Category: Anxiety relief

Adrenal fatigue, Anxiety relief, Health, Recovery, Relaxation

Of dentists, adrenaline, and stress recovery

Emily

Fun fact: standard dental anesthetic contains epinephrine. So if your heart starts to pound when you get numbed up for a filling, it’s just because you’ve been literally shot full of stress hormones. This is a great example of how emotional reactions (feeling like you’re panicking) can come after a physical/hormonal change. This happened to me today when I got numbed up for a filling.

Here’s a bizarre follow-up. I’ve been having heart palpitations since January (just a flare-up of my periodic rumbles, already cleared as “no big deal, just annoying” by a cardiologist). Now that the drug-induced tachycardia has cleared up, my heart feels the most steady, and my resting heart rate is the slowest it’s been, in months. 

I’ve long noticed that my body often doesn’t down-regulate after a stimulus (e.g., have trouble relaxing muscles after working out). In this case, the injection delivered a discrete amount of hormones, and my body responded with a strong relaxation response proportional to the amount of adrenaline in my body. But since my body wasn’t making new adrenaline, the relaxation response was able to overcome the epinephrine AND any background stress hormones that might’ve been making my heart do the wacky the last couple months.

What this is suggesting to me is that my body IS “able to create a relaxation response” BUT it is “unable to stop creating the stress response.” Like, I know how to put the brakes on, but I don’t know how to take my foot off the gas. So what happens is I hit the gas, then stomp on the brake without letting off the gas. It slows me down some, but the brake can’t overcome the gas, so I never fully get into the “off” position. I’ve always assumed that my foot came off the gas, but I didn’t know how to use the brakes, so I could only kinda-sorta coast to a stop. Maybe that’s not at all how my body’s been working.

It also stands to reason that this is incredibly draining – gas pedal is always on, AND I’m “braking” twice as hard…but not really resting. And it gives me some different ways to think of treating all this. The first things that come to mind are small doses of Sudafed or caffeine. I’ll let you know if anything works…

Dang. This is one of the most educational healthcare visits I’ve ever had.

p.s. You can totally ask your dentist for “cardiac-friendly” anesthetic that doesn’t have epinephrine. So, if you feel anxious at the dentist, go ahead and ask them to please not shoot you full of stress hormones.

UPDATE: I was back to feeling the same – or even a little worse – the next day. Which is not surprising; going through the adrenaline spike and recovery is hard on a body. So, there might not be any therapeutic breakthroughs with this info, but at least I understand why my heart rate spiked!

Anxiety relief, Relaxation, Self-care

Improving Anxiety Via Somatics

Emily

“Somatics” refers to any physical practice that uses motion to improve physical and mental health. How does that work? Well – have you ever found that stress or anxiety can make your muscles feel tight? Does your throat close up when you are upset? Do you want to curl into a ball and hide under the covers when you are procrastinating? Those are all signs of your mental state influencing your physical state.

But it’s also possible to change your physical state to improve your mental state! Watch the video below to learn how moving your body can decrease feelings of stress and anxiety.

If you’re interested in some specific ways you can replace the Anxiety Cycle with the Somatic cycle, join my self-paced Somatics for Anxiety course, available online now!

More info and registration
Anxiety relief, Relaxation, Self-care, Yoga

Somatics for Anxiety course is live!

Emily

I’m so excited to announce that my first online course is ready!

Torso-expanding side bend

Somatics for Anxiety isn’t just for people with anxiety. It’s for anyone who is curious to learn about the way moving your body can enhance your mood. We’re heading into a fun – but often high-stress – time of year. Our heads are full of changes to our normal routines, and our hearts are full of emotions: not just excitement and joy, but often angst and even grief.

When all that feels overwhelming, it can be helpful to tune into what the body is doing. And in fact, moving your body in certain ways can have a direct impact on your thoughts and emotions. Not sure where to start? This course is designed as a guided exploration! In each of the four lessons, I’ll introduce you to a different approach to using your body to enhance your mood, including:

  • Breath and movement (you can do it in bed!)
  • Gentle gliding yoga (including a variation in a chair)
  • Flowing chi exercises (simple standing motions)
  • Immersive distraction activities (many options for using your body to reset your mental state)

I’ll walk you through the exercises, talk a bit about the theory behind each one, and invite you to observe the degree to which each approach helps you. By the end of the course, you should have a much clearer idea of the types of activities that help your state of mind. You can revisit the course for an entire year, too, so you can continue to follow along with the videos whenever you need them.

Details and sign-up