Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use An Acupressure Mat And Pillow + More Benefits

October 12, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use An Acupressure Mat And Pillow + More Benefits

Anxiety can be immobilizing and distracting so much that it’s hard to think with clarity or any sense of direction. When we feel anxious, it’s a great reminder that we need to be able to access different tools to slow our racing mind down to return to a healthy state. Acupressure therapy is a great tool to treat anxiety holistically. It’s a simple and self governed process of simply getting your acupressure mat and pillow, then spending time lying on your mat and pillow to receive the therapeutic benefits, then storing your mat and pillow to returning to your day with improved refreshment.

What is Acupressure?

Acupressure is an ancient form of massage practiced in Chinese Medicine. The goal of acupressure massage has been to increase and encourage balanced flow of Qi (energy) through the meridian channels of the body.

In current history acupressure mats and pillows have also been created and utilized for the same purpose and practice. Now acupressure therapy can be achieved by lying on an acupressure mat and pillow minus the masseuse, which is helpful with everyone currently spending more time at home to prevent and reduce COVID risks.

Acupressure mats can be found online at holistic health stores and amazon.com. Some people will simply buy the acupressure mat without the pillow. I personally find the pillow and the mat combined to be most beneficial for therapeutic response for anxiety and stress management.

How Does Using An Acupressure Mat Feel?

Using an acupressure mat does take a little time to acclimate to as the pillow and the mat is covered in small plastic “needle like” points. When you lay on the mat it’s ideal to move slowly and gently while wearing as little layers between your skin and the mat for maximum application.

Once you find a comfortable position on the mat it’s ideal to stay in a resting position on the acupressure mat and pillow for 10-20 minutes for best anxiety and stress relief. Usually within the first 5 minutes of your acupressure session, you will feel an endorphin release of calm and soothing energy. This feeling is often maintained throughout the remaining time in your acupressure session.

How to Use Acupressure When Anxious Or Stressed

When you’re feeling anxious or stressed, using an acupressure mat can be helpful to calm yourself effectively. It may be harder to think clearly when anxious but planning ahead helps. Anxiety is an emotional experience that happens more than once and ideally you may even know the times and locations that your anxiety or stress may peak.

If you find yourself anxious at home, consider keeping your mat in a space where you can practice for example your bedroom may be ideal or near the living room couch. If you are working in an office space, consider keeping your acupressure mat at your desk or in your car to be used during your break. If you happen to have an office with a quiet room, consider using your acupressure mat while in the quiet room space.

Additional Benefits of Acupressure

We talked about the benefits of using an acupressure mat and pillow for anxiety and stress management and there’s a extended list of additional benefits you will gain from using acupressure therapy. Some additional benefits from using acupressure therapy include increased pain management, reduced neck and pack pain, reduced insomnia symptoms, fibromyalgia pain, and headache reduction.

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Holistic Therapy For Sober October: Natural Stress and Anxiety Recovery (Alternatives For Alcohol & Drug Use)

October 7, 2020 Brandi Jackson

It’s October and it’s a time of year when many people are choosing to practice social behaviors to for alcohol and drug reduction and recovery. I love that Sober October has become a movement of it’s own where more and more people participate each year.

Sober October is A Movement

In support of all the great people choosing to focus having a Sober October and resetting their habits in the month of October and beyond, I’m excited to share Holistic Therapy tools that can support the journey. Natural stress and anxiety recovery alternatives for alcohol & drug use exists and can help you reduce unwanted use patterns. I’m excited to share my favorite holistic alternatives for stress and anxiety reduction with you in this post!

Kava Kava Powder Instead Of Alcohol

Kava Kava is a herbal remedy made of root found in the islands of the pacific ocean. Pacific Island and Tongan culture have used the medicinal root for gatherings and ceremonies for hundreds of years. In more recent times, Kava Kava has been gaining popularity in the US for its medicinal value for anxiety and stress reduction. Kava Kava also helps improve sleep consistency for deeper restful sleep. Kava Kava is available in capsule form or in powder form. Kava powder is great in a bedtime smoothie just an hour prior to bedtime. Consider blending Kava Kava powder with almond milk, cocoa powder and monk fruit sweetener for a bedtime treat.

CBD Oil Instead of THC

Cannabidiol is another great alternative to substance or alcohol use. Some will find CBD to be of minimal impact if THC is normative. However if you want to consider long-term alternatives to THC CBD can be great for regular use. CBD is great because it has no THC which may cause increase of depression and anxiety symptoms for 72-hours after use. CBD Oil is reported to improve pain management and pain relief, anxiety relief, reduction of anxiety and depression, increase heart health, reduce Cancer related symptoms and drug craving reduction.

