I've heard that your anxiety levels can ebb and flow during your menstrual cycle. The Internet is flooded with forums with women questioning how much the menstrual cycle influences anxiety levels. Turns out that the hormones involved with menstruation probably do, indirectly, affect your anxiety levels.

Last week when I found out I was pregnant, I stopped taking my daily 100 mg of Sertraline (the generic brand of Zoloft) cold turkey. Since then I have been worrying what kind of side effects I may experience. It's hard for me to know if what I am feeling are side effects or simply normal yuckiness of the first trimester.

As a follow up to the importance of implementing relaxation techniques into our lives, I want to share with you why yoga is my favorite relaxation technique and a great anxiety tool. It always amazes me just how refreshed and rejuvenated I feel after completing a yoga session. Even 20-30 minutes can greatly improve my mood. I feel like I have washed my slate clean, opened up the windows and let some fresh air in, and I get a burst of energy. Meditation is so important to reduce the stress in our lives.

Chronic anxiety sufferers can greatly benefit from learning relaxation techniques. Relaxation is a practical coping strategy used to help manage stress in our lives. While taking a hot bath or watching TV can be relaxing, in order to have a noticeable effect on our anxiety we need a regular daily practice of some form of relaxation or meditation. This is important because we need to balance out all of the heightened intense feelings (heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, muscle tension, etc.) our bodies experience when in the fight or flight mode.

I am not a morning person. If you are reading this, chances are, you aren't one either. Sometimes, I have been woken up in the early hours to instant panic. There isn't a reason for the fear but as soon as my eyelids open I am absolutely terrified. Its a horrible feeling. When my day begins this way one of two things are bound to happen. Either I accept the anxiety and try to ignore it, or I feel sorry for myself, pout, and sometimes cry, and it consumes and ruins my entire day.

I’ll never forget staring myself down in the mirror of the restaurant thinking to myself “This is not normal. There is something very wrong with me.” I had just escaped my 24th birthday lunch celebration with all my coworkers, to the bathroom where I crouched, legs shaking, my neck burning, and vomiting in the stall.