How to calm down anxiety: On the other side of fear

One of the greatest truths of our time is, that if someone has done something, you can do it too. If there are people, who can transform their lives from the state of fear into joy and bliss, without using drugs, you can too. There are numerous paths how to calm down anxiety, and among them, two approaches, that bring the best in you, differently. Think about this: You are an amazing creature, with boundless potential. The Japanese say that there are two paths: Satori and Kensho. Both take you to growth, but… there is something different between them. And that difference is something that changes everything…

Fear is a massive help

Fear is a massive emotion. I know it from my life too. It is like a fog, that blurs the contours of events, potential and yourself. What’s more, fear, if it is not taken care of, may grow into more fears in other areas of your life and paralize you. We all have this emotion at some points of our lives. The point is, where does a person like to stay, in the space of fear and misery (that can only grow) or in a brighter and brighter area that can lead to total personal realization. Overcoming fears, one by one is a massive personal achievement and success, that gives a person energy to do more.

The little known secret power of nature

Nature helps us here, as always. It has created tiny plants, we call herbs, that do many miraculous things. They not only smell good, but help us calm down, have clear thoughts, sleep better. How to calm down anxiety the natural way? Herbs are very helpful here. This article talks about your internal power and how great nature is in helping us come back to inner harmony. You will read about four people whose lives teach important lessons. I hope they will inspire you too to see your own greateness, because you have it in you, even if you have forgotten about it. It is there, like a secret garden, waiting to be discovered.

You might be surprised by discovering their lives. They have similar goals: self-advancement, self-realization, peace of mind, passion, achievement. All are globally well-known, yet they achieve their goals very differently. Moreover, their paths create different emotions along the way, and as a consequence… a different outcome.

Life and death

Between birth and death of a person is an infinite space of possibilities and potential, we call life. When you are born the one thing you are certain of is that you will die some day in the future. But until that moment, with all the potential of feelings, talents and chances you have, you can do and create whatever you want. You can change and transform as long as you are alive. This thought puts things in a nice perspective. Suddenly, many things that we previously perceived as stressful, overwhelming, become less, problems are decreasing. Moreover, this point of view shows how relationships, good feelings grow in importance.

The point of view depends on the point of sitting.

It is totally true. When a problem becomes overwhelming to you, you worry and feel fear. However, if for example somebody told you that you had only a week left to live, wouldn’t it remove most of the problems from your focus? Perhaps that “problem” would no longer be important. This is something good to think about and question your thoughts, and choices.

Many of us are stopped in our lives by fears. Do you know the difference between you and some of the greatest achievers out there? It is fear, lack of self-belief. What is on the other side of fear? Total exploration of who you truly are and what the expressions of your true self may be in whatever you do. People say that in life we either feel fear or love. I agree with that and I add:

On the other side of fear is discovery, exploration. It makes me smile when I hear people say that everything on planet Earth has been discovered. Further, just take a person who has overcome his or her fears, and goes into the unknown to the land of new. New feelings, relationships, emotional reactions, expressions of the self, finding one’s own true talents, passions. Furthermore, this is the ultimate exploration! And it is endless.

Total exploration, like a child

Just think about this: if you love yourself, and your self-esteem grows… how wonderful all the expressions of who you are will be when you build your dreams? Your dreams are you. By building them, you create the love that you feel for yourself. Love in a material form. This is beauty, this is life. Love expressed. Finally, the greatest form of what you feel and are. And… the most beautiful manifestation of your dreams. Love is the path.

I read different life stories of people many of us know. Elon Musk, David Goggins, Brain Tracy, Jose Silva, Joe Dispenza, Dagny Taggard, John Galt and others. The first three came to adulthood from a childhood of hardships. Elon is a famous entrepreneur, a visionary. David Goggins is an ultramarathon runner, a retired US Navy Seal, a public speaker, a philosopher of life. Brain Tracy came from a very humble begining, and built his way up  by work, observation, desires, knowledge of his real true inner strengths and abilities. He is a motivational speaker who speaks clearly, writer of many books in the field of personal growth. And most of all, so so humble and close to people.

