whether

7:26

they're an Ayurvedic counselor or not, any

7:28

good counselor

7:29

can help you find that pause

7:31

to explore. And then we'll notice sometimes

7:34

there are really simple things that we can change.

7:36

We might find that we're made more

7:39

anxious by noise and

7:41

it might simply be getting some noise, canceling

7:43

headphones or earplugs to

7:46

adjust our environment.

7:48

It might not be the answer to all our anxiety, it

7:50

might take it down a

7:51

notch and that's what we're looking

7:53

for when we're working to support ourselves is

7:56

finding these areas where we can make adjustments

7:58

that's going to make it a bit easier. and

8:00

another one that's going to make it a bit easier.

8:02

And then over time, our whole experience

8:05

changes. And that's a gift that we give

8:07

ourselves. And then it's

8:09

all the more hopeful and all

8:11

the more empowering. It

8:16

makes me think of a story that recently

8:18

came up for my

8:20

son. He has

8:23

to have earplugs or headphones

8:26

when he's at school. It helps

8:28

him focus, do his work, not

8:31

really key in on

8:33

all of the different noises and things that are happening in

8:36

the classroom around him.

8:38

And he'd forgotten the earplugs

8:41

and the headphones died. And

8:44

he had a choice to either

8:46

leave or somehow

8:49

figure out a way to solve what was going

8:51

on because it was really starting to cause

8:53

so much stress. And he took

8:56

a break and he got some fresh air and he

8:59

walked through what he needed to do and

9:01

had

9:02

a conversation with the professor

9:04

and was able to stay

9:07

briefly, get what needed

9:09

to get done and then be on his way. And

9:12

I just share that because it's

9:15

an example of how you can look after yourself.

9:19

And sometimes we have to leave,

9:22

and sometimes we can

9:24

stay in those situations.

9:27

But even though he had

9:30

those things that he needed, he

9:33

didn't have the backup, right? Yeah. If

9:36

we know what disturbs our mind and emotions, we do

9:38

the best to make sure that we can look

9:40

after ourselves.

9:41

And sometimes if things

9:43

go awry, you still can

9:46

work things out. Yeah,

9:48

because when we're exploring our own

9:50

nature with compassion, we're giving ourselves

9:53

greater flexibility.

9:55

We're giving ourselves a broader palette of responses.

9:58

among. really

10:00

like to listen to and he talks about dealing with

10:02

challenging

10:03

situations. And he says, you have three

10:05

choices and

10:07

we're fighting and we're running and high

10:09

anxiety. We're not aware of our

10:11

three choices. We've just got the

10:14

get out of here or feeling

10:16

that we're not going to cope and we're going to have

10:18

some kind of episode and we become very

10:20

fearful. But I find him really

10:23

helpful to listen to. And his three choices

10:25

are in a challenging environment,

10:28

mitigate, change what you can, tolerate,

10:33

if you can, and emigrate.

10:35

If you can't do the other two and it's not working, then

10:38

leave. But you've got those

10:41

three choices. And really that's very

10:44

in line with how Ayurveda works. It

10:46

gives us these different choices in

10:48

all areas, lifestyle adjustments,

10:50

nutrition adjustments, even

10:53

our behaviors, how we act, how we respond.

10:55

gives us this palette of responses

10:58

that means we're never just held

11:00

hostage to one reaction. Which

11:04

usually doesn't serve us well and is not

11:06

what we want anyway. So

11:10

yeah, those situations, I'm also uncomfortable

11:13

with noise. I always have earplugs with

11:15

me and headphones.

11:19

And that's That's something I need

11:21

to do that helps me feel

11:23

more comfortable.

11:24

But sometimes we might have misplaced something

11:26

and then we need to back up or sometimes the situation

11:29

changes

11:30

and we need to find a different response. But that's all

11:32

growing. It's leaning in. What

11:34

you just shared about

11:35

how your son handled that for him, it's a growth

11:38

experience, isn't it? It's

11:40

a leaning in. Totally. Yeah.

11:43

And that was the thing too, because I got the text, mom, I'm

11:45

having a panic attack.

11:47

And so we just started

11:50

communicating back and forth

11:53

to the best that he could at that point.

