Started on passion flower, deep sleep, and vitamin D supplements. Continuing with B-12. Herbal anxiety relief pills on the way :-)
Lord, the plants you made are so good!
gettingittogether.
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anxiety. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
How To Make Your Anxiety Work For You
I have a client-centered confession: I prefer working with anxious people.
I know, it's like saying, "I prefer my son over my daughters," but I can't help it.
I've been a psychotherapist for over a decade and that's long enough to know with whom I excel, in my clinical book.
It's not that anxiety is easy to be in the room with — on the contrary, sometimes clients are so unfocused, overwhelmed and tense that gaining control of the session is a challenge.
But here's the thing: At the end of the (stressed-out) day, anxious people get the job done.
I totally get it. I wasn't exactly raised in the most calm, cool and collected environment. Nobody taught me the importance of getting in touch with my body in order to relax. I knew the phrase, "Stop being anxious!?" didn't help, but I wasn't sure exactly why.
Maybe you can relate. But the beauty of anxiety is that there are simple actions you can do today to bring more peace, Zen and productivity to your environment.
In addition to lifestyle imperatives like getting adequate sleep, reducing caffeine, and exercising for at least 30 minutes per day, the following tips will help you make the most of your active mind:
1. Breathe to soothe your nerves.
Shallow breathing is a typical stress response. Hyperventilation can prolong anxiety and stress. Remember, it's your response to anxiety that is helpful or hurtful.
Because your senses are heightened, you can tap into body awareness more easily than some. When you recognize the nervous cues such as heart palpitations, headaches, and shortness of breath, take a time out to get your body back on track.
Abdominal breathing techniques calm the nervous system and reduce blood pressure. A few simple belly breaths can get you from anxiety to Zen:
Sit comfortably and raise your ribcage to expand your chest. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Notice your upper chest and abdomen move while you breath.
Concentrate on your breath and try to breathe in and out gently through the nose. Your upper chest and stomach should be still, allowing the diaphragm to work with your abdomen and less with your chest.
With each breath, allow any tension to slip away. Once you are breathing slowly with your abdomen, sit quietly and enjoy the sensation of physical relaxation.
2. Meditate the nervousness away.
Anxious people often live one step ahead or one step behind themselves. You may find yourself doing one thing, but thinking about what you will do later. Then later, you might worry about what you missed from before. Recognize this tendency and focus on the here-and-now.
Meditation's quietness offers a way to bring everything together again.
Practice the Just Standing Meditation:
Take a moment out of the day to pause and stand still. The arms can rest comfortably at the sides. In this moment, there's nothing else but two feet on the ground and an upright body.
Allow a natural alignment with gravity where standing is effortless. Don't think about anything; just stand. If thoughts race ahead or behind, bring them back gently to standing.
Sense the quality of this experience and let it sink in. When possible, return to the just standing mediation.
3. Let go of the fear of anxiety.
A common contributor to panic attacks is the fear of having another panic attack. Think of anxiety as a playground bully who needs you to be afraid so s/he can taunt you and make you cry.
Take the wind out of anxiety's sails by refusing to let the racing thoughts and knots in your stomach get the best of you.
4. Accept your anxiety.
Part of the struggle is when you try and control your emotions. Why not let go?
Acceptance requires little effort because you're not focused on trying to fix yourself, nor are you looking for a solution. Repeat a phrase such as, "I have a busy mind, and that's ok," to get you back on track.
The fact is we all have something. Your thing is anxiety, and you may as well put it to good use. You can't go back in time and rewire your nervous system, but you can go forward and practice techniques to bring more calm to your day.
The future begins now.
May you experience more internal peace to accept and embrace your anxiety as a strength.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9096/how-to-make-your-anxiety-work-for-you.html
I know, it's like saying, "I prefer my son over my daughters," but I can't help it.
I've been a psychotherapist for over a decade and that's long enough to know with whom I excel, in my clinical book.
It's not that anxiety is easy to be in the room with — on the contrary, sometimes clients are so unfocused, overwhelmed and tense that gaining control of the session is a challenge.