Satori

On the other side, is Satori… A path through revelation, joy and meditation. Insights that make you feel amazed, and in a state of bliss. This is what happens when you start meditating, working with your breath, going to the Alfa states of the mind (on that later in the article). There, you enter your subconscious mind, and make changes there, if you feel like doing it. Sometimes, just being in the deeply relaxed state, changes you into a more relaxed and calm person, close to who you are. Jose Silva and Joe Dispenza, both experienced events that are close to being called : miracles, but were the results of working with their minds.

The people mentioned above, reacted to life circumstances and treated them as tools that are to help, not destroy. Next, their experiences are like great lessons worth sharing. Let’s see and find inspiration in other person’s greateness. We are inviting them to our space in EcoHealthLab.

Now, you will read two brief biographies. I only talk about a certain points in their lives, to highlight the importance of emotions and reactions to what we feel. Goggins certainly knows how to calm down anxiety, and it is very inspirational.

Elon Musk: fear and focus

Elon Musk was born in South Africa in 1971. A visionary, who talks about saving mankind, and built legendary companies like Tesla, SpaceX, PayPal. His childhood was filled with joy and pain, especially in his relationship with his father. The author of Musk’s biography, Ashlee Vance says, that it must have been some difficult psychological oppression that he experienced back then. During his teenage years he fell victim to a gang at the school he attended, being beaten and kicked until he was unconscious. Later in his life he had to undergo surgery to repair health problems that were the consequence of the beating.

Musk kept going forward, meeting people, learning and focusing on what he felt was important: the future.

People judge others, it is the reality

Did the troubles from the past stop him from developing his dreams? No. He moved from South Africa first to Canada, and later to the USA, Silicon Valley. The United States was the best place for him to learn and grow. Next, did the traumas influence his personal life? Who knows, yet he enjoys the relationships with people. What’s more, what he does is inspiring. Moreover, that which was a problem in the eyes of people in his early years (his individuality and bold thoughts), became his strongest point later in life.

How to calm down anxiety: the mission

A mission to be accomplished and a reason to build ideas that are changing the world. An idea of a beautiful future. Other people see them as strange, impossible, but he goes out to bring them to reality. Finally, he wants to save the world, and does it in a practical way. By doing. Every day. One step closer and closer.

Elon is not some guy who is lucky in life and everything great runs toward him. He had much misfortune and hardships. Yet, he works 100 hours a week, runs several companies, previously learned and worked like crazy too. Additionally, there is a conversation between Elon and a man interviewing him, that is worth sharing:

KENSHO: growth through pain

Goggins: fear and accountability

David Goggins. I first heard about him in 2020, when I listened to an interview Vishen Lakhiani, the creator and owner of MindValley did with him. There was raw truth in that interview. It spoke to me, to my heart as something he did not find in a book, but discovered by himself through experience. Moreover, that man had an ability to put his thoughts into simple words all of us could understand. I liked that. A man with horrific childhood who should have been a statistic, yet became a free, highly accomplished man, who is an inspiration to millions of people around the world.

How to calm down anxiety permanently

Goggins turned his life upside down, from being a scared kid and boy, into an accomplished ultramarathon runner, ultra-distance cyclist, retired US Navy Seal, a writer and a public speaker. But most of all, a man who created himself “Goggins built not born”. Through accountability to himself, determination, passion for finding out about what he really was capable of.

Later in life it changed into wanting to be an inspiration for others, who might be facing similar challenges to what he went through. A man who could barely write and read as a teenager, used that as a fuel for growth. Further, truth with himself, saying out loud to himself where he was (“I am fat”, “I cannot read” etc). And, this was the beginning.

So what happened? and What did he do with that? (life experiences being a tool for growth and exploration…)

Again, Goggins was born into a family of a very abusive father,  who beat him and his mother regularly. From an early age the beatings were so severe, that the kid could not go to school, because of the marks on the body. Moreover, the physical oppression was only a part of the drama that took place in his life. There was psychological, mental pressure as well, with his father aiming a gun at his face, or treating him as if he was worthless. However, despite all that horror, he would try to protect his mother whenever he could. He was still a young kid at that time, 6, 7, 8 years old.

