Anxiety!

[Tincup]

If you are taking a synthetic folate vitamin, either by itself or in a B complex, it can contribute to anxiety.

[CarrieS]

I'm looking for suggestions about handling anxiety in general, and about sleep in particular.

Hello Wondering,
Meditation and breathing techniques can help to train our minds to calm down thus helping us with sleep and anxiety. There are a few threads on this site that mention meditation and breathing techniques that you may find helpful information in (use the spyglass icon to search for "meditation" to bring up results).

Meditation is about quieting the mind. Some people need to sit still and some need to be active during this process. The way that works for you is the right way. I am the type that needed to be active by walking or hiking before I could begin to clear my mind.

Headspace is a good app for the smart phone that has helped me with learning the basics.
http://how-to-meditate.org/ is another place to gather more information.

[Fiver]

Hi. Maybe this is a case where the genetic data you received can help. For example, many services provide SNPs that can indirectly tell you if you have short or long version of serotonin metabolism genes. Low serotonin is also associated with anxiety and might suggest working on that would be helpful.

[TheBrain]

Hi Wondering,

I have found that my state of mind during the day affects how well I sleep at night. So I'm working on developing a positive mindset, no matter what goes on around me. I have a sticky note on my bathroom mirror that says, "What am I thinking right now?" If it's negative, I choose to think about something more positive. I'm getting better at catching myself in negativity throughout the day. I've also started listening to a Hypnosis Live mp3 on positive thinking. Down the road a bit, I'd like to do Dynamic Neural Retraining.

I've been a meditator since 1997, but that alone doesn't stop me from having a negative mindset. However, I am better off emotionally when I mediate daily. I'm also looking into practicing mindfulness, but haven't yet settled on a means of doing that. On my own, I've been trying to make that an ongoing practice throughout the day, but have been unsuccessful so far.

[CarrieS]

Hi Wondering,

I have found that my state of mind during the day affects how well I sleep at night. So I'm working on developing a positive mindset, no matter what goes on around me. I have a sticky note on my bathroom mirror that says, "What am I thinking right now?" If it's negative, I choose to think about something more positive. I'm getting better at catching myself in negativity throughout the day. I've also started listening to a Hypnosis Live mp3 on positive thinking. Down the road a bit, I'd like to do Dynamic Neural Retraining.

I've been a meditator since 1997, but that alone doesn't stop me from having a negative mindset. However, I am better off emotionally when I mediate daily. I'm also looking into practicing mindfulness, but haven't yet settled on a means of doing that. On my own, I've been trying to make that an ongoing practice throughout the day, but have been unsuccessful so far.

Practicing Gratitude is one way to begin turning negative into positive. Gratitude is recognizing what we’re grateful for, acknowledging it, and appreciating it. Some of the benefits of practicing Gratitude may include putting situations into perspective by helping us realize what we have, strengthens relationships, improves health, reduces stress, and, in general, makes us happier. How you practice Gratitude is individual. Some find that writing in a Journal is helpful. Some find expressing it "in the moment" works. Some find a combination of both work best. Personally, I'm a "in the moment" kind of person. It took some practice, but I learned to verbally express "Thank You for the beautiful sunset" "Thank you for the great parking space" "Thank you keeping me safe and that person not hitting me", etc. It's effortless and I have to say that yes, doing this has really changed me into noticing the positive instead of the negative.

[Rainbow]

I'm looking for suggestions about handling anxiety in general, and about sleep in particular.

Here are some things that've helped me with sleep and anxiety, in no particular order (the experiment keeps evolving, and I'm still figuring it out). These may not be effective for you at all, but I thought I'd add to the pool of ideas.

• Tapering down the size of my meals, so that the meal closest to bedtime is the smallest (and easiest to digest). I think this works because it leads to lower cortisol and a cooler core temperature, but please jump in and correct me or add details.
• Hot yoga followed by a cold shower an hour or two prior to bed. This usually helps to calm down my mental chatter. I suspect that sitting in a sauna would give more or less the same effect, but I like the feeling of social connection that doing yoga in a studio gives me. (For the record, I've tried unheated yoga as well, without success.)
• The Sam Harris meditation app. The free trial version contains five meditations and a meditation timer. I've also tried Headspace and Calm, but so far, Sam Harris is my favorite (a very personal preference, though). Tara Brach also has a nice free collection of guided meditations on her website. I like doing the meditation after yoga; it seems to have a cumulative effect.
• A daily gratitude practice (about fifteen to twenty minutes). I make a list of three things that I'm grateful for and dwell/journal a bit on each item. The items could be as simple as: a pleasant conversation, a delicious home-cooked meal, a walk in nature (I try not to overthink it). I prefer to do this first thing in the morning, because I find it helps to set the tone of my day.
• Telling myself that doing email (or anything potentially stressful) close to bedtime is strictly not allowed. If my mind tries to fight back, I ask it to imagine what would happen if I didn't do these "very important" things right now. Would anyone die? No. Would anyone be upset? Maybe, but even so, I tell myself to "stick it to the man" and put myself first. Mainstream workaholic society worries too much about stuff that's really unimportant in the greater scheme of things, and sometimes I just need to say: "not my circus, not my monkeys" out loud to myself. If my mind still objects, I try to engage it in a silly computer game, like pinball or Tetris (with a blue-light screen filter). This usually does the trick!
• Locking my laptop (and all work-related items) in my office on some days before I go home is another thing I've been experimenting with.

[Wondering]

If you are taking a synthetic folate vitamin, either by itself or in a B complex, it can contribute to anxiety.

Hmm. I didn't know that. I do take Folate, 400 mcg of Metafolin L-5-MTHF with my morning supplements. Do you know if this is the type associated with anxiety? I'll look it up. Thanks for the tip!

[Wondering]

Wondering,

The effects can be subtle. A friend tried it after not getting other stuff to work. She said she really didn't notice much, until at the end of her shift, she realized she had nor had any anxiety attacks the whole day... It sounded huge for her. Well need to see how it works over time. I've read in the past that it can promote brain healing as well.

Interesting. I'm typically very sensitive to medications...Thanks for the details!

[TheBrain]

Practicing Gratitude is one way to begin turning negative into positive. Gratitude is recognizing what we’re grateful for, acknowledging it, and appreciating it. Some of the benefits of practicing Gratitude may include putting situations into perspective by helping us realize what we have, strengthens relationships, improves health, reduces stress, and, in general, makes us happier. How you practice Gratitude is individual. Some find that writing in a Journal is helpful. Some find expressing it "in the moment" works. Some find a combination of both work best. Personally, I'm a "in the moment" kind of person. It took some practice, but I learned to verbally express "Thank You for the beautiful sunset" "Thank you for the great parking space" "Thank you keeping me safe and that person not hitting me", etc. It's effortless and I have to say that yes, doing this has really changed me into noticing the positive instead of the negative.

Carrie, I LOVE your idea of practicing gratitude in the moment. I will begin today. I’ve tried using a gratitude journal about half a dozen times, and I never stuck with it. But I can see how your method could work for me. Thank you.

[CarrieS]

Carrie, I LOVE your idea of practicing gratitude in the moment. I will begin today. I’ve tried using a gratitude journal about half a dozen times, and I never stuck with it. But I can see how your method could work for me. Thank you.

This makes me smile! Thank you for posting your comment.