But here's the thing: At the end of the (stressed-out) day, anxious people get the job done.
I totally get it. I wasn't exactly raised in the most calm, cool and collected environment. Nobody taught me the importance of getting in touch with my body in order to relax. I knew the phrase, "Stop being anxious!?" didn't help, but I wasn't sure exactly why.
Maybe you can relate. But the beauty of anxiety is that there are simple actions you can do today to bring more peace, Zen and productivity to your environment.
In addition to lifestyle imperatives like getting adequate sleep, reducing caffeine, and exercising for at least 30 minutes per day, the following tips will help you make the most of your active mind:
1. Breathe to soothe your nerves.
Shallow breathing is a typical stress response. Hyperventilation can prolong anxiety and stress. Remember, it's your response to anxiety that is helpful or hurtful.
Because your senses are heightened, you can tap into body awareness more easily than some. When you recognize the nervous cues such as heart palpitations, headaches, and shortness of breath, take a time out to get your body back on track.
Abdominal breathing techniques calm the nervous system and reduce blood pressure. A few simple belly breaths can get you from anxiety to Zen:
Sit comfortably and raise your ribcage to expand your chest. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Notice your upper chest and abdomen move while you breath.
Concentrate on your breath and try to breathe in and out gently through the nose. Your upper chest and stomach should be still, allowing the diaphragm to work with your abdomen and less with your chest.
With each breath, allow any tension to slip away. Once you are breathing slowly with your abdomen, sit quietly and enjoy the sensation of physical relaxation.
2. Meditate the nervousness away.
Anxious people often live one step ahead or one step behind themselves. You may find yourself doing one thing, but thinking about what you will do later. Then later, you might worry about what you missed from before. Recognize this tendency and focus on the here-and-now.
Meditation's quietness offers a way to bring everything together again.
Practice the Just Standing Meditation:
Take a moment out of the day to pause and stand still. The arms can rest comfortably at the sides. In this moment, there's nothing else but two feet on the ground and an upright body.
Allow a natural alignment with gravity where standing is effortless. Don't think about anything; just stand. If thoughts race ahead or behind, bring them back gently to standing.
Sense the quality of this experience and let it sink in. When possible, return to the just standing mediation.
3. Let go of the fear of anxiety.
A common contributor to panic attacks is the fear of having another panic attack. Think of anxiety as a playground bully who needs you to be afraid so s/he can taunt you and make you cry.
Take the wind out of anxiety's sails by refusing to let the racing thoughts and knots in your stomach get the best of you.
4. Accept your anxiety.
Part of the struggle is when you try and control your emotions. Why not let go?
Acceptance requires little effort because you're not focused on trying to fix yourself, nor are you looking for a solution. Repeat a phrase such as, "I have a busy mind, and that's ok," to get you back on track.
The fact is we all have something. Your thing is anxiety, and you may as well put it to good use. You can't go back in time and rewire your nervous system, but you can go forward and practice techniques to bring more calm to your day.
The future begins now.
May you experience more internal peace to accept and embrace your anxiety as a strength.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-9096/how-to-make-your-anxiety-work-for-you.html
Monday, April 29, 2013
**Eat, Smoke, Meditate: Why Your Brain Cares How You Cope**
Last year, a Harvard study confirmed that there’s a clear connection between mind wandering and unhappiness. Not only did the study find that if you’re awake, your mind is wandering almost half the time, it also found that this wandering is linked to a less happy state. (You can actually use the iPhone app used in the study to track your own happiness.) This is not surprising, since when your mind is wandering, it’s not generally to the sweet things in your life: More likely, it’s to thoughts like why your electric bill was so high, why your boss was rude to you today, or why your ex-husband is being so difficult.
Another study found that mind wandering is linked to activation of network of brain cells called the default mode network (DMN), which is active not when we’re doing high-level processing, but when we’re drifting about in “self-referential” thoughts
Meditation is an interesting method for increasing one’s sense of happiness because not only has it stood the test of time, but it’s also