From one difficulty to the next one

When they finally escaped from home, they went to a place where racism was the norm. Further, he was a black kid in a white surrounding, with Ku Klux Klan meeting fifteen minutes away from his home… Furthermore, Goggins was afraid, scared and humiliated by people, who called him “Niger”, “Niger we’re gonna kill you”. The change came, when for the first time he decided to run across the street where he was threatened with a gun previously. He did that, felt immense fear, yet he accomplished that in the face of fear.

I believe you can imagine all the situations that were taking place in his early life, there is no need to describe them here. He explained them clearly in his book “Can’t hurt me” and in countless podcasts he took part in.

How to calm your mind and finally break through

As a young man in his teenage years he was a depressed overweight man, who did not believe in himself. Weighing nearly 300 pounds, he felt there was no future for him. He was a boy slow in learning, killing cockroaches for living, who suffered from toxic stress from an early age, often the only one different everywhere he went. But… he had one dream left, to join the Air Force.

From that moment things started changing, slowly. Running, taking care of his diet, learning day by day, hour by hour. If one person needed one hour to learn something, he needed six. So he spent six hours on it. Today this man is one of the most accomplished ultramarathon runners currently alive, “the only in history to compelete elite training as a NAVY SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller” (from the book cover). But most of all, he remained humble and focused on internal growth, not giving up when success arrives.

His words:

“Let me teach you the real life, how it really is. The reason why you’re a loser and the reason why you’re not f…ing making it, and the reason why you’re trying to go through all these … I go to, all these conventions. Speak all the f…ing time, and I look in the f…ing audience and these people sign up and every year go to convention, thinking, they’re going to learn something different. No, you are lazy. You know exactly what to do, cuz even me in my state of “I can’t read and write”, I knew exactly what to do.

It just sucks doing it. It sucks to wake up every morning of your life and say: “God, I am not smart”, so guess what I got to do? I got to study the same shit that I got one of the highest scores in the nation on and do it again. It is not just there, it is not just there permanently for me.”

“It is not in that comfort zone, it is in the discomfort zone”

How to calm down anxiety: Raise your self-esteem

Keep on no matter what. The weather, emotions, etc. I love his accountability mirror technique: in which he speaks out loud the truth about specific areas of his life, and writes on small cards what he needs to do every day. And, it is simple, yet, you keep yourself to a high standard. Equally important: you are accountable to yourself, not to some teacher or a leader, but to yourself. You take care of yourself, lovingly, with attention… and accountability. That accountability will raise your self-esteem.

SATORI: growth through insights

Jose Silva, an exploration in the land of deep relaxation

In was in the first half of the XX century.

Jose was born in Texas. His father died when Jose was only four. So he took charge of the family safety and finances, by going to work when he was still a boy. Moreover, he had two younger siblings to take care of. As a teenager, after completing a correspondence course on how to repair radios he started a different job, this time on his own: repairing radios. His business grew and influenced his next passion: hypnosis and the power of the mind. Indeed, it was a pioneer work and he practised with his children. The results were unbelievable, as their I.Q. improved, and the results at shcool.

Growth through relaxation

Moreover, he was asking himself a question: “Can learning ability, the I.Q. be improved through some kind of mental training?”. The results his and the neighbours children got at school after training with Jose delivered an answer: it was a sound “YES”. Jose did not stop there. By observing the mind he noticed, that the calmer it is, the better the results and solutions a person finds. The more receptive the mind was. Discoveries followed: The Alpha state of the mind (it is a mental state that we experience when falling asleep) appeared to be a perfect state to learn and change.

Jose’s work that he shared with millions of people helped them change what was previously seen as impossible. Cure illnesses, grow companies, build relationships, cure fear, know how to overcome anxiety and similar emotions, and more. And it happened through a nice meditation that a person goes into to reprogram the mind, and be relaxed.

The origin of stress

To have difficulties in life, a person does not need to have a past like his, or Elon’s. It is often in those early years that the problems start. However, sometimes minor evens can create toxic stress that slowly destroys the nervous system as well. Many people went through that during the “pandemics”. Finally, when you don’t tame stress, it will tame you.

