Love your words as always. The way you describe your family is so poetic.
I’d like to add another perspective to “it all starts in the mind”, having experienced a brutal amount of anxiety in the last 12 months.
It definitely helps to know you are not your thoughts, and yep - the video game analogy is spot on.
But what I’ve learned about anxiety is that in an anxious state, I don’t actually have access to the rational part of my brain that can remind me of this. It’s like remembering a dream. In the height of panic, I know there is something I should be thinking, but my brain has left the building. I call it going offline. It’s a protection mechanism installed as the original software for survival. The nervous system switches off all sense, and instead dials up the fight flight freeze.
I can not think my way out of it.
At this point, the only focus should be to get back online. To get my brain back in the room.
In my experience, no amount of thinking can get the job done. Because I’m fighting against centuries of evolution.
There is only one answer for me…. The body. Listening to my body has been the biggest game changer circuit breaker in the whole universe of anxiety.
The body knows what to do.
A classic example…my body has a physical response to anxiety of shaking. I used to think I could think my way out of that experience. It would prolong it. The shaking would amplify. I would fight against it. “Come on!! This isn’t real!” I would think… to no avail.
Until the wild suggestion came that if my body wants to shake, I should just shake alongside it.
Whaaaat. Totally wild idea.
So that’s what I would do. I would consciously amplify the shaking. I’d get up and go full shake! Like “ok, let’s do this together”. And low and behold, the episodes got shorter. Less frequent. I joined my body in what it needed to do and we became anxiety buddies. My Partner would call me “shakey Mc shake face” and we’d laugh about the fact I would just have to go over here and shake a bit…
The mind is a brilliant tool, and I’ve been operating from it for decades. And highly recommend the art of thinking…But the game changer has been to pay attention to my body…it knows what to do every time.
That's amazing Dara - I am aware that the advice in these articles can be idealistic. It's great to hear that perspective.
In line with what you say about listening to your body, I believe in that completely. The mind and body are not two separate equations, but functions of each other.
Like you say, they must be working harmoniously.
A problem in the mind could be fixed with treatment of the body and vice-versa. I find it fascinating that getting up and shaking it out helped you - thank you for sharing.
Love your words as always. The way you describe your family is so poetic.
I’d like to add another perspective to “it all starts in the mind”, having experienced a brutal amount of anxiety in the last 12 months.
It definitely helps to know you are not your thoughts, and yep - the video game analogy is spot on.
But what I’ve learned about anxiety is that in an anxious state, I don’t actually have access to the rational part of my brain that can remind me of this. It’s like remembering a dream. In the height of panic, I know there is something I should be thinking, but my brain has left the building. I call it going offline. It’s a protection mechanism installed as the original software for survival. The nervous system switches off all sense, and instead dials up the fight flight freeze.
I can not think my way out of it.
At this point, the only focus should be to get back online. To get my brain back in the room.
In my experience, no amount of thinking can get the job done. Because I’m fighting against centuries of evolution.
There is only one answer for me…. The body. Listening to my body has been the biggest game changer circuit breaker in the whole universe of anxiety.
The body knows what to do.
A classic example…my body has a physical response to anxiety of shaking. I used to think I could think my way out of that experience. It would prolong it. The shaking would amplify. I would fight against it. “Come on!! This isn’t real!” I would think… to no avail.
Until the wild suggestion came that if my body wants to shake, I should just shake alongside it.
Whaaaat. Totally wild idea.
So that’s what I would do. I would consciously amplify the shaking. I’d get up and go full shake! Like “ok, let’s do this together”. And low and behold, the episodes got shorter. Less frequent. I joined my body in what it needed to do and we became anxiety buddies. My Partner would call me “shakey Mc shake face” and we’d laugh about the fact I would just have to go over here and shake a bit…
The mind is a brilliant tool, and I’ve been operating from it for decades. And highly recommend the art of thinking…But the game changer has been to pay attention to my body…it knows what to do every time.
That's amazing Dara - I am aware that the advice in these articles can be idealistic. It's great to hear that perspective.
In line with what you say about listening to your body, I believe in that completely. The mind and body are not two separate equations, but functions of each other.
Like you say, they must be working harmoniously.
A problem in the mind could be fixed with treatment of the body and vice-versa. I find it fascinating that getting up and shaking it out helped you - thank you for sharing.