Damiana Herb For Stress And Anxiety

Damiana Herb is primarily known for increasing and balancing out libido for both men and women. Damiana is a known aphrodisiac originating from Mexico, Central America, and West Indies. Damiana also has a great side effect of also improving stress reduction and anxiety reduction. Some report use of Damiana Herb as producing a slight high affect after drinking loose teas and tinctures. Additional benefits of Damiana Herb include libido support which helps increase sexual health, which also has a correlated positive effect on stress and anxiety health.

SAM-e Supplementation

SAM-e is a synthetic form of a chemical our bodies naturally produce called ademetionine and s-adenosylmethionine. SAM-e has been noteworthy for decrease of depression symptoms and can be used as an anti-depressant, anxiety, PMS, Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia medication.

Acupressure Mat Therapy

What about when you don’t want to take medications or supplements at all? Consider starting or maintaining a daily acupressure mat therapy practice. Acupressure mats and pillows are great for immediate stress and anxiety release. Acupressure mat therapy is so effective that some users report reduction of stress and anxiety in as little as 10 minutes. Imagine if you could end or transition your day with stress and anxiety reduction only taking 10 minutes to give you back more energy, will power and attention.

Stop Stress: Try New Things

I hope these tips help you feel hopeful and prepared with natural and helpful alternatives to achieve your Sober October goals and honestly, it’s worth having many holistic tools available in case you choose to make other months of the year sober ones or to simply increase your stress management practice.

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Holistic Therapy For Seasonal Affective Disorder: How To Stay Emotionally Resilient

October 6, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year. In many places the weather is becoming cooler, the holidays are coming, the time of daylight hours will be shifting, the foods we eat are even within a transition. There’s a lot changes that come into play for most during the fall and winter months.

What About Your Mood?

Your mood is often more vulnerable during the fall and winter as the transition of time, season, daylight, sleep, holidays, and interpersonal relationship is all called into transition for most people. Your mood is likely to have more highs and lows with a great season of transition. We also must consider the current and real experience of COVID 19, Quarantine, Home Schooling, Election Season, and how that also impacts this fall and winter.

This is a big thought and question to ponder? How can you best stay healthy and safe? How can you thrive through this winter and minimize/ prevent your risk of Seasonal Affective Disorder?

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of Depression that is related to change of season and daylight, which effects mood and energy. You may find that you generally feel higher levels of depression and sadness during the window of SAD. The window where seasonal Affective Disorder is most prominent is during the months of November and ongoing through February depending on the person, stressors sleep patterns, nutrition patterns, and available support network.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Symptoms

Seasonal Affective Disorder has a distinct set of symptoms that usually overlap with Depression symptoms as well. Some of the symptoms that may be easier to self-monitor are listed below.

Increased experience of low energy and feeling tired often
Low interest to do the activities you previously enjoyed
Social Isolation and avoidance
Irritable mood and emotional sensitivity
Feeling hopeless or guilty
Difficulty concentrating
Low sex drive
Brain fog

Holistic Therapies For Seasonal Affective Disorder

Light Therapy: Seasonal Affective Disorder has been treated with light therapy in 2 primary ways, the first way is to open the blinds to allow natural light exposure to occur daily for natural vitamin D support which correlates back to mood management. You can also find light therapy lamps for daily light therapy practice indoors while at home or at your workspace.

Vitamin D Supplementation: Also taking Vitamin D in supplement form can be very helpful for maintaining a certain amount of vitamin D in your blood system as a baseline through the winter months. This helps maintain a preventative approach to keeping your vitamin D established at a certain level during the fall and winter season.

Exercise: Try to keep your fitness practice in good shape. Consider going for daily wellness walks, doing daily yoga or indoor cardio. Your body will naturally produce cortisol, serotonin, and additional endorphins that will naturally support your mood management and potentially prevent SAD or reduce impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Support Circle: Reach out to friends, family during, and your natural supports during the SAD Season as much as feels appropriate for you to feel that your practicing healthy and supportive social interactions. Isolation is vulnerability when it comes to likely increase of depression symptoms. Humans are social creatures and without enough social interactions there is a posed risk for your sense of wellness.

Self Care: Having a winter self care practice is priceless! Be sure to look forward to updating your self-care routine as the seasons change and your routine is likely to change. You want to keep your self care practice as relevant to your present needs versus doing what may have been practical for the previous season.

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I hope you enjoyed learning about my favorite post-party detox strategies. Be sure to share your real life wellness issues below! I will try to share more posts for you to help you keep up a healthy self care practice for the winter season.

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Sleep Hygiene: How to Stop Stress and Anxiety Insomnia

October 5, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

Your sleep affects so many aspects of your life so it’s essential to ensure you’re always getting the best sleep possible. If you aren’t getting good sleep you may be experiencing low moods, your stress levels may increase and you may be eating more for comfort than substance. Lack of sleep can also increase your risk of health concerns like diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Stress and anxiety can cause insomnia. This type of insomnia can usually be helped without the need for medication by focusing on proper sleep hygiene.

