5 NATURAL HACKS To Stop Anxiety - Dr. Rusell Kennedy

Summary

The transcript discusses strategies for managing anxiety, emphasizing the importance of short-term and long-term solutions. Short-term relief can be found through eye movement, breathing exercises, and self-touch to calm the mind by relaxing the body. Long-term approaches involve connecting with the body's sensations, particularly the insula, which processes emotional responses. The speaker suggests using self-touch and breathwork to ground oneself in the present, and recommends therapies like Internal Family Systems and Somatic Experiencing for deeper healing. The discussion highlights the significance of recognizing past experiences that may be causing current anxiety and the value of relational support in overcoming these challenges.

Takeaways

• 👀 Short-term solutions for anxiety include eye movements, deep breathing, and self-touch to calm the mind and body.
• 🌀 The amygdala is affected by eye movements, which can help in moderating anxiety's physiological response.
• 🧘‍♂️ Using the body to calm the mind is more effective than trying to calm the body with the mind, as exemplified by the 'just relax' approach.
• 🤲 Self-touch, such as placing a hand over the solar plexus, can be a powerful tool for managing anxiety, as seen with actor Pascal.
• 🎶 Children respond to music, vibration, and touch, which can be utilized in adults to manage anxiety through present moment awareness.
• 🔄 The mantra 'sensation without explanation' encourages acceptance of physical sensations without overthinking their cause.
• 🤔 Tapping into the present moment through sensation can counteract worry, which is often future-oriented.
• 👶 Connecting with one's inner child can provide comfort and understanding of the root causes of anxiety.
• 🔍 The insula cortex plays a role in translating bodily sensations into emotional responses, which can be helpful in processing anxiety.
• 🌟 Long-term therapies like internal family systems and somatic experiencing have been effective in managing anxiety for some individuals.
• 💔 Recognizing when personal struggles are too significant to handle alone and seeking professional help is crucial for overcoming deep-seated anxiety.

Q & A

What is a short-term solution for dealing with anxiety mentioned in the transcript?

One short-term solution mentioned is moving your eyes back and forth, which is also the basis of EMDR and has a moderating effect on the amygdala.

How does breathing play a role in managing anxiety as discussed in the transcript?

Breathing, specifically taking two quick breaths in and then a long exhale, can signal to your body that you're relaxed, which can help calm your mind.

What does the transcript suggest about using the body to calm the mind?

The transcript suggests that it's more effective to use your body to calm your mind rather than trying to use your mind to calm your body.

What is the significance of self-touch in managing anxiety as per the transcript?

Self-touch is highlighted as a helpful method to connect with oneself, especially the inner child, and can provide comfort during moments of anxiety.

How does the actor Pascal manage his anxiety as mentioned in the transcript?

Pascal is seen placing his hand over his solar plexus, a gesture that symbolizes connecting with his inner child and providing reassurance during stressful situations.

What mantra is suggested in the transcript to help deal with anxiety?

The mantra 'sensation without explanation' is suggested to help individuals focus on the present moment and their bodily sensations without overthinking.

What is the importance of tapping in managing anxiety according to the transcript?

Tapping, especially on the hands and face, is believed to bring one into the present moment due to the brain's focus on somatosensory input from these areas.

How does the concept of safety play a role in managing anxiety as discussed in the transcript?

Asking oneself 'am I safe in this moment' can help in managing anxiety by grounding oneself in the present and acknowledging immediate safety rather than worrying about future uncertainties.

What is the role of the insular cortex in processing anxiety as described in the transcript?

The insular cortex is described as a 'Way Station' that processes signals from the body and the mind, creating an emotional signature that can trigger past experiences and feelings during similar situations.

What are the therapeutic approaches mentioned in the transcript that have been helpful for anxiety?

Internal Family Systems and Somatic Experiencing are mentioned as therapeutic approaches that have been particularly helpful for managing anxiety.

What is the importance of acknowledging past experiences in dealing with anxiety as per the transcript?

Acknowledging past experiences is crucial as anxiety often stems from unresolved past issues. By connecting with these experiences, individuals can better understand and manage their anxiety.

Outlines

00:00

😌 Coping with Anxiety: Short-Term and Long-Term Strategies

This paragraph discusses various methods for managing anxiety in the moment and over time. Short-term solutions include eye movement exercises, which are also the basis of EMDR, and breathing techniques that signal to the body to relax, thereby calming the mind. Self-touch is highlighted as a powerful tool, with examples from actor Pascal's behavior on the red carpet. The concept of 'sensation without explanation' is introduced, encouraging individuals to connect with their bodies and acknowledge the sensations of anxiety without trying to rationalize or explain them away. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of using physical actions to influence mental states, rather than trying to calm the mind directly. It also touches on the idea of connecting with one's inner child to address anxiety and the role of music and vibration in providing comfort.

