Anxiety – that feeling of dread or foreboding accompanied by physical bodily sensations (eg sweating, rapid heart rate, nausea etc) – has been with the human race since we lived in caves.  Indeed anxiety is an evolutionary trait that helps keep us safe in a hostile world by changing our behaviour eg being careful near rivers and lakes.  Later anxiety probably developed as a tool to keep social groups together (to stray outside social norms generates anxiety).  So in it’s original state anxiety was adaptive and functional.

However in the modern world commentators speak of an epidemic of anxiety disorders, partly the result of the complexity of societies and technologies.  Unrelieved anxiety states however damage our physical health by depressing the immune system and on a psychological level make life miserable.

Some of the simplest ways to reduce our anxiety are via exercise and diet.

1. Strength training (low to moderate resistance)
2. Aerobic training (low to moderate intensity)
3. Mindfulness and Yoga moderate our interioception (the perception of bodily sensations) and reduce habitual mental reactions to changes in bodily sensations.  
4. Good quality sleep, 7 to 8 hours is essential for all over health.  Lack of sleep or poor quality sleep is highly correlated to anxiety states
5. Being in nature for 1 hour a day has been shown to reduce anxiety
6. Eat a healthy diet and maybe try a probiotic and have lots of fibre in your diet.  Good gut health is associated with reduced anxiety levels as a healthy microbiome helps produce feel good hormones like serotonin, dopamine and a chemical called butyrate