New Program Day 10: Somatic Tracking II: Anxiety Strikes Back

I like Alan's reminder that we're not trying to accomplish anything, other than watching the sensations and reminding the brain that there's nothing to fear. During the night, however, while lying in bed and the pain sensations become overwhelming, I'm curious what others do to get through? I'll often take a sleeping pill, but that's not really dealing with it.

 

Hi, Christopher, yeah, that's a really important time! That's when our demons are loose! Stress is a habit, after all. And stress=pain.

I read a book called The Five Resets by Aditi Nerurkar, an MD who specializes in stress response because so many of her patients are trapped in it (from NPR interview). There's a lot of good stuff in there; the most useful piece that I found was on breathing. She encourages diaphragmatic breathing and offers a quick, in-the-moment breathing pattern that intentionally activates the parasympathetic nervous system. She calls it 4-7-8 breathing. Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 7, out for 8. She recommends doing it 4 or 5 times. I use it any time I find myself ramping up on stress.

We've had a whole lifetime to ramp up our stress response. For some of us it may take a while to unravel. Don't give up!

 

Thank you Susan. I'm very familiar with the 4-7-8 and have had some success with it. I'll look at that book you mentioned. Thank you.

An audio book that I've found the most helpful is Jon Kabat-Zinn's Mindfulness Meditation for Pain Relief.

 

this is a really awesome way to explain the anxiety in our bodies.
and about the first tale of fear i just want to say that it's easy to create a false safe zone by avoidaing our fears and along the way we believe that's good for us and that's the right way to live our life. but it's just a lie that we didn't know how we even start it.

 

Do you have anything on feeling tired even after sleeping 8 or more hours? I’ve had tests done, apnea etc, and there is nothing wrong with me.

 

yes i was struggling with that in my teenage years even if i slept more than 8 hours at night plus long nap at the day i never had a fresh morning. i never had any kind of insomnia but when i began my college it turned to insomnia so i think sleep problems( if there's nothing really organically or physically wrong) is mostly related to psychological problems and life style and habits etc. and what is matter is the quality of sleep. in the beginning of my depression i noticed that whenever i wake up suddenly at night my mind is always thinking and also when i open my eyes in the morning and that happened also when i took sleep meds they worked for the first two weeks then i started to feeling tired again in the morning also i need to mention that i have fibromyalgia so i always think that the pain caused this disruption in my sleep but i had days when i had pretty good sleep and fresh wake up.
so in my experience and through my little knowledge our anxious mind and also these things we are learning in this program playing a huge role in our sleep quality we are different individuals some may have a lot of problems but their sleep never get affected and some are.
i suggest to try different routines and habits before going to bed and in the morning when you wake up and after it, but the important thing don't push yourself so hard and get worried. little steps till you find your excellent routine and stick to it.

 

I really like that perspective too. This day reading and the part "worrying how i come across to others" in the video resonated so strongly, I went back and read this and the last day and am writing some reflections. This is so empowering.