05:01

🔍 Exploring the Body-Mind Connection in Anxiety

Paragraph 2 delves deeper into the body-mind connection when dealing with anxiety. It discusses the role of the insular cortex in processing emotional experiences and how past traumas can manifest as physical sensations in the body. The paragraph suggests that by identifying and connecting with these sensations, individuals can better understand and manage their anxiety. It also mentions the importance of recognizing the 'younger self' within and providing reassurance to that part of oneself during anxious moments. The speaker shares personal experiences with various therapies, including EMDR, CBT, and somatic experiencing, and reflects on the limitations and benefits of each. The paragraph concludes with a discussion on the relational aspect of anxiety and the importance of feeling supported and understood, both by others and oneself.

Keywords

💡Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. In the video, anxiety is the central theme, with discussions on how to manage it both in the short-term and long-term. The script mentions various techniques such as eye movement, breathing exercises, and self-touch to alleviate anxiety.

💡EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy approach that helps people heal from the symptoms and emotional distress resulting from disturbing life experiences. The video references EMDR in the context of eye movement exercises, suggesting that moving one's eyes back and forth can have a moderating effect on the amygdala and help with anxiety.

💡Amygdala

The amygdala is an almond-shaped part of the brain involved in processing emotions, particularly those related to fear and anxiety. The script discusses how certain techniques, like eye movement, can have a moderating effect on the amygdala, thereby helping to reduce anxiety.

💡Breathing exercises

Breathing exercises are techniques that involve deep, controlled breathing to reduce stress and promote relaxation. The video mentions 'two snorts in quick starts, then a long exhale' as a specific breathing pattern to signal the body to relax, which can help in managing anxiety.

💡Self-touch

Self-touch refers to the act of physically touching oneself, which can be comforting and help reduce anxiety. The script describes self-touch as 'incredibly helpful' and mentions Pascal, an actor who touches his solar plexus to manage his anxiety, as an example of this technique.

💡Sensation without explanation

This phrase is a mantra mentioned in the video, suggesting that one should acknowledge physical sensations without immediately jumping to conclusions or explanations. It encourages individuals to sit with the discomfort and recognize the anxiety without trying to rationalize it away.

💡Tapping

Tapping, also known as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), involves tapping on certain body points while focusing on a specific problem. The video suggests that tapping can bring one into the present moment, as the brain has a lot of somatosensory real estate for the hands and face, thus helping with anxiety.

💡Present moment

The present moment refers to the current, immediate experience, as opposed to being lost in thoughts about the past or future. The video emphasizes the importance of staying in the present moment through sensation and breathwork, which can help alleviate anxiety.

💡Internal Family Systems

Internal Family Systems (IFS) is a therapeutic approach that views the mind as an ecosystem of various 'parts' that can be in conflict or harmony. The video mentions IFS as one of the therapies that helped the speaker, suggesting it as a method for dealing with anxiety by addressing and integrating different parts of oneself.

💡Somatic experiencing

Somatic experiencing is a form of body-oriented psychotherapy that focuses on the connection between the mind and body. The script refers to somatic experiencing as a therapy that helped the speaker, indicating its use in processing and releasing trauma-related anxiety.

💡Psychedelics

Psychedelics are a class of hallucinogenic drugs that can induce altered states of consciousness. The video mentions the use of psychedelics in therapy, suggesting they can provide insights but also cautioning that they are not a cure-all and should be approached with care.

Highlights

Short-term solutions for anxiety include eye movement exercises, which are also the basis of EMDR.

Breathing exercises can signal to the body to relax, which in turn can help calm the mind.

Self-touch, such as placing a hand over the solar plexus, can be a powerful method to manage anxiety.

The mantra 'sensation without explanation' can help individuals connect with their body's sensations during anxiety.

Tapping, which engages the brain's somatosensory areas, can bring one into the present moment and alleviate anxiety.

Asking oneself 'Am I safe in this moment?' can provide immediate relief from anxiety.

Anxiety often stems from past experiences and connecting with one's younger self can be therapeutic.

The insular cortex plays a role in translating bodily sensations into emotional responses.

Internal Family Systems and Somatic Experiencing are therapeutic approaches that have shown effectiveness in managing anxiety.