The inner success

When I learned the story of both men, I felt impressed by their courage in meeting fear and what they were able to discover in themselves. Moreover, their lives began the moment they took the first step despite fear and from that moment on it was an exploration. Achievements followed. However, the outer successes are just the tip of the iceberg, while the greatest accomplishments come from within, meeting your own inability and fear and moving despite them, with determination.

Calming down the natural way

Some of us may need psychotherapy to cope with fears. It is a good thing, yet not many of us have access to it or can pay for the sessions. If it is your reality, help comes from nature as well, in a form of calming herbs, that can be found nearly all around the world. Indeed, when fear arrives, the ability to calm down helps you see the stressful situation more clearly and respond better.

Herbal peace

The Cambridge Dictionary explains phytotherapy as a path to treat medical conditions of the body and mind using plants. People and animals have used them for thousands of years. For example, in ancient Egypt, the priests cultivated the herbs close to their temples. What’s more, in Ebers Papyrus, (it is an ancient Egyptian paprus), dated to 1550 BC, you will find 900 medical prescriptions, most of which were herbal mixtures. These recipes were based on centuries of experience and knowledge shared by people who tested the herbs an their impact on human health.

Nature knows how to calm down anxiety

When we experience sad and frightening emotions, herbs show surprisingly good calming results. Using medicinal herbs with a relaxing effect is one of the best sleep tips (Find more how to sleep well in our article: Sleep Tips: how to sleep well”). Let’s see a few of those helpful herbs, tested and proven to relax a person and help with falling asleep peacefully.

Finally, what if you started loving those fearful emotions…

Emotions… I am not to say, that we should get rid of fear, fight it or truly hate being afraid. In my life in the past, fears could stop me from taking action. And then, slowly, I started being curious and sometimes even fascinated by what I felt. I realized, that when I experienced fear, the feeling showed me something within me, or simply, instead of trying to figure out what it meant… I started loving the feelings. No matter whether they are frightening emotions, or the joyful ones. They were a part of me, at that moment in my life, and it helped me love myself more.

I discovered another part of me and It was a breakthrough moment.

Using herbs requires knowledge

Medicinal herbs help us. Polish priest, father Andrzej Czesław Klimuszko spent his life on discovering the powers of nature, trees, plants and creating medicinal herbal mixtures, to heal people and animals. Klimuszko said that we should create mixtures of 5, 7, 9, 11 different plants, instead of just one. According to him, drinking teas of just one plant might even be toxic to us. Among the herbs there are those, that are especially beneficial in helping a person calm down, in a natural way, that does not harm the body. Valerian, lemon balm, St. John’s wort, common hop, lavender.

Medicinal plants

Herbs and the herbal mixtures, known for centuries, have not changed much throughout the time. The calmer you are, the better the solutions to life’s challenges you come up with. What’s more, which is also amazing, the calmer and more stable you are, the stronger your intuition is. Finally, we always make decisions. But they differ depending on where we are emotionally at a particular moment.

Herbal mixtures help you fall asleep. Herbal baths calm you down. They were effective centuries ago and still are. That is also why we created our herbal mattresses and herbal pillows. Among the organic mattresses, you will find the Organic buckwheat mattress with lemon balm, to help you heal stress and anxiety at night, even more. To read more follow the link: Herbal mattress

Respect what you feel

We are used to drugs, meanwhile, herbs and teas prepared from them help us relax in a natural way. Even if it is difficult to buy them in a store in the area where we live, we can plant them in a pot in our home and keep them on the balcony or window sill. What’s more, they have a stronger effect than those bought in the store.

Avoid these simple mistakes

You may wonder… can we buy them and are they good when bought in a store? Mostly not. You can buy many of them, at least in Europe. But, there are things to know:

• avoid herbs stored in plastic bags, as plastic absorbs volatile oils, which are essential to reaching the calming effect
• if possible, plant herbs in your garden or on your balcony, because herbs bought in a store may very likely have a weaker effect on your health or be completely useless
• focus on herbal mixtures instead of using just one plant alone (according to father Czesław Klimuszko)

Lemon balm

Similar to valerian, when you buy lemon balm in a store, it has a weak calming effect. It is best to grow it at home in a pot, or in your garden. It grows fast, helps to repel mosquitoes. Lemon balm is a perennial with a horizontal rhizome, has many branches. The plant grows to a height of 1 meter. It often grows wild, in Europe, Asia, North America, in moist and fertile soils, rich in calcium, in sunny places.

