So, given my own personal experience and quest for help with anxiety, which is linked to PTS from a few years back, I wanted to share with you the key tips to a healthier, happier mindset which I have discovered on my own journey to recovery.

Get information: I can highly recommend ‘The Anxiety Cure’ by Klaus Bernhardt. This can be ordered on amazon or downloaded as an audio book on Audible.
“Whether you suffer from panic attacks or general anxiety, Klaus Bernhardt’s proven anxiety cure will help you lead a calmer, happier life fast.Using the latest research in neuroscience combined with the most useful elements of therapies such as CBT, hypnotherapy and positive psychology, The Anxiety Cure will introduce you to a powerful approach to stop anxiety in its tracks. Within just a few weeks, using tried and tested mind training and pattern breaker techniques, you will discover the real cause of your anxiety, learn to rewire negative thinking and completely transform your response to anxiety-inducing situations and thoughts”.

Keep Busy: Your brain needs to focus – otherwise the ‘information highway’ opens up – so maybe absorb yourself in a hobby or activity you really enjoy or that uses a lot of attention – especially first thing in the morning – get up and get busy!

Talk it over: Lean on your friends and family – people who you can open up to about how you’re feeling! Its so helpful to offload that overwhelming emotion and also hear other perspectives.

Nutrition: Eat an abundance of whole foods – fruits and vegetables and in a variety of colour: Fruits and veggies contain vital phytochemicals and antioxidants which lower the body inflammation and help healthy brain function! Purple foods in particular are known to support the brain, due to their abundance of polyphoenals. Of course, when you’re feeling anxious, you tend to not look after yourself, and the healthy eating goes out of the window – but its so fundamental! For simple means of gaining more nutrition into your diet, whole food supplementation is very effective and bridges that dietary gap.

Visit our HEALTH section to learn more!

Remove Gluten: Klaus Bernhardt talks at length about the diagram and how pressure on this can cause anxiety. To alleviate this, removing gluten from your diet can have a significant impact. With nutrition playing such a key role in mental health, eating natural whole foods and cleansing the body from the toxins and removing food groups such as gluten to help alleviate bloating and diaphragm pressure could really help. Again, visit www.healthsosimple.co.uk for more information about cleansing.

Listen to your gut: Bernhardt explains that anxiety tends to arise when we don’t listen to what our subconscious brain is trying to tell us: Anxiety is like a warning beacon telling us something isn’t right… Whether its your job, relationship, home life, friends… Something needs to change in order for you to be in your ‘best element’ in life. Once you identify what that is, you might have a means of moving forward through making changes.

B Complex: Apparently, according to Bernhardt, those with anxiety tend to be very low/deficient in Vitamin B Complex – so its worth asking your doctor for a check up and to test your levels, and invest in a high quality supplement?

Exercise: Exercise is a natural and very effective treatment of anxiety. It relieves tension and stress, boosts physical and mental energy, and enhances well-being through the release of endorphins. Try to notice the sensation of your feet hitting the ground, for example, or the rhythm of your breathing, or the feeling of the wind on your skin. By adding this mindfulness element—really focusing on your body and how it feels as you exercise—you’ll not only improve your physical condition faster, but you may also be able to interrupt the flow of constant worries running through your head.

Gratitude: Starting a gratitude diary could really help your anxiety! Everyday, writing down 3-5 things you feel blessed and grateful for will help you view the day differently and rewire the brain to find the good in simple things… Its amazing how something so simple at the start/end of each day can make you look at things in such a positive, enlightened way.

Get help: The longer anxiety builds up, the more your brain rewires itself and embeds those thoughts and fears! There are many treatments, therapies and medications for anxiety but research is showing Cognitive Hypnotherapy to be the most effective! Cognitive Hypnotherapy’s first peer-reviewed study (published in 2015 using the standard GAD-7 measure) demonstrated an astounding 71% success rate, making it the most effective evidence-based psychological therapy for anxiety currently available, and considerably more effective than the IAPT therapies typically offered on the NHS such as individual CBT, Counselling and Psychotherapy which average 42% success. It would be worth researching online to find a clinic or specialist offering these treatments.

I really hope this helps some of you the way its helped me… Anxiety is a total B*^ch to live with day in day out, but there is A LOT you can do naturally to support your body and mindset ;0)

Chloe xx