Psychedelics can provide intellectual insights but may not be emotionally beneficial for everyone.

Therapy's future may involve a combination of Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, and psychedelics.

It's important to recognize that anxiety can be a signal to pay attention to past or future-oriented feelings.

Connecting with one's body and understanding the somatic experience can lead to a better comprehension of anxiety.

Anxiety can create a sense of isolation, but recognizing the need for support can be crucial for overcoming it.

Reminding oneself or one's younger self that it's okay to feel anxious and that one can get through it is an important aspect of managing anxiety.

Therapeutic work often involves finding and addressing the root causes of anxiety, which may require professional help for severe cases.

Transcripts

how do we deal with in the moment

somebody's got anxiety they're just

struggling where do they start yeah I

mean the short-term Solutions and

long-term Solutions so short-term stuff

is you know huberman talks about this

and you're human like moving your eyes

back and forth I mean this is the the

basis of EMDR as well it does have a

moderating effect in effect on the

amygdala breathing you know just your

breath just that whole physiological

side thing two snorts in quick starts in

then a long exhale

starts to tell your body that you're

relaxed so if you can relax your body

your mind will just follow that but it's

it's much better it's much more

effective to use your body to calm your

mind than it is to try and use your mind

to calm your body like saying just relax

slow down you're okay like that doesn't

do it so self-touch like self-touch is

one of those things that I have found in

my practice and in my own life just

incredibly helpful and if you look at

Pascal you know the the actor Pascal you

see him like on the red carpet he's got

his hand over his solar plexus and he

talks about his anxiety like that's what

he's doing he's connecting he's

connecting essentially when I look at

that he's connecting to the little boy

in him that's basically what he's doing

he's saying this is a stressful

environment whatever we'll be okay

because your adult is fine it's the

child in you that's creating a lot of

this issue so what did children respond

to they they respond to music they

respond to vibration they respond to

touch they respond to Something in the

moment and one of my favorite mantras

that I say to myself is sensation

without explanation so when you're

feeling anxious go into your body and

it's probably going to hurt you're

probably going to find a place in your

throat or your chest or your solar

plexus or your gut that has a lot of old

pain in it but put your hand over that

and just that's the first step in kind

of connecting now again that's more of a

long-term thing but it will work in the

short term as well so breath work you

know moving your eyes back and forth

these you know tapping has some you know

and the reason I think I don't I don't

know if tapping has this magical thing

but basically if you look at the way the

brain is structured your brain has most

somatosensory real estate for your hands

and your face so if you start tapping

your your hands and your face together

your brain can't ignore that it has to

bring you into the present moment

sensation and if you look at worry it's

always about the future worry is always

about the future so the more you can

bring yourself into present moment

sensation the better you're off you're

going to be and this is the tip my

daughter loves the most out of it

because my daughter has a bit of anxiety

not nearly as much as I did but

she said Dad the the thing that that

you've said to me that's that's created

the most you know Peace In Me Is is just

saying to myself am I safe in this

moment you know so it's it's really and

it sounds cliche but middle of the day

middle of the night when you wake up in

the middle of the night in a panic

you're not rational all your all your

coping strategies that you've used

especially men are now gone right so you

know you're you're face on with whatever

is stressing you out because you're not

able to stuff it down anymore because

you've been unconscious for the last you

know three or four hours so it's

basically just sort of getting into that

but putting your hand over your chest

and just going hey I know I'm worried

about this I know I'm worried about my

relationship I know I'm worried about

that

but in this moment in this moment that

I'm in right now am I safe and this

works in the middle of the day in the

middle of the night and just because

those of us who who have these

hypersensitive nervous systems then you

may not show up with anxiety it may show

up as OCD it may show up as an eating

disorder it may show up as depression

but it's like with that hyperactive

nervous system if you can calm that

nervous system down enough to be able to

just say this rationally to yourself

sensation without explanation I can sit

with it even though it hurts because

when I sit with this pain in my chest

that is my younger self that is the

alarm I'm learning how to metabolize it

but if every time I feel this pain in my

chest I just go up into my head and

worry you never actually deal with the

problem it's just like the kids with the

phone whenever you feel negative you

just go to the phone so whenever we feel

anxious we just go into our heads which

is basically the same thing so it's

learning how to use self-touch breath

you know coming into the moment starting

to see that hey maybe this is a younger

version of me maybe I can sort of find

this so what I'll do with people and

I'll give you a very short version of

this is you know say I have a guy who