Parts of the plant to use

Lieves. In June before the flowering period and in August, we collect the upper parts of the stems with leaves. Choose a sunny and dry day for collection. Spread the leaves in an airy and dark place. Dry quickly, otherwise they can turn brown. Store tightly packed, but avoid plastic packaging, because plastic absorbs essential oils. The use of lemon balm does not cause side effects.

Calming and healing effect

• Herbal teas made of lemon balm will help you calm down.
• They also support the healing of insomnia and neurosis.
• It will also be helpful if you suffer from headaches and chronic fatigue syndrome because it has a toning effect on the nervous system.
• It supports digestion, secretion of gastric juices.
• You can use the herb for menstrual pain because of its antispasmodic effect.
• It helps treat viruses such as cold sores.

Herbal recipes

Teas: Father Klimuszko gives a recipe to help heal insomnia and neurosis, fears: take 50 grrams of dry:

• lemon balm,
• woodruff herb,
• melilot herb,
• motherwort herb,
• valerian root,
• hop cone,
• St. John’s wort,
• common mugwort herb,
• heather flower,
• primrose flower,
• elderberry flower.

Mix all ingredients, and for a separate brew, take a heaped tablespoon of the herbal mixture, pour a glass of boiling water (250 milliliters, which is 1/4 liter). Cover for 3 hours. After this time, strain, warm slightly and drink 3 times a day, 20 minutes before a meal, a glass each.

Lemon balm syrup
Anti-inflammatory and antiviral syrup that can be given to children. Take 3 large handfuls of fresh lemon balm leaves, put them in a pot. Cover them with 2 cups of brown sugar and then crush them with a wooden pestle. Pour 1 liter of water over this mixture, bring to a boil and cook for 15 minutes. After this time, add the juice of 1 lemon. Strain through cheesecloth and pour into small jars. You can drink the syrup with tea or water.

Lavender

St John’s wort

What an incredible herb it is. It has a strong antidepressant effect. It also helps with intestinal problems (it is very likely that it will lead you to improved well-being, good sleep, clear mind, peace of mind). For centuries the herb was seen as a miraculous herb that wards off evil forces. This herb was used to surround churches, homes and chapels, and was also used in amulets. It was collected on June 24th, St. John’s Day. The famous 19th century priest Sebastian Kneipp valued St. John’s wort highly and said that it had a strong healing effect on the liver. According to him, it also cures headaches, stomach upsets, chest and lung phlegm.

It grows in Europe, Asia and North Africa.

Parts of the plant to use

You can pick it up in the first part of April, around 25 centimeters from the ground and use the uppoer parts of the plant. Dry it in the dark, windy and warm place, never directly in the sun. Spread the leaves on linen or white paper. After drying store them paper bags.

Calming and healing effect

St. John’s wort has a diuretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and choleretic effect.

• It helps treat circulatory disorders,
• the digestive tract,
• circulatory disorders,
• and respiratory tract infections.
• It helps treat neurosis, insomnia, and mild depression (due to the presence of hypericin, which inhibits the breakdown of serotonin, the hormone of happiness).
• Externally, St. John’s wort preparations help with difficult-to-heal wounds, ulcers, burns, frostbite, and ulcers.
• When you suffer from inflammation and pain in the upper respiratory tract, drink St. John’s wort infusion and gargle your throat and mouth with it.

Herbal recipes

Teas: take one spoon of the dry herb and pour one glass of hot (but not boiling) water into it. Cover and brew for 1 hour. Strain and drink 3 times a day after meals (antismasmodic effect), and when you drink it one hour before meals it stimulates digestive juices and bile.

Calming baths for neurosis and insomnia

Take a large pot, pour in St. John’s wort (leaves from the stems 25 cm above the ground), pour in cold water and leave overnight. when planning a bath, heat the pot, bring to a boil and then pour into a bathtub filled one third with water. Bathe for 20 minutes.

