What is Anxiety?
Anxiety is your body’s natural response to stress. It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension about what’s to come. But if your feelings of anxiety are extreme, last for at least 6 months, and are interfering with your life, it can be beneficial to see a specialist.
In the UK, over 8 million people are experiencing an anxiety disorder at any one time (Mental Health UK) and women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder than men. From our clinical perspective, this indicates a hormonal imbalance which is at the heart of what we do.
Anxiety Symptoms
• Nervousness and tension
• Relentless thoughts
• A sense of impending danger, panic or doom
• Increased heartrate
• Breathing rapidly
• Feeling overwhelmed or out of control
• Sweating
• Inability to concentrate or think about anything except the worry
• Trembling
How are Balanced Wellness different?
Anxiety is not just a mental health issue. Whilst it definitely has a mental/emotional aspect there are some highly overlooked pieces of research that diet, and gut health contribute hugely to this condition. By working only with the mental/emotional and trying to correct behaviours we potentially won’t rebalance the root causes of the anxiety.
Issues such as the below are major contributing factors in anxiety:
- Incorrect diet
- Gut microbiome imbalance
- Protein deficiency
- Food intolerances
- Blood sugar hormone imbalances
These, combined with emotions such as: overwhelm, feeling emotionally unequipped to deal with conflict or challenging situations, being wracked with guilt and people pleasing, mean that anxiety is commonplace.
A Balanced Wellness practitioner is trained to work with all these aspects of anxiety. Our practitioners are trained in functional nutrition to ensure that your diet supports you to be feel well and, they are also highly trained in working with emotional issues through our Holding Space training.
This work will provide you not only with insights, but practical tools and techniques to work with anxiety when it comes up.
A Balanced Wellness practitioner will review your health history including
- whether you used hormone contraceptives which can contribute to anxiety symptoms
- how much stress you deal with
- how your diet and any food intolerances are impacting your hormones
- how you process and absorb your hormones
Speaking to a practitioner who understands all of these different aspects, and getting a whole health approach means you are more likely to get to the bottom of your anxiety.
How do we work with anxiety?
We use a whole health approach called the The BEES.
- Biochemical – Diet, food intolerances, targeted supplementation, education around contraceptives and hormone replacements
- Emotional – Emotional coaching and other techniques to clear blocks and stress that can be contributing to anxiety symptoms
- Electrical – Techniques and bodywork to ensure the body is working effectively
- Structural – Correcting posture and important structures such as the temporomandibular joint (jaw) for stress or the leg muscles for adrenal support
Other therapies often focus on one area and therefore can miss important aspects of health. Our work focusses on a dysfunctional hormonal interplay that is the underlying cause of inflammation and most chronic conditions affecting people today. This hormonal interplay is detailed in our clinic model called The Triangle of Hormonal Health.
This approach is effective because it works on all the aspects of the hormones that are causing symptoms.
We ensure that the foundations of health are in place. We will work on improving your diet, eliminating food intolerances, reducing stress, improving gut function and supporting your body with adaptogenic herbs, vitamins and minerals.
HPA Axis Dysregulation
The HPA Axis is a really important feedback loop that happens when the body produces a consistently high level of cortisol which is one of the main hormone responses in anxiety.
The HPA Axis is essentially a conversation between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland and the adrenals.
When the hypothalamus picks up that there’s danger, it tells the anterior pituitary to tell the adrenal glands to produce cortisol.
Once the adrenal glands have produced cortisol they send a message called a negative feedback loop back to the hypothalamus and the pituitary to tell them that cortisol has been produced so they can stop sending the message to produce more.
However, because we are living in a time where everything is a stressor and we are constantly living on adrenaline and cortisol, this feedback loop gets switched off and the body becomes flooded with cortisol which contributes to anxiety.
Cortisol down regulates the functions in the body that aren’t needed during times of stress, it slows down digestion, growth (or wound healing), libido and immunity, because if we are in a physical crisis these things are less important than getting to safety so it is often that anxiety is partnered with other symptoms such as IBS, period issues, low libido and low / stressed immune systems.
To learn more, check out the video below.
How many sessions will I need?
The number of Kinesiology sessions varies on the person, their problems and how well they follow any changes recommended to their diet and lifestyle. Generally, people feel a significant improvement within their first one to three appointments. Once optimum health has been attained, regular appointments keep the body balanced and prevent further ill health.
Where is your clinic?
We are based in Havant, Hampshire, UK but we also offer remote consultations for those who do not live locally.
How long is an appointment?
The first Kinesiology appointment will take approximately 60-90 minutes, subsequent sessions are 50-60 minutes. Prior to the first session, all new clients will be required to fill in a comprehensive medical history questionnaire and consent form.
What happens in an appointment?
Firstly, choose and book an appointment with one of us. You can chose to come to our clinic in Havant, Hampshire, UK or we can arrange a remote appointment on zoom.
Once you have booked and paid for your session you will be sent a weblink with important information for you to watch and read ahead of your appointment.
The web page will also include forms to complete and diet information so you can get started before you see your practitioner.
In the session the practitioner will go over your health history and discuss dietary tweaks including potential food intolerances and they will build a bespoke treatment plan according to your symptoms.
To test for imbalances and the correct supplementation, we use muscle testing as pioneered by Dr George Goodheart, for immediate feedback from the body. We then correct any imbalances using a variety of tools and techniques, including the recommendation of targeted nutritional supplementation or bioidentical hormones and give you a clear homework plan to support your progress.
Interested in becoming an anxiety coach?
We partner with the College of Functional Wellness to offer diplomas in emotional coaching. Our Holding Space training is 12 months and is accredited by the Federation of Holistic Therapists. Click here to discover more.
Will I need any lab tests?
Functional Kinesiology offers an alterative to lab testing but at a more affordable price with immediate results.
However, we can also order lab tests if necessary and we work with Genova Diagnostics, Healthpath and Nordic Labs who provide DUTCH testing.
Where issues are out of our remit and you require specific medical prescriptions, we work with a team of functional doctors and will refer you to the appropriate practitioner. An example would be if you require medication for SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) we will recommend you work with a Gastroenterologist or if you required specific HRT then we would recommend the right Endocrinologist.
Anxiety Talk
- £7one off
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- 60 minute talk on all the root causes of anxiety
- Chemical imbalances
- Food intolerances
- Hormone imbalances
- Emotional triggers
- Electrical influences
One to One Appointment from
- £80per appointment
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- 1 x 90 minute appointment in our Havant or Waterlooville clinic
- Prices range from £80-£150 depending on practitioner experience
- Kinesiology
- Food intolerance testing
- Nutrition, diet and lifestyle advice
- Structural balance
- Emotional coaching
12 Month Online Programme
- £97one off
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- Up to 12 months tailored support focused on your target areas
- Nutrition and diet advice
- General food intolerance recommendations
- Lifestyle changes
- Hormone balancing exercise classes
- Supported with questionnaires to tailor the advice to you
- Online community of practitioners to answer your questions