How to Manage Anxiety During Pregnancy, Naturally
Notice the Breath
Noticing the breath, which is the starting point for mindfulness, has many benefits and is extremely helpful with anxiety. Noticing the breath forces our busy selves to slow down and become aware of our body. It allows us to sit in the present moment – not the past, nor the future.
A by-product of breath awareness is that our brains receive more oxygen, which also helps with anxiety!
“To start learning breath awareness simply notice what the breath is doing in this current moment. You don’t need to change it, but just notice what it’s doing. You may find that bringing awareness to the breath changes it – and that’s ok too. Keep watching the breath – the inhales and the exhales. Notice how long, or short each breath is. Keep going. And if you find your mind wandering, or even telling yourself you’re not doing it right, without judgement go right back to your breath. Yes, just like that.”
I don’t know about you, but reading and following the breath awareness prompt above calmed me right down. Try it!
Avoid Triggers
Do you know what triggers your anxiety? Maybe it’s certain situations, foods, smells, or even people. If it makes sense, see if you can limit, or avoid these certain triggers for the remainder of pregnancy. If that doesn’t work, brainstorm effective coping mechanisms so that when you interact with a trigger, there is a game plan.
EXAMPLE: Maybe your mother-in-law is a trigger for your anxiety. However, avoiding her for the remainder of pregnancy isn’t a solution that would work. A possible solution is to explain that receiving text and phone calls throughout the day isn’t working for you and that you will call her once per week to chat. In your phone’s settings, change her texts to “do not disturb” so that notifications do not show up on the phone. Involve your partner as a sort of “gatekeeper” as well.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE: Perhaps you’ve noticed that every time you watch the news or go on social media, your anxiety increases. A possible solution is to stop watching the news and get off social media. However, since that’s not realistic for most of us, try designating one hour per day to access certain platforms, for certain information, at a certain time of day. You can always ask a friend to text you if something earth shattering happens so you’re not too much out of the loop.
Remember, your mental health is important and shouldn’t come second to peripheral issues! Be gracious, but firm. Boundaries are self-care.
Explore Nature
Make a short list of 3-5 outdoor places that spark joy. Maybe it’s a lake, beach, particular park, hill, trail, mountain, whatever. Make it a priority to get outside and enjoy these places a few times per month.
Getting outside will fuel your fire, get your blood flowing, give you a healthy dose of vitamin d, and you’ll make fun pregnancy memories. Enjoy!
Exercise
Speaking of getting the blood flowing, exercise is free, fun, accessible and a perfect remedy for anxiety during pregnancy. Of course, talk with your care provider before you jump in, but for most pregnant women there’s something you can do to exercise.
Walking, swimming, and yoga are easy, low impact forms of exercise that are perfect for pregnant women. If possible, exercise outside for a synergistic effect. You will feel gooooood, mama!
Yoga Class
If yoga sounds appealing, you will love a prenatal yoga class. Stretching the body, learning to become aware of the breath in the context of pregnancy is a recipe for peaceful success.
Singing and Dancing
Singing OR dancing are helpful for anxiety during pregnancy, but why not combine the two? Don’t worry, nobody needs to see or hear you! Just let go!
If you need something to get you started, try the Frozen II soundtrack, “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” or the “Hokey Pokey”. Not your jam? LOL How about “Single Ladies” by Beyonce?
Lost your rhythm? Put your AirP in, a sleeping mask on and listen to your favorite relaxing music or guided meditation.
Eliminate Caffeine
Eliminating caffeine has been KEY to controlling my anxiety. It’s not that caffeine causes anxiety, it just that caffeine stimulates the nervous system so that if there is anxiety, the feeling will be exaggerated. Ugh.
If you love your coffee, switch to decaf, or if at all possible just stop drinking it. I promise it will be worth it.
If you plan to ignore the advice above (LOL!) make sure to stop drinking caffeine by 2pm so that it will not impact your sleep. Trust me on this.
Eat a Well-Balanced Diet
Eating well can naturally decrease symptoms of anxiety and the key to eating a well-balanced diet is to create a meal plan.
It took me until my 30s to figure that out. Save yourself the trouble, and just pick a day and meal plan on that day once a week every week. With a plan in place you won’t be caught off guard by the lack of food at meal time. It sounds so silly, but meal planning makes such a huge difference!
Drink Hot Tea
Have you ever tried to drink hot tea quickly? It doesn’t work very well. Drinking hot tea regularly is not only nutritious, but demands life to slow down for just a bit.
There is always time for tea. And tea during pregnancy is a lovely way to meet your daily water intake.
