Hypermobile and experiencing Anxiety? Try these!
If you are hypermobile and suffer from anxiety than you are not alone!
People who have Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder (HSD) or Ehlers Danlos (EDS) are 4x more likely to have anxiety than people who are not hypermobile. This have been attributed to differences in brain structure and the higher level of interoception (increased ability to sense what is happening inside the body).
One of my favourite sayings about anxiety is that anxiety is when you are worrying about the future while depression is when you are worrying about the past. So the answer to either one is trying to find more presence in this moment now.
Here are some strategies that have worked for me:
REGULATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM
People with HSD and EDS are more likely to suffer from Dysautonomia. Sometimes what we perceive as anxiety is actually flares in Dysautonomia. Therefore working on strategies that balance your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system can help to feel less anxiety including:
Calf raises or moving the feet and ankles
Hydrate with electrolytes
Avoid static standing. Choose swaying, sitting, walking or marching
Eat a snack with protein and/or healthy fat every 2-3 hours.
BREATHING
The way that you breathe can help you to stimulate more of your sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous system. Our sympathetic system is our fight or flight system. We are often living in this system too much with high levels of pain or injury. Our parasympathetic system is our rest and digest system. We can use our breath to help bring us from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic system. To do so you want to exhale for twice as long as you inhale. Perform this for 1 minute at least.
GRATITUDE
I have heard from a few different sources recently that while we have all heard about the benefits of a regular gratitude practice or gratitude journal, these can actually lead to it becoming habitual and then they don’t have the same effect. So rather than adding another habit I’m supposed to do every day, I have been focusing on gratitude when I am anxious or depressed. This forces me to think:
“How could the thing that I am worrying about be good or working for me?”
TIME
One of my biggest takeaways from focusing on my mental health over the past year is that we are always in cycles. Just like when it is raining, we know the sun will come out after. The same goes for mental health. A period of anxiety or depression is often followed by a period of ease or joy. If I give myself time and grace, I know I will feel better it just might not be right now.
JOY
Actively choose things that bring you joy. Do things that bring you a sense of flow, presence, and joy. Sometimes we get so caught up in doing habits that prevent bad things from happening that we don’t allow time or space for good things. We don’t allow time for play, or hobbies that we enjoy.
If you are struggling with anxiety or depression, please reach out to your healthcare team. Make an appointment with a doctor and get in touch with a mental health professional.