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Anxiety Technique

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cragger65

MyPTSD Pro
Hello all you good folks,

Since anxiety is such a huge componant of PTSD, I thought I would share a visualization technique that kind of developed naturally for me, having faced a barrel of panic on countless occasions myself.

1. When you feel like the anxiety is running away from/with you, stop and ground yourself in your body. This could be by merely focusing your attention on how the bottoms of your feet feel (or any other part of your body, but I find it helps to pick an area that is NOT primarily affected, such as your stomach). You may find differently. Or, rub the tips of your fingers together, caress the underside of your forearm, etc. Sense that for this moment anyway, you are in the eye of the hurricane. You are safe, just scared, that's all.

2. If you can't discern between the sense of your body here and now, and the thoughts that are racing through your mind, DO NOT CONTINUE. Simply continue stroking the underside of your forearm, or whatever you find is soothing and grounding, telling yourself it's OK, it will pass. This in itself can help. If you do have a pretty good sense of this distinction, imagine you are in the centre of a tornado. Things are whirling around you on the outside of the funnel, it's all the shit you have to contend with, it's all the memories, feelings, thoughts and fears that are going through your mind. Let the tornado draw all this shit and garbage away from you. You are safe in the middle of the storm, grounded, let go of the shit, the tornado is doing you a favour, trust me.

3. As you stay rooted in the sensation of your body, continuing the practice outlined in point #1, see all that garbage being drawn harmlessly away from you toward the top of the funnel. It is a powerful force of Nature, and it's on your side. Imagine that all that trash and stress is being lifted from your Heart, your shoulders, and spewed harmlessly into space, where it floats into the sun, and in being incinerated creates light and warmth to shine down upon us all, yourself, the ones you love.

4. As you feel a sense of this, imagine the tornado lifting from the ground now, the bottom point of it coming to rest on the top of your head, drawing any lingering negative energy from crevices in your body. Let it go, let it go, let it go, you'll be much, much better off. Negative energy is converted to positive for all as it is drawn from you. You don't have to understand, your part is just allowing the tornado to lift this burden from you. Just play along.

5. Take several deep breaths, focusing on your body now. How do you feel? Lighter? Focus on your own inner light. Heavy, used up? Be kind to yourself. Grab a heat pack for the back of your neck and curl up under a blanket. Put the TV or some music on in the background to occupy your focus. Charged up, still anxious a bit? Go for a brisk walk, do some yoga, use that energy to accomplish something that is going to benefit you.


hope this helps somebody,
Dave
 
Hi Cragger,

Ah, I'm grateful for your post.

It was a great nudge/reminder to me that, whether I feel like it or not (sigh), I just need to get back to yoga. The 1.5 hour class lasts long enough and is of just the right type of body/mind concentration that, about 95% of the time, I end up leaving the class "in my body". This explains why, even though I hated going (the whole 'being around people' thang), I kept going for well over a year (I stopped yoga to take up Hapkido, hoping to feel more confident in staying present if I felt I could protect myself well, which didn't really pan out for me). So....BACK TO YOGA!

Thanks again, dammit :wink:
....I needed the nudge!

-Dylan
 
Hey Dylan;
I do Yoga at home daily. I have fibromyalgia and it really helps with that, especially since I can't do much of anything else physical, the fatigue is just too extreme........but yes, I really do yoga to concentrate on my breath. I meditate too............still, I suffer with intense anxiety, but it does help a lot.

Stress is a killer......
 
Dylan,

You took Hapkido too? That is too cool. I took it for a while a few years ago, and wish to God I would have been able to keep up with it, but it was too much and too risky at the time. HUH!!!
 
I just said to a friend of mine that we should take a yoga class and she agreed. Might be the push we both need.
 
Hey, Cragger, that's quite the coincidence! I really enjoyed it, also, for as long as I could. Your wording resonated with my experience: it was too much and too risky at the time. I'm actually still paying off the frigging contract I signed (one more year @ $69/mo, damn it all). What a mistake. I can't go back to yoga class until it's paid off ($ constraints), but I know enough yoga to practice on my own.

I appreciate your posts re: yoga, too, Pandora & TLight. It validates what I experienced and gives me that much more motivation. I don't know why it's so tough to do it on my own (it's not like I don't exercise). I do so much better (consistency and length of practice) when I have a class to attend...

Thanks,
Dylan
 
Dylan, I did the same thing ;) Only paid six months in advance, but $80/month when you're closing in on homelessness... it wasn't my brightest desicion post accident! ;P
 
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