‘Tis the season. “The most wonderful time of the year” is just around the corner. But sometimes we don’t live in the beautiful, perfect, present moment. We forecast our thoughts to all the “To Do’s”, or ruminate in past regrets. We can let things become overwhelming. If you find yourself a little, or even a lot, anxious, show yourself grace, allow time to reset your priorities and, literally take a breath.
The following tips could become life savers for this, or any other hectic time.
5 Natural Strategies to Manage Anxiety
1. Breathe through your nose
Inhaling through your nose helps filter, warm, and moisten the air before it reaches your lungs. This process supports better oxygen absorption and keeps carbon dioxide levels balanced, which is key for soothing your nervous system. When you feel uneasy, try slowing down and focusing on steady nasal breaths.
2. Practice horizontal breathing
Rather than taking vertical breaths that cause your chest to rise and activate stress responses, shift to horizontal breathing. This technique involves widening your ribcage outward instead of lifting it upward. Breathing this way eases tension and prevents your nervous system from slipping into a stress-driven state.
3. Breathe more gently, not more often
Quick, forceful breaths can heighten anxiety by pushing your oxygen-carbon dioxide balance out of sync. The goal is to breathe fewer times per minute and with a softer rhythm. This steadiness preserves healthy carbon dioxide levels, which helps quiet your mind and lower stress hormones like cortisol.
4. Make controlled breathing a habit
Regularly practicing mindful breathing techniques reshapes how your brain responds to pressure. Methods such as alternate nostril breathing or the Buteyko approach encourage slower, more intentional breaths. Over time, this activates your parasympathetic nervous system, creating calmness and improving your resilience against anxiety.
In addition to these breathing techniques, there are other far safer (than pharmaceutical) strategies you can explore.
5. Get checked for subluxation
The purpose of a chiropractic adjustment is to reduce subluxation, a state where there is interference with the neural feedback loop. When subluxation is reduced, the body naturally gravitates to a place of decreased stress; the biochemical drivers of stress are reduced and the body assumes a greater sense of coherence and integration. This optimizes the expression of physical, mental and spiritual health. Chiropractic is not a “remedy” for any single symptom or named disease, but by re-integrating normal functions of the body, the Chiropractic adjustment predisposes you to expressing better health, which includes reducing unnecessary anxiety. – Dr. du Quesnay 2025/11/17