This week is all about FOOD. And I’ve made a great guide for you including some tips, journaling prompts and some of my favorite go-to recipes. This week, we start digging into the separate Lifestyle elements of my 3-pillar system to Freedom from Anxiety and nutrition was the most obvious place to start. And what you’re eating and drinking can have a dramatic effect on how you’re feeling not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally.
There are a few things to avoid:
Caffeine - caffeine is a stimulating drug that creates anxiety-like symptoms in your body including an increased heart rate and body temperature, jitters, increased blood flow, nausea, and it acts as a diuretic in your body
Sugar - sugar is in everything and we are programmed, biologically, to crave sugar; the hormone adrenaline gets released when you have sugar as your body tries to neutralize the sugar high and crash roller coaster…adrenaline is also a key component in the body’s stress response meaning that you are practically inviting anxiety (aka, the stress response) in when you consume sugar
Alcohol - this one is so important it’s getting it’s own episode next week; Episode #15 will be wholly dedicated to alcohol and anxiety
But don’t worry! I’m going to give you some suggestions about what to do instead. It’s important to crowd out the bad with good things. Some ideas that I talk about in the podcast are:
Tea - my favorite place for tea is Tea Market where my personal teacher and tea guru sells quality loose-leaf teas that are so good for you: physically, mentally, and emotionally
Make your own - this is everything from salad dressings to healthy desserts (grab this week’s downloadable freebie for some of my favorite go-to recipes)
Sub in fresh fruit for sugary sweet treats
Another key component to the nutrition piece is examining how your emotions are intertwined with food. You may not consider yourself an emotional eater, but consider days like holidays, birthdays, and other celebrations. Or what it’ll be like to say no to dessert and alcohol. Or how it’ll feel to get through your morning (and afternoon) without caffeine. What comes up for you? It’s worth exploring… I’ve included some journaling prompts in this week’s downloadable guide to get you really thinking. Get your copy here.
Don’t forget to join me on Facebook live every Wednesday morning at 11am CST and come say “hi” over on Instagram…
Here are the podcast links so you can listen in to this week’s show. See you there!
For iTunes, just click here.
If Stitcher is your thing, then click here.
And Spotify? Click here!
To find out more about Jesse Blake, who is responsible for the wonderful music on the podcast, click here. He’s got loads of great stuff and all of you yogis, meditators, and yoga teachers will find his stuff especially wonderful for your practices and classes.