Holistic Bedtime Routine

A great place to start is to assess what you are doing before bed that could be causing anxiety and stress and preventing you from getting good sleep. You’ll want to take a look at the four hours before you get into bed and determine if those activities are activating or deactivating you. You may want to implement a decompression plan that you can do everyday before going to sleep. Some of the things that will help you decompress would be no screen time, light eating, maybe making a tea, listening to something calming or reading.

Holistic + Mindful Insomnia Hygiene

If you are someone who wakes up and has trouble falling asleep you will want to have a before bed routine and an insomnia hygiene routine. The first thing you will want to check in your insomnia routine is if you have any stimulating things like a tv on, the lights on, your phone next to you, etc. If you don’t think you will be able to go back to sleep quickly I encourage you to get up, go to a quiet place in your home, keep the lights dim and stay away from any screen time. A great practice at this time would be to get out your journal and jot down anything that’s on your mind. Sometimes when you have had an emotionally draining day or you are working through a challenging time, getting these thoughts and emotions out on paper can be a great release and it allows our minds to relax. Once you’ve gotten your thoughts out it's a great time to relax by meditating. One of my personal tried and true favorites is using an acupressure pillow. On nights that I have too much on my mind and wake up I use my pillow for about ten to twenty minutes and I’m good after that.

Supporting Holistic Supplements

You may want to consider supplements at bedtime as well. Melatonin is a great option for sleep. It’s an all natural product that helps the body produce sleep inducing hormones. Tryptophan is another supplement that you could try. It’s a naturally occurring chemical that makes our body chemistry tired.

The Consistency Factor: Stick With It

It typically takes two to four weeks for your sleep cycle to shift but you need to determine if you want to be consistent with your sleep routine and what is going to work best for your lifestyle. For those hot summer months when you’re having trouble falling asleep try my summer sleep tips and tricks. This article was a brief introduction on what I cover in my Fit Mind & Body Program. If you want to dive deeper into your health and wellness then click the link below and let's get started!

Watch This Video to Learn More:

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Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Plan, Tips, & Healing Smoothie Recipe! How to Recover

May 19, 2017 Brandi Jackson

Hello, Beautiful Wellnista,

I hope your feeling great and vibing it on up and out in this mutha! But if you are feeling stressed, tired, anxious, depressed, overwhelmed, physically weak and, generally stressed out to the highest level of stressedtivity, this one is for you Queen.

I know the feeling of being mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. Sometimes we are holding too many stressful experiences which can cause Adrenal Fatigue.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

The limited production of needed stress hormones and cortisol to balance emotional health and on occasion decrease in sex drive as well. Adrenal fatigue occurs when the body has depleted its production rate of cortisol and stress hormone production. This causes the body to experience increased mood destabilization including the symptoms listed below:

Forgetfulness
Weight Gain
Weight Loss
Compound Stress
Increased Allergies
Decreased Immunity
Lethargy
Physical Weakness
Loss of Energy
Difficulty Concentrating
Depression
Anxiety
Limited Mood Range
Overly Vigilant Regarding Environment
Limited Boundaries

How to Treat Adrenal Fatigue Tips:

To treat Adrenal Fatigue, it's important to acknowledge you're not okay. Sometimes as someone who is naturally inclined to see good in all things; it takes me longer to realize when I'm not doing okay and my physical, mental, and emotional health are at risk.

Next, evaluate what is is causing you stress. Is it work, friends, family, toxic interactions, toxic behaviors? Decide what is withing your control to change and try to accept the issues that you understand are out of your control to correct.

Then, create your daily health and wellness plan. From the time you wake up and until bedtime, what are the ways you can infuse practical wellness, healthy eating, more rest, and self-care into your schedule?

Practice your regimen daily for one week, determine if you are increasing progress. If not, please consult with your doctor, I also recommend seeing a naturopathic Doctor or Whole Health, Specialist for testing and additional feedback.

Watch The Video For More Information:

So Let's talk About Smoothies:

I love drinking a smoothie first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, my recipe for The Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Smoothie is amazing, tasty, and quite healing. It includes Whole Health ingredients to help protect cortisol production and stress relief.

Adrenal Fatigue Recovery Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 C. Orange Juice

1 C. Almond Milk

1 Ripe Banana (frozen or fresh)

1 Handful of Fresh Spinach

1 Tbsp Holy Basil Powder

1 Tsp. Sea Salt

3 Tsp. Honey

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender. Blend until all ingredients are evenly combined. You can also make a double batch and save a serving for bedtime. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed learning some possible treatment tips for Adrenal Fatigue and I hope that you try this amazing healing smoothie recipe. Sound off in the comments below, what is your favorite way to manage stress?

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If you found this information helpful, sign up for The Life Newsletter for biweekly updates, tips, tools, and resources for health, happiness, wellness, and lifestyle to feel your best life right now!

Wishing you all the best,

Brandi J.

Feel your best life now! Let me support your special and unique Change Journey, book a Wellness Coaching Session or Hypnotherapy Session with me by clicking the link below.

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