came around the corner on his bike and

he saw the real estate sign on his front

lawn and he knew that meant his parents

were getting divorced so even that to

this day when he sees that same real

estate company aside from that it's

still still charges them up a little bit

so I say to them okay where is that in

your body he says well it's kind of in

my in my chest area okay is it is it

superficial is it deep it's kind of like

well it's kind of in the middle it's not

superficial but it's not deep is it a

pressure is it a pain it's kind of like

an ache it's like a dull ache it doesn't

have a color does it have a temperature

yeah it's kind of red and it's kind of

hot like I said I'm shortening this down

quite a bit a lot of times people won't

have a color they won't have a

temperature that kind of thing but it's

just basically getting people in and

just really getting the nuances of that

alarm and really finding it you know I

have some people it's Hollow you know it

it feels like a toothache it feels like

when I hurt my toe when I was four like

this is what this pain feels like like

really drill into it because there is

this part of our brain called the insula

the insular cortex and the insular

cortex is kind of like the top down

bottom-up Way Station so what's coming

up from your body is weighed by the

insulin what comes from your mind is

also weighed by the insulin as well and

I believe that the insula when we have

those experiences like you know shape up

your little bits or whatever I believe

that feeling in your body gets

translated to the insula and the insula

creates this emotional signature in your

body and whenever you face that same

kind of thing again and your adulthood

that emotional signature gets locked

into your body as well and you feel

exactly the same way when you're seven

now and then and then the thoughts will

come that are completely consistent with

that as well so if you can find that

place in your body and that's that's

what we do is we find it it's like okay

can you put your hand on it can you can

you close your eyes can you see the

child's eyes can you see your eyes when

you're seven you know I have this thing

on my phone which is basically me when

I'm three I don't know if it'll come up

I hope that yeah that's me when I'm

three years old right so that's the the

thing on my phone so I check in with him

every day now it sounds kind of you know

like woo and all that kind of stuff but

it works like it really does

like I was in therapy for 35 years and I

did EMDR I did you know act

CBT LMNOP I did everything and nothing

really made a difference until there's

two types of therapies that really

helped me internal family systems and

somatic experiencing and I also did

psychedelics but psychedelics actually

uh put me back a little bit I don't

think I think that if they gave me the

intellectual stuff that I needed to

develop my theories and that kind of

stuff but emotionally

um it I wasn't quite right for two years

after Ayahuasca so

not a Panacea I think the the way we're

going to go with therapy in the next few

years is psychedelics internal family

systems and somatic experiencing I think

that's the way we're going to go with

therapy but it's uh but I think people

in this dopamine driven immediate

gratification Society believe that if I

just do Ayahuasca or if I just microdose

on the Slime and that my problems are

going to go away and it's just this just

doesn't work that way you really have to

do the work and find that child and

sometimes your stresses are so big

emotional physical sexual abuse then you

need some help like admit that you need

some help and go and get some help

because you won't deal with this on your

own it you will not be able to process

this on your own anyway that was a long

rant sorry about that no no it's good

it's good I've you know just on the last

piece there

um

yeah I think a lot of what you're you've

been sort of saying and driving home

with people is it anxiety while you

might be feeling it in the moment

the causality is almost always somewhere

in the past yeah and that it's trying to

get us to pay attention to uh either a

feeling that needs to emerge that is

past oriented or

um you know or is about the future right

the the feeling is like oh well what if

this happens again or you know et cetera

et cetera and and that we need to get

into touch with what we're experiencing

somatically within the body and that

when we can do that we have a higher

chance of understanding what's actually

going on and being able to move through

it and finally the the really big piece

is that it's relational

that oftentimes the people that I've

seen and worked with that have anxiety

um it becomes the disconnector it

becomes the thing that makes them feel

like they are alone and as as you've

been talking and talking about how these

sort of past-based experiences right

your younger self your child

uh have gone through these experiences

of of in the language that I would use

going through a hard time and not being

okay

that in those moments where you're

feeling anxiety what you need is a

reminder that you can go through that

hard time feeling anxious with somebody

else there or you know in conversation

with you and be okay

and and that sometimes we also need that

with ourselves right I almost hear you

talking about the younger self as like

we need to remind that younger version

of ourselves that's showing up as saying

like I don't know if I'm going to be

okay if I ask that woman out if I fail

at this conversation if you know the

deal falls through or I can't pay rent

or like whatever it is that you know we

conceptually think is causing the the

like deep anxiety so I really appreciate

that

[Music]

thank you