Q: I’m getting post nasal drip anxiety. It feels like a lump in the back of my throat and it gives me breathing difficulties.
It’s worst when I’m laying down – I find I’m waking in a panic gasping for air and then it’s difficult to calm down and get back to sleep
Anxiety I can deal with — I am used to the feeling of nervousness.
I am also used to the occasional heart beat speed up, the headaches, the body pains, the worrying and everything else.
I accept that that’s kind of the thing that I’ve grown up with and have had all my life.
Now, this new thing is not only super uncomfortable, but also terribly embarrassing.
I can’t even face my friends and family when my nose starts to drip. At first I thought it was colds from the flu or from our climate her, but it is only happening when I’m really worrying about something. It’s so crazy!
Does anyone experience it this way? Or is it only me? It’s so stupid!
And so terrible an affliction to have! Plus I have also read that post nasal drip causes bad breath. This makes me worry too as I am already overly self-conscious.
I hate it when people talk about me or say bad things about me.
– Charla, Georgia
Related: Grounding meditation
Eva’s response: Hey Charla, I feel your pain on this (literally) as I have always experienced sinus issues that seemed to go hand-in-hand with anxiety.
For me personally, I found that it wasn’t the anxiety causing the sinusitis – quite the other way around.
I was waking up in the night choking and feeling like I couldn’t breathe. I actually had laryngeal spasms a few times (where you cannot breathe for a few seconds and then go back to breathing normally).
All of this was causing me a tremendous amount of anxiety.
I kept thinking “Will I go to sleep and suffocate in my own snot?” Funny now I write about it, but a very real fear at the time.
Energetically-speaking, your sinuses are related to your crown chakra – located at the top of your crown, which links you to your higher self-knowledge.
Your nose is the main cavity that you use to breathe oxygen into your body. Your nasal hairs are perfectly designed to filter out any muck and pollution.
The breath is *the* shortcut to access your higher self and subconscious. If you can control your breath, you automatically align all of your chakras and can bring your body into a state of energetic balance.
Any blockage or obstruction causes disruption to your breathing. Even if it’s minimal, and even if you don’t notice it – it is very distressing at a subconscious level, which causes anxiety.
You can affirm: “I breathe new and fresh knowledge into my body, smoothly and easily.” Over time, this will help to calm your sinuses and, as a result, calm your anxiety.
If you do find that your anxiety levels are getting out of control due to post nasal drip anxiety, download and listen to my free panic attack guided meditation.
In my case, the other big thing that I did that made all the difference was… (drumroll…)
I changed my pillow. I switched from a polyester pillow to a memory foam pillow.
That’s it.
I can now sleep either on my back or my side ( I tend to change my sleeping position based on how hubby is sleeping) and no more post-nasal drip anxiety!
Hope that helps, Charla!
Love + light
Eva xo