4 ms·

I suffered for a couple of decades: anxiety, random panic. I was able to address them by following the following: 1. Have things to look forward to. 2. Pay at

I suffered for a couple of decades: anxiety, random panic. I was able to address them by following the following: 1. Have things to look forward to. 2. Pay attention to nutrition, health, rest, breathing, exercise. 3. Meditate. Socialize. 4. Occasionally when anxiety grows, breathe, visualize yourself performing a repetitive yet fun activity (like swimming laps, chopping vegetables.. whatever takes focus). Your heart rate will drop and things will calm down. Sometimes when your heart is racing, it's possible you just have pent up energy and you need to crank out some pushups and squats at 3am. Such is life.

sossles 4y ago
4. is underrated and mysterious. I've dealt with periods of anxiety by playing an online competitive card game, something that "should" be stressful, but having played it hundreds of times before, the steady stream of familiar choices that ultimately don't matter, is soothing.
girthbrooks 4y ago
When I'm spun up I try to avoid additional physical exercise as I don't want to have a stroke or a heart attack or something. I'm physically fit and my resting heart rate is in the 48-51bpm region day to day. Am I completely overthinking this?
- jwagenet 4y ago
  I’m not familiar with the medical evidence, but… why would exercise instigate a cardiac event when anxious? Perhaps if having a panic attack it would be unwise, but I feel like exercise can serve as a distraction or outlet to anxiety and be beneficial on the whole.
- anon400232 4y ago
  Please explain what you mean by spun up. If we are talking about emotional stress coupled with a slight increase in heart rate, I would not be concerned about doing exercise. Quite the opposite -- I think a quick jog around the block can do wonders. The key is to be able to do the exercise without bringing additional stress.
rendx 4y ago
The key element in my personal experience is to make peace with how things are in that moment. That something triggered this unpleasant emotional state/disturbance, that it is totally okay, and not to push it away but instead give it gentle, loving awareness. The trick that works for me is to think of someone who I love, or someone who loves me, imagine that we look each other in the eyes or gently touch the part of the body that feels unpleasant, feel the "warmth of love" developing in me, and then switch from using a third party to myself, so both the sender and recipient of love is me. Looking into the mirror helps. And then staying present with the sensations, realizing that I can have a clear and calm mind and the unpleasant sensations at the same time, give them the attention they deserve, passively listening to what kind of memories come up (if any), and just wait and give it time. Doing something that gives you a good feeling, that you are capable of taking care of yourself in that moment, like sports/healthy food etc, can help to put you into that necessary emotional state, but the key is the emotional state, not the outside activity. Unless you achieve that calm state of mind, activity "on the outside" could be purely a distraction, and while "successfully" disconnecting you from the feeling, that way it only makes it come back a little stronger the next time. It does not seem to be relevant to figure out what the trigger was, or what the past experience was, or whether the strong emotion relates to something that happened "just now" or in the past. Thinking about that is a distraction of the mind and "serves no purpose". It does help to identify the more specific feeling beyond "anxiety". For example, I might suddenly get hit with a feeling of terrible loneliness or insecurity/threat to my life, even though I am with my partner or among friends in a "rationally safe environment". Instead of telling myself "hey you idiot, listen, you are not alone, stop feeling lonely right now!", or worse finding some element in the present I can project my current feelings onto ("that guy is a complete arsehole, that's why I am feeling rage right now"), I instead tell myself "this is a memory of a moment where I really was left alone, where there was really a threat to my life. poor me. thank you for reminding me of that past horrible moment, now that i am fully capable of giving it the loving attention that it deserved back then, but didn't get until now. I am very happy that I can give myself that love now, to fully make up for it.". An image that helps me is "a mother holding her crying baby": Gentle, loving, not pushing, not asking questions: the baby cannot answer. Both the mother and the baby are me. Another way to look at it is that I first create an imaginary wall between the mind and the body: The mind can think whatever it wants, race around, keep itself busy, or relaxed or whatever. I don't care. I don't push it outside of my consciousness, still listening to it sometimes, but I leave it alone, and do not allow it to influence the body in any way. The body is given fully to the crying/hurt child/emotion, not fighting it at all: if it wants to kick, I let it kick. Except for my hands, which I give to the soothing mother with healing power, and lightly rest them on some part of the body where the unpleasant sensation is. The soothing mother also gives the same love to the mind, another one of its children. Then, as a final step, "I" separate myself from all these parts, chill and relax, knowing that all relevant work is delegated, everyone is taken care of. Like the manager of an inner kindergarden, or inner playground, where there is a lot going on but at the same time I can take a break from it, knowing everything is running smoothly. This process takes some effort to learn, and accepting that you are still learning and not already perfect at it is a key part of the practice. But even small moments where it "works" in my experience finally actually resolve stored up emotions, so each time an unpleasant emotion comes up it hits me less and less, and the frequency goes down massively. It is not important to understand exactly what triggered it, or what the past traumatic memory is. Do not ask yourself, just be, and connect both to your heart and the pain at the same time. There are many different techniques but they all share these core elements. The one I like the most is "Feeding your demons" by Tsultrim Allione.

