Anxiety affects millions of people and must be one of the most ancient disorders affecting humans and animals alike – “Will I have dinner tonight or will I be dinner tonight?” Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with its long history has proven methodologies of how to treat this age-old worry. TCM is a holistic approach that embraces the idea that “No entity can be isolated from its relationship to other entities”, no thing can exist in and of itself. So...everything is connected – our emotions to our organs, our organs to our bodies, and our bodies to the world around us.
TCM seeks to promote balance and the flow of QI (internal energy channels) through our bodies and our organs. Opening energy blockages centers the mind and body and helps us navigate our environment. TCM treats emotional issues as an affliction of the organs, not the brain. Anxious feelings are linked to the Zhang Organs: Heart, Spleen, Lungs, Kidneys, and Liver.
The specific connections are:
- Absence of Joy links to Heart
- Worry links to Spleen
- Grief links to Lungs
- Fear links to Kidneys
- Anger links to Liver
The herbs in our Illuminate formula calm and open one’s Heart to make room for the Joy. Draw the nervous energy from the brain downward, allowing the reasonable thoughts to prevail over panic, which takes the burden of the Spleen, so the worry doesn’t rule you. And the CBD, in its most absorbable form available on the market delivers an almost immediate relief of your symptoms. For a complete list of herbs and their functions visit our product page.
Stress, being the biggest causation factor of an Anxiety attack or deepening of a depression needs to be addressed as well. We will be coming out with a new product soon, but in the meantime I advise to use Ashwagandha to help combat stress, high doses of Omega-3 oils to decrease depression, and Clary Sage oil for its calming effect. I also recommend a low sugar and low dairy diet to decrease the overall burden on your mind and your body.
And of course, as many studies have proven, acupuncture is greatly beneficial in treating anxiety and depression. “Acupuncture is a common practice in the clinic for the treatment of anxiety and depression disorders and scientific data have demonstrated its’ statistically significant effectiveness.” Read the full case report here.
While eating right, exercising, meditation and self-care are the best defenses, sometimes we all get overwhelmed. Knowing that you are not alone and that you have options to support your health is often the first step towards recovery.