Common hop

A great solution for those who have troubles falling asleep. It is an alternative substance you can use intead of the drugs from the drugs store. You will most likely see the results right after the first use of the common hop tea. Also, the herb is good if you found it yourself and bought in a store. The plant is a vine growing to 6 meters in height. It grows in Europe, Siberia and North America. It is planted on plantations, but also grows wild, in forests, damp thickets, parks and gardens. Hop cones should be picked up in August, when they change their colour into yello-green colour. Pick them up in a dry and sunny day. Dry them right after harvesting. Place them on white paper, separately and store in tightly closed container when dry.

Part of the plant to use

Hop cones

Calming and healing effect

It has a strong calming effect; according to Łukasz Święcicki, this effect can be enhanced by adding greater celandine, which will make the anti-anxiety effect even stronger. Hop cones have a calming effect and reduce sexual drive. Herbal teas made from hops calm, treat insomnia, and help with menopausal symptoms. Hop extracts have antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal effects. Bitter substances in this plant facilitate the absorption and assimilation of food.

Herbal recipes

Teas: Take one spoon of the dry herb i pour one glass (250 ml) of hot water into it. Cover and brew for 15 minutes. Strain and drink 3 times a day about half an hour before meals.

Valerian

One of the herbs with the greatest calming effect. If possible, try to harvest it yourself. Valerian herbs bought in a store are not as strong. You can pick it up easily, it grows close to rivers, lakes, on wet meadows and has a very intense smell. It can be harvested from May to the end of June, and dried in shadow, in temperatures not exceeding 35 degrees celsius (95 degrees Fakrenheit). It grows up to 150 cm, wildly in Europe and Asia. It’s calming effect was already known in ancient Greece. It was mentioned in IX century “The Lorsch pharmakopoeia”, which included 482 pharmaceutical prescriptions. There monks suggested to use valerian to heal insomnia and pesimistic emotions, malaise.

Parts of the herb to use

Roots and rhizomes

Calming and healing effects

Valerian preparations have a calming and antispasmodic effect. They treat hypertension, insomnia, stomach and intestinal pain caused by nervous conditions and anxiety, heart problems. When we use it for rinsing, it helps in the treatment of dandruff, seborrhea. When we wash the eyes with a decoction, we help in the treatment of conjunctivitis. (do not use the herb for a long time, as it may have a negative impact on digestion).

Herbal recipes

Teas: (very calming) Take one tablespoon of crushed valerian roots and pour one and a half cups of boiling water. Cover and infuse covered for 10 minutes. Strain the infusion and drink 1/4 cup 3 times a day after meals.

Calming tincture (from a monastery, one of the recipes of the monks). Used to heal insomnia, fears, stress and high blood pressure.

Take one tablespoon of valerian root, lemon balm leaves, St. John’s wort, linden blossom, black horehound leaves, yarrow herb, and motherwort herb. Mix them and pour into a glass container. In another glass container, mix a liter of dry red wine with 70% spirits. Mix the alcohol and pour it over the herbal mixture. Then close the glass container tightly and do not open for 10 days. Let it stand in a warm place. After 10 days, strain the liquid through tissue paper or gauze. Add 200 milliliters of liquid dark honey to it. Set this mixture aside again for another 10 days. After this time, it is ready to use. Drink 3 times a day, one tablespoon of the tincture mixed with water.

Herbal pillows and herbal mattresses

In our company we prepared our own unique herbal pillows and mattresses, to help you calm down. They smell beautifully, and have a relaxing effect. If you are asking yourself how to calm down anxiety, organic pillows filled with organic husks with a mixture of calming herbs, will be of help to you. Moreover, find an organic mattress with lemon balm useful as well. Nature helps us if we let it.

Find theme here

Herbal pillows

Herbal mattresses

Reference

Herbal medicine in Polish and in English

Vishen Lakhiani and David Goggins interview

The Lorsch pharmakopoeia

David Goggins

“Zielnik klasztorny” Anna Paczuska

“Wróćmy do ziół leczniczych” Father Andrzej Czesław Klimuszko