Yahoo Lifestyle Studies Show Drinking This Type of Tea Can Help Improve Anxiety
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There's no denying the world is full of stress right now—just turning on the news can make you want to curl up into a ball and hide under the covers for a month or two. Anxiety is a natural response to all this outside noise — or to whatever other painful or unpleasant things may be going on in your personal life. In fact, America's state of stress has been continually increasing (especially during the pandemic and after last year's contentious election cycle), making anxiety disorders now the most common mental illness in the U.S. And while it can certainly feel lonely to have anxiety, you're definitely not alone: 40 million adults in the U.S. struggle with anxiety disorders every year.
“A lot of people struggle with some sort of anxiety — it’s very normal and common,” says Rachel Goldman, Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, who takes a holistic approach to mental health. Of course, if you are experiencing anxiety that is affecting well-being or your ability to function, you should consult a professional—many people find relief through medications and professional therapy. But if you are experiencing mild bouts of anxiety and want to start with strategies you can try at home, there are plenty of natural remedies that have been shown to possibly help decrease symptoms of anxiety — from herbal supplements to lifestyle changes — and one of these might be just the thing to soothe you.
Here, we asked mental health experts to share some of their top natural remedies for anxiety.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is not always a bad thing. It's the body’s natural response to stress that developed through evolution as a way to protect ourselves in dangerous situations. But chronic or intense feelings of worry and fear can be signs you’re dealing with anxiety in a more serious way. High-functioning anxiety can manifest in a myriad of ways, including sleep problems, muscle tension, gastrointestinal issues, irritability, difficulty concentrating and even panic attacks. But there are many of to help set your mind more at ease, ranging from small daily-routine additions to altering your way of thinking.
Natural remedies for treating anxiety
Keep a consistent routine
A frazzled schedule can contribute to an anxious mind. “Creating structure to your day is going to make you feel more in control,” Goldman says. She asks her patients to look at four main aspects of their daily routines: sleep, diet, movement and stress management. Consistency in these areas, like getting eight hours of sleep a night, eating a balanced diet, taking a walk once a day and practicing mindfulness before bed can help reduce anxiety.
Just breathe
Breathing is something we do every minute of the day and hardly give a moment's thought to, but focusing on your breath and practicing deep breathing exercises can calm you down both physically and mentally. A 2023 study found that deep breathing exercises can control feelings of anxiety or panic by countering hyperventilation and lowering blood pressure. Regularly engaging in these exercises can have positive long-term effects on mental health as well. There are many deep breathing techniques to try, including the three-part breath, box breathing and Bahya Pranayama (yogic breathing).
Goldman recommends the 5-finger technique, especially for children with anxiety; put one hand out in front of you and trace it with your other hand, inhaling when you trace up the finger, and exhaling when you trace down the finger.
Nurture your gut health
Our gut and our brain are more intertwined than we might think. In fact, the gut microbiome impacts neurotransmitter function in the brain, which affects things like risk for depression, anxiety and other cognitive or mental health issues, a study from 2024 found. Translation: Good gut health supports good mental health. How to nurture this crucial connection? Eat plenty of fiber-filled foods, including fruits and veggies, nuts, beans and whole grains, as well as drinking lots of water and loading up on probiotics through yogurt, kefir or fermented foods, says BreAnna Guan N.D., a licensed naturopathic physician.
Move around
It's well-known that exercise is one of the best bulwarks against anxiety, but that doesn't mean you have to lift weights or run sprints on a treadmill on the regular to keep on top of it. Instead, focus on getting some sort of movement every day, such as taking a walk, fitting in a cardio class, or turning on some music and dancing after you've been sitting for a while. And you get a double win if you run, hike or cycle outside: Being in nature has been found to increase positive emotions, and focusing on the world around you can shift your perception and calm stress.
Sip some chamomile tea
Nothing is as soothing as steaming cup of herbal tea, and the top brew you should keep in your kitchen is chamomile, which is known for its calming effects. Study after study has found an abundance of evidence that chamomile may help improve anxiety symptoms, not only in people with diagnosed anxiety disorders, but in those with mild symptoms of anxiety as well.
Look into lavender and other herbs
There's a reason so many baby products are scented with lavender: It has a natural soothing quality. It works for grown-ups, too! Dr. Guan blends culinary lavender flowers into smoothies and suggests diffusing it to quiet your mind before bed.
Another stress-relieving herb whose popularity has been on the rise in the past few years is ashwagandha, which may help balance stress hormones and thyroid function, and can be taken as a capsule, gummy or powder mixed into a beverage. “It’s energizing and balancing without being stimulating,” Dr. Guan says. She also recommends schisandra berry an adaptogenic herb that may also help modify cortisol (our main stress hormone) response in stressful situations to help us stay calmer.