sossles 4y ago

4. is underrated and mysterious. I've dealt with periods of anxiety by playing an online competitive card game, something that "should" be stressful, but having played it hundreds of times before, the steady stream of familiar choices that ultimately don't matter, is soothing.

girthbrooks 4y ago

When I'm spun up I try to avoid additional physical exercise as I don't want to have a stroke or a heart attack or something. I'm physically fit and my resting heart rate is in the 48-51bpm region day to day. Am I completely overthinking this?

jwagenet 4y ago
I’m not familiar with the medical evidence, but… why would exercise instigate a cardiac event when anxious? Perhaps if having a panic attack it would be unwise, but I feel like exercise can serve as a distraction or outlet to anxiety and be beneficial on the whole.
anon400232 4y ago
Please explain what you mean by spun up. If we are talking about emotional stress coupled with a slight increase in heart rate, I would not be concerned about doing exercise. Quite the opposite -- I think a quick jog around the block can do wonders. The key is to be able to do the exercise without bringing additional stress.

rendx 4y ago

The key element in my personal experience is to make peace with how things are in that moment. That something triggered this unpleasant emotional state/disturbance, that it is totally okay, and not to push it away but instead give it gentle, loving awareness. The trick that works for me is to think of someone who I love, or someone who loves me, imagine that we look each other in the eyes or gently touch the part of the body that feels unpleasant, feel the "warmth of love" developing in me, and then switch from using a third party to myself, so both the sender and recipient of love is me. Looking into the mirror helps. And then staying present with the sensations, realizing that I can have a clear and calm mind and the unpleasant sensations at the same time, give them the attention they deserve, passively listening to what kind of memories come up (if any), and just wait and give it time. Doing something that gives you a good feeling, that you are capable of taking care of yourself in that moment, like sports/healthy food etc, can help to put you into that necessary emotional state, but the key is the emotional state, not the outside activity. Unless you achieve that calm state of mind, activity "on the outside" could be purely a distraction, and while "successfully" disconnecting you from the feeling, that way it only makes it come back a little stronger the next time. It does not seem to be relevant to figure out what the trigger was, or what the past experience was, or whether the strong emotion relates to something that happened "just now" or in the past. Thinking about that is a distraction of the mind and "serves no purpose". It does help to identify the more specific feeling beyond "anxiety". For example, I might suddenly get hit with a feeling of terrible loneliness or insecurity/threat to my life, even though I am with my partner or among friends in a "rationally safe environment". Instead of telling myself "hey you idiot, listen, you are not alone, stop feeling lonely right now!", or worse finding some element in the present I can project my current feelings onto ("that guy is a complete arsehole, that's why I am feeling rage right now"), I instead tell myself "this is a memory of a moment where I really was left alone, where there was really a threat to my life. poor me. thank you for reminding me of that past horrible moment, now that i am fully capable of giving it the loving attention that it deserved back then, but didn't get until now. I am very happy that I can give myself that love now, to fully make up for it.". An image that helps me is "a mother holding her crying baby": Gentle, loving, not pushing, not asking questions: the baby cannot answer. Both the mother and the baby are me. Another way to look at it is that I first create an imaginary wall between the mind and the body: The mind can think whatever it wants, race around, keep itself busy, or relaxed or whatever. I don't care. I don't push it outside of my consciousness, still listening to it sometimes, but I leave it alone, and do not allow it to influence the body in any way. The body is given fully to the crying/hurt child/emotion, not fighting it at all: if it wants to kick, I let it kick. Except for my hands, which I give to the soothing mother with healing power, and lightly rest them on some part of the body where the unpleasant sensation is. The soothing mother also gives the same love to the mind, another one of its children. Then, as a final step, "I" separate myself from all these parts, chill and relax, knowing that all relevant work is delegated, everyone is taken care of. Like the manager of an inner kindergarden, or inner playground, where there is a lot going on but at the same time I can take a break from it, knowing everything is running smoothly. This process takes some effort to learn, and accepting that you are still learning and not already perfect at it is a key part of the practice. But even small moments where it "works" in my experience finally actually resolve stored up emotions, so each time an unpleasant emotion comes up it hits me less and less, and the frequency goes down massively. It is not important to understand exactly what triggered it, or what the past traumatic memory is. Do not ask yourself, just be, and connect both to your heart and the pain at the same time. There are many different techniques but they all share these core elements. The one I like the most is "Feeding your demons" by Tsultrim Allione.