Natrual Ways to Reduce Anxiety – Part 2

Having explained what anxiety is, I want to look at how people can help themselves to reduce their anxiety levels.

Whether you suffer from occasional anxious thoughts to a full blow anxiety disorder yoga can be helpful.  Once study found that women who practiced yoga twice a week for two months reduced their anxiety levels significantly.

Another scientific study found that regular yoga was more effective than walking for improving the mood and anxiety levels in healthy people.  Current thinking is that Yoga may work by boosting the levels of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutryic acid) in the brain – which acts as an inhibitor in the brain reducing anxiety.

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19341989

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20722471

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    For most people know they sit all day as part of their job.  Recently there has been a spate of article in the press about the impact of sitting all day, so I wanted to take some time to look at the impact of sitting all day.

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    I want to start this series of articles on a positive note, as most of my clients have to sit to work, the negative impact of sitting is minimised if you sit correctly. As your Mum always said, "Sit up straight", i.e.
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    As you would expect from a masseur I am going to start by looking at the impact on your muscles.

    Strained Neck & Sore Shoulders

    If most of your sitting occurs at a desk at work, craning your neck forward toward a keyboard or tilting your head to cradle a phone while typing can strain the cervical vertebrae and lead to permanent imbalances.  The neck doesn't slouch alone. Slumping forward overextends the shoulder and back muscles as well, particularly the trapezius, which connects the neck and shoulders. Here at Vitality Therapy we offer Seated Acupressure Massage to directly address these issues.

    Bad back

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    I recommend the Yoga position cat-cow for increasing your spinal flexibility. (Click here for guidelines on how to do cat-cow.)

    When you sit for a long time, a muscle called the psoas travels through the abdominal cavity and, when it tightens, pulls the upper lumbar spine forward. Upper-body weight rests entirely on the ischial tuberosity (sitting bones) instead of being distributed along the arch of the spine.  A sports massage or a deep tissue massage can release a tight psoas muscle.  

    Mushy abs

    When you stand, move or even sit up straight, abdominal muscles keep you upright. But when you slump in a chair, they go unused. Tight back muscles and wimpy abs form a posture-wrecking alliance that can exaggerate the spine's natural arch, a condition called hyperlordosis, or swayback.  So sitting up straight is the first step to good abs!

    Tight hips

    Flexible hips help keep you balanced, but chronic sitters so rarely extend the hip flexor muscles in front that they become short and tight, limiting range of motion and stride length. Studies have found that decreased hip mobility is a main reason elderly people tend to fall.  So when you are in the gym remember tohttp://vitalitytherapy.co.uk/wp-admin/post-new.php stretch your hip flexors.

    Limp glutes

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  • How to combat sitting all day

    Sitting all day is a current health concern.   While I know that sitting all day has been described as "the new smoking" until now this made me uncomfortable - as its not the same.  You can get help to quit smoking.  If you work in an office you are expected to sit and standing desks are rare, so you have no choice but to sit down.  While I am aware that smoking is an addiction, I think it is still more within the individual's control than sitting if you work in an office. I am an optimistic person by nature, so I don't want to be the voice of doom for my readers about sitting.  So I was very interested in some recent research which demonstrates how to limit the impact of sitting. Spending much of the day sitting around increases the risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and ultimately, death - with 50,000 people anually in the UK dying as a result, say researches from Queen's University in Belfast.    Around 30% of adults spend at least six hours a day during the week sitting and this rises to 37% at weekends.  Roughly one-thrid of people who are sedentary will have at least two major health conditions, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.  Researchers from the American Cancer Society estimate that just 30 minutes of some physical activity would halve the death rates from chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. So 30 minutes of physical activity per day (like walking) is what researchers currently think is required to combat sitting all day. References Journal Epidemiol Community Health. 2019 Jul;73(7):625-629. doi:10.1136/jech-2018-211758 Americal Journal of Preventive Medicine, Mortality Risk Reductions for Replacing Sedentary Time with Physical Activities, Rees-Punia, Erika et al.  Volume 56, Issue 5, 736-741  

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    References