Keep a journal
Writing in a journal is a proven way to get all your anxious thoughts out if your head and onto paper, where you can close the book and put them away for the night. You may have watched satisfying videos of someone filling out a bullet journal or heard about keeping a gratitude journal. But if you’ve never kept a journal before and are wondering where to start, Goldman recommends doing what she calls a “brain dump.” It is what it sounds like — just write down everything that's going through your mind. “Don’t censor it, just write all those thoughts. Many times those thoughts keep hitting repeat until we do something about it,” she says. If you’re looking for a more guided type of journaling, Goldman recommends picking one journal prompt each day and responding to it.
Ground yourself with the 3-3-3 rule
Much of the time, anxious thoughts center around things that we can’t control, like the “would’ve, could’ve, should’ves” of the past. But if we turn our focus to the present, it helps ease that anxiety, Goldman explains. One way to focus on the here and now is to try a grounding exercise, like the 3-3-3 rule. It’s simple: All you have to do is focus on one thing you can see, one you can hear, and one you can touch right now. “Remind yourself of where you are,” Goldman says. “Focus on what’s in your control.”
Distract yourself
Sometimes a little laughter or an absorbing podcast is enough to swap out anxious thoughts and change the subject in your brain. Try a gut-busting YouTube video or a true crime podcast episode, and you may just find that it helps redirect your emotional energy enough to calm your racing thoughts.
Up your magnesium intake
Magnesium is a mineral that supports relaxation and reduces tension, but many people are lacking in it, Dr. Guan says. Not getting enough magnesium means you may feel tired, be less able to fend off illness and your cortisol levels may stay elevated after experiencing stress or anxiety since magnesium can help balance this stress hormone. If you can't get enough of the mineral through your meals (foods that are rich in it include green leafy veggies, beans and nuts and seeds), there are plenty of magnesium supplements to choose from nowadays, and you can also check out our list of the best supplements for anxiety for other beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Magnesium Glycinate 200 mg
Magnesium 400 mg
Neuro-Mag Magnesium
Snuggle under a weighted blanket
Another stress-reducing product that has been gaining popularity in the past few years is the weighted blanket. It works by exerting deep pressure on the user, which is thought to release serotonin, a chemical in the body that makes you feel happy and calm. “Weighted blankets are a form of grounding yourself, like having a hug. The pressure can calm you down,” Goldman says. (A dog or cat lying on your belly can also help!)
Meditate
It’s said that the people who don’t have time for meditation are the ones who need it the most. Whether you’re a mindfulness pro or someone who finds the idea of sitting alone with your thoughts boring or even painful, there’s a meditation practice out there for you. Check out our guide on how to meditate for anxiety for some general pointers, or try out a meditation app.
Try a cold plunge
You might have heard of cold plunges as a new wellness trend, and there’s science behind how taking the plunge may help ease anxiety through boosting feel-good chemicals like dopamine and other endorphins. But if soaking in ice isn't your style, you can still reap the chill-out benefits without fully submerging yourself — simply splashing cold water on your face or neck, or holding an ice cube could help. “It comes from this idea of shocking your body and telling it to do something else,” Goldman says. If you’re stressed or anxious on the physiological level, you might be sweating, or your heart might be racing, and putting cold water on your face can kickstart a change in these symptoms through activating your parasympathetic nervous system.
Hum along to the music
Here's one anxiety-tamer that you might already do quite often, without even realizing it: Humming along to a tune. “Humming activates the parasympathetic nervous system and can slow down your stress response, so that is a unique thing that is easy to incorporate to manage the symptoms of anxiety while you’re having them,” says Dr. Guan.
More research on humming for stress or anxiety relief is needed, but one recent small study found that the practice appeared to have a positive affect on stress; humming may also increase attention and improve sleep quality.
When to seek professional help
While these natural remedies can certainly help ease anxiety in the moment, seeing a therapist or talking to a psychiatrist about whether medication could help may be necessary if you're experiencing constant or severe anxiety. If your symptoms are impacting your quality of life so much that you aren’t able to carry out your daily tasks, or if your social and professional relationships are being impacted, or if your anxiety feels all consuming, it might be time to seek professional help.
“Natural things can be really nice to experiment with and explore at home with a low level of anxiety, but if your anxiety is prohibiting your normal activity, I’d start with [seeking professional help] and then working backwards and incorporating those natural lifestyle things,” says Dr. Guan.
Goldman also stresses the value of seeking professional help in more extreme cases and notes that there are some anxiety medications that are “take as needed” as opposed to medications that need to be taken everyday, which can be helpful for people who are worried about committing to a medication regimen.
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