11:56

But even that, even reaching out to somebody

11:59

that you... that you love or

12:01

that has your back is a great place

12:03

to start, isn't it?

12:04

Definitely. It's brave, it's honest, and

12:06

it's gonna get you the help. It shines light

12:09

on those recesses of our mind that can feel very

12:12

dark and frightening.

12:13

Sure. And then once you

12:15

get yourself in a space of feeling just

12:18

a little bit more comfortable, you

12:20

can start to make choices.

12:24

I'm hoping that sharing it might

12:26

help somebody listening in who also

12:29

has those struggles that come up. Yeah,

12:31

I think it's important to share and also it

12:33

highlights how we open this episode

12:35

talking about vata in

12:37

the mind and how one of our challenges

12:40

is that

12:41

the very world we're living in, the

12:43

environments we usually are

12:45

often in tend to increase vata.

12:48

So noise is one of those things

12:51

that can increase that Vata

12:53

energy in the mind and that can bring our

12:56

anxiety up. So it's a really practical example.

12:58

And I think that

12:59

for me is definitely the focus of this episode

13:03

is the practical approach of finding

13:05

hope. So we don't feel that we are

13:08

stuck with anxiety and that's it.

13:10

And we're in that awful dark

13:12

place. There

13:13

are many things in our environment that increase

13:15

vata,

13:16

cold, change, noise,

13:19

social media, screens and noise

13:21

everywhere. All of those things, increase

13:24

vata, late nights, loss of sleep, and

13:26

they're all things that we can look and see, how

13:28

can I change that? First

13:30

of all, how can I respect that

13:33

that has that effect on me, that impact

13:35

on me, without feeling that I'm less

13:37

than? Because

13:38

that's part of our makeup, according

13:40

to Ayurveda. So it doesn't mean we're

13:43

crazy.

13:43

It doesn't mean we're substandard. It

13:46

doesn't mean we're not coping. It means we're noticing

13:48

things that affect us and we're gonna make

13:50

changes so that we feel more comfortable.

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Slayer. Before

15:13

the break, we were talking about self-understanding

15:16

leading to self-care. And

15:18

now we're going switch gears and talk about the

15:21

tricks of the mind that

15:22

can hold us in anxiety.

15:26

Yeah,

15:26

two key tricks to look

15:29

out for that the mind tends

15:31

to play.

15:32

And the first is thinking

15:34

that nothing works. The

15:37

mind will tell us this isn't going to

15:39

work.

15:40

The mind might tell us that

15:42

people don't understand our

15:44

situation, or it would just be disinclined

15:47

to try things. So that's the first

15:49

trick of the mind. Nothing works. It will

15:51

tell you nothing works.

15:53

So to defy that

15:56

untruth and make your choices

15:59

and have a go. something and have

16:01

a go at anyway. And the second

16:03

trick of the mind is isolation.

16:05

It tends to hold us

16:08

in isolation with our challenges,

16:10

which again is why

16:11

it was so good to hear that your son called

16:13

you and shared

16:15

what he was going through because he's breaking that

16:17

isolation tendency. The

16:19

mind will tell us we're different.

16:22

There's something uniquely wrong with us

16:24

that can't be fixed or that no

16:26

one will understand.

16:27

And so then we're held alone

16:29

with their problems. So two

16:32

tricks to look

16:34

out for and find

16:35

ways to work with.

16:38

And some thoughts that we often hear

16:41

are, I will never be free

16:43

from panic attacks.

16:46

Or I know I'm stuck with

16:48

anxiety for life.

16:51

Or I've tried everything

16:54

and nothing works. And

16:58

while I understand that some days it feels

17:00

like that, these are beliefs.

17:03

They're not facts. And

17:05

beliefs can be changed. And

17:08

what we know is that freedom

17:10

from anxiety begins when

17:13

we challenge those beliefs and

17:15

look beyond them. When we challenge

17:18

those tricks of the mind, that

17:21

changes everything. Yeah,

17:25

the

17:25

mind's really tricky. Again, this is something

17:27

we talk about a lot. The mind has a

17:29

negativity bias left

17:32

to its own devices.

17:34

India's ancient wisdom teaching,

17:37

the Bhagavad Gita teaches that our mind

17:39

can be our best friend

17:41

or our worst enemy.

17:42

And it tends to be our worst enemy.

