In part one and two of this three part series about working with anxiety and insomnia, I talked about “getting off electronics and getting into nature” and “sleep hygiene.” I felt they were both so important that they deserved their own individual blogs. While these next few suggestions are equally important, I will condense them into one blog for now, as I hope to start writing on some other topics soon. (For example- Shiatsu—a Japanese massage technique that uses gentle pressure and other techniques to balance the body’s energy flow, or qi. This is something that I will be offering to my patients and would love to share in more detail about what this is in my next blog).
In the meantime, I want to give a brief shout-out about some other (free!) tools that can help with anxiety and insomnia—and of course, just overall well-being: human connection, movement and food.
Human Connection
Human connection is so important to our health on every level—mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. It’s an important one, and is something that is often overlooked or taken for granted. It is really important to have human connection on an ongoing basis. It helps with mood, motivation, energy, sleep, focus, and pretty much every system in our body. Healthy interactions with other people promote the release of many necessary hormones and neurotransmitters such as oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins.
Human connection and what this looks like will of course be different for each individual. For some it’s group activities, while for others it is one-on-one time with a friend. Sometimes even just a short phone call or text exchange with a friend or loved one can go a long way in making us feel connected. The key is to make sure we are in connection with people and not in isolation—we are not meant to be solitary creatures, and are social/tribal by nature. It of course can feel challenging at times to find “the right” humans to connect with, but, sometimes something as simple as going to the grocery store, attending a yoga class or going to a movie by yourself can be nice just to be around other people, even (and sometimes especially if!) if you aren’t talking/interacting so much.
Movement
Movement is so foundational to mental and emotional well-being, as well as quality sleep. Getting some form of movement every day is incredibly supportive on all levels. Like human connection, it stimulates all sorts of happy chemicals (hormones and neurotransmitters) in the brain, improves circulation, digestion, detoxification and more. Movement can come in so many forms; the best way to get yourself to move everyday or most days is to find something that you really enjoy. So whether it is walking, hiking, cycling, running, going to the gym, roller-skating, dancing, or yoga—pick something that you will look forward to. Next thing you know, you’ll wonder how you ever went without it, not to mention the joy it will bring.
The great news is—it could be as simple as taking a walk for 15-20 minute break at work, or taking a 30 minute walk after dinner (which will both aid in digestion and just overall calm the mind and integrate the day).
When I was in naturopathic medical school, I took a 35 minute walk each day that went gradually uphill for 20 minutes for some light cardio, and 10-15 minutes on the way back down for cool down. The path wove up through the streets, small areas of forest, and ended at the top of The Tram here in Portland, with an epic view of the city as the ultimate reward. I am not exaggerating when I say: I do not think I could have made it through medical school without this daily walk. Truly, I often began these walks in an acutely high level of stress, and 30-35 minutes later arrived back at school with a completely fresh perspective and significantly reduced stress—a sense of levity, even! The difference from top to bottom surprised me every time.
Food/nutrition/nourishment
So often, we forget that what we consume/put into our bodies has a major impact on how we feel each day, and how we sleep at night. Often people just think, “food is food,” or eat based on how tasty it is, or simply eat it for caloric fuel/energy, but—we do not always think about all of the other ways it can affect us with regards to mood, energy, sleep, focus, motivation, staying power and more.
Believe it or not—it is actually possible to eat healthy and eat delicious and enjoyable food, but more often than not the, question we really should be asking is: what sorts of food are we eating? Often, maintaining good energy, mood and digestion is more related to if we are getting enough protein? Fats? Vegetables? Are we getting enough carbohydrates to support energy, but not consuming so much that our blood sugar is either too high or too low at any given moment? Are we eating enough? Sometimes when we are stressed we can eat too much, but sometimes our body shuts off its hunger signals when we are stressed, and we forget to eat, thus increasing our stress levels—but we often don’t even realize this. Often, and especially as we get older, we wake up too early in the morning, or during the night. This is often due to not having gotten enough calories during the day, and our hunger wakes us up, and then we are not sleeping enough.
Dr. Leber is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor (ND) in the state of Oregon and received her degree and training from the National University of Natural Medicine (NUNM). She grew up in Massachusetts, and spent close to twenty years living in Boulder, Colorado before moving to Portland in 2019 to start her schooling at NUNM. Dr. Leber earned her Master’s in Education at the University of Colorado, Denver in 2015.
Prior to her journey to becoming a Naturopath, she spent many years in a wide variety of professions: social work, non-profit work, teaching (elementary school and womens/prenatal yoga), massage therapy, writer, and musician/singer. Learn more about Dr. Rachel Leber.