17:45

And that's something really to think about,

17:48

literally worst enemy. What What does that

17:50

feel like?

17:51

The mind knows all our fears, all our

17:54

worries, it's got

17:55

all the information on us but we're not our

17:57

mind

17:59

and we can use

18:00

our intelligence to rise above

18:02

our mind. That's the teaching of

18:04

Vedic wisdom. So beliefs aren't

18:07

facts and our mind likes

18:09

to think it's in control and it's

18:11

a crafty ventriloquist that

18:14

likes to try and convince us it's in control,

18:17

but it isn't. And there's

18:19

another teaching about the mind which I find

18:21

really helpful

18:23

is that our minds tends to behave like

18:25

a ship

18:26

heading for the rocks that can't or

18:28

won't change course.

18:30

It's just going to say there's the rocks

18:33

and feel really disturbed

18:35

and just head straight for them.

18:37

But our intelligence is capable

18:39

of seeing danger and avoiding it.

18:42

And Ayurveda

18:44

teaches that we can practice living more

18:46

from our intelligence. It's a

18:48

constant adjustment, it's constant

18:50

work,

18:51

but once we accept that and we're willing

18:53

to do the work,

18:54

it gets a lot easier and it gives us much

18:57

more

18:57

control

18:59

and freedom of choice

19:00

and sometimes a really nice sense

19:02

of

19:03

triumph that we've overcome some adversity

19:06

or a difficult day and

19:08

we've given that gift to ourselves.

19:12

I love that. And

19:16

this is where we're going to delve into

19:19

the importance of developing compassion

19:22

and acceptance for yourself.

19:26

Because when you see anxiety as

19:29

an enemy, or personalize

19:31

it by saying that you hate

19:34

it, that you

19:36

can't live like this, that this is this

19:39

awful adversary, You're

19:41

giving anxiety power

19:43

over you.

19:46

And it becomes something that you have to fight,

19:48

something that you resent.

19:51

This is when feeling

19:53

this way about anxiety will put

19:55

you in a victim mindset. And

19:58

this is when you feed

20:00

your anxiety and exhaust yourself.

20:03

And it's this loop, this cycle

20:05

of pain. And we've

20:08

all done it. It's the default

20:10

setting of a suffering mind. You

20:13

don't like how you feel, so you declare it. I

20:16

hate this. I don't want to feel this way. But

20:20

anxiety isn't a personal enemy.

20:23

It's not listening. And it's not

20:26

going to back off and leave you alone. Your

20:28

relief comes from when

20:30

you change your thinking and change your actions.

20:33

That's where you start to have

20:36

relief from anxiety.

20:39

And

20:39

it's not easy,

20:41

but

20:43

it's a wonderful thing once we start

20:45

practicing and making those changes.

20:47

And it's

20:48

a great thing to share as well. Welcome

20:51

anyone if you're not already a member

20:53

to come and and join our private

20:55

Facebook group. It's full of extremely

20:57

kind, brave individuals

21:00

sharing their challenges, sharing

21:02

their triumphs, cheerleading

21:04

each other on. So

21:05

please come and share if you need a hand or

21:08

if you've got something to share.

21:10

Really important to break that spell

21:12

of anxiety. Hang out with people that

21:15

can give encouragement, that can share their

21:17

positive

21:18

experiences, and

21:20

just break that hold of fear anxiety

21:23

can have in the mind when the mind

21:25

tells us nothing's going to work and you're stuck

21:27

like this. It's not true. We

21:29

just need to keep seeking help and we need to keep

21:32

trying.

21:33

And trying to stay in the present

21:35

moment as much as you can.

21:38

Because often that feeling

21:41

will come up, you know, that feeling in your

21:43

belly or that feeling in your heart

21:45

where you're like, oh no, Oh, here

21:47

it comes again and you take yourself back to

21:49

another experience or to another

21:51

time when things were really hard.

21:53

You maybe had an anxiety attack or something

21:57

that really took you out. And

22:00

being in the present moment and knowing

22:02

what to do, you can

22:05

stop that from happening. You

22:07

can use

22:09

the tools, you can take action by

22:13

getting away from the past and saying, okay,

22:15

even though this has happened before, that doesn't mean

22:17

that it's gonna happen again now. I

22:20

know what healing work I need to do.

22:22

I know that I might be

22:24

in the space where I need to do some breathing,

22:26

where I need to do some tapping. Maybe

22:29

I need to

22:30

rest and listen to a guided relaxation,

22:33

change things up, get some fresh air, whatever

22:35

that is. You're equipped with these tools

22:37

and you know that. So you're

22:39

not in that place of

22:42

recreating what you've already experienced

22:45

from your past. Yeah, another

22:47

trick of the mind is if we've had a negative

22:50

or frightening experience, the

22:52

mind becomes hypervigilant and it will

22:54

look for what's the same and

22:57

recreate that anxiety.

22:59

And one way to remedy that is to

23:01

do what you've just said, Shan, to look for

23:03

what's different

23:05

and to tell your mind, you know, I appreciate your

23:07

concern, but here's what's different now. I've

23:10

learned this. I've got this technique.

23:12

I've got this tool. I've got this support.

23:14

I've gained this experience.

23:17

Yeah. It's as simple as a mathematical

23:19

equation. If anxiety is saying two and two

23:21

equals four,

23:23

and we change one of those twos to a different

23:25

number, is not going to equal four anymore.

23:27

We have to change the equation.

23:30

Anxiety looks for what's the same and then says,

23:32

here we go again.

23:33

And our intelligence can say, no, we

23:35

don't. Because since that happened, I've

23:38

learned this. And

23:41

I've got different things to try and that breaks

23:43

the spell. Right.

23:45

I love that breaking the spell.

23:48

And lastly, adjusting

23:51

our environment will give us peace of mind.

23:54

if we reach

23:56

out and share time with good company,

23:59

good friend. listening

24:01

to healing and calming sounds and

24:03

music. The

24:07

birds have been singing every morning here

24:09

in Northern Michigan, finally after so

24:11

much silence over the winter.

24:14

And just hearing them brings so much

24:17

lightness. Yeah.

24:19

We talk about music a lot and the importance

24:21

of music lifting you up and

24:24

transporting you from someplace

24:27

that might be dark scary

24:29

to a lighter happier place.

24:32

We know that light is important daylight,

24:35

sunlight, candlelight,

24:39

different scents that you like whether that

24:41

be flower

24:44

fragrances or incense or

24:47

essential oils or just being

24:49

outside and smelling

24:51

the earth.

24:54

We know that having plants

24:56

in your environment will make a difference

24:58

being in your garden. There's so

25:01

many ways to adjust

25:03

your environment.

25:04

1 Yeah, we need to make it as comfortable

25:07

and safe, feeling and supportive

25:10

as we can. These are just the

25:12

little things that we can do, the

25:14

things we can change

25:16

and the things we can improve.

25:18

And they have

25:19

a stronger effect on the mind than you might

25:22

think,

25:23

especially incoming support through

25:26

the senses like essential oils

25:28

and music,

25:30

birdsong, different calming sounds.

25:33

We're using our senses then to bring

25:36

different experiences into the mind for

25:38

the mind to process and it helps lift it,

25:40

helps

25:40

lift the mind up.

25:43

Bringing in some creativity,

25:45

some fun, some sense some

25:47

sounds warmth soft

25:50

bedding stretching remembering

25:52

to move don't let anxiety

25:54

pin you

25:55

to the bed or pin you in a chair,

25:58

move for yourself. And

26:00

all these things

26:01

help greatly over time and often

26:04

much more than we realize, which is why we often

26:07

recommend journaling. So you can keep

26:09

note of your progress and the changes

26:12

you're making for yourself. Well,

26:16

thank you for another

26:19

excellent episode, Ananga. It's

26:21

always wonderful to spend time with you and to

26:23

all of our listeners. We hope that you found

26:25

this podcast supportive. Very

26:29

soon we're going to be launching a brand

26:31

new course on Ayurveda.

26:33

We'll keep you up to date on that. We

26:36

expect that we'll have that available in

26:38

May. In the meantime,

26:40

if you love our podcast, consider

26:42

becoming a patron and you can get

26:45

over 150 guided relaxations,

26:48

tapping sessions, and Ayurvedic teachings

26:51

for calming anxiety. patreon.com

26:55

slash anxiety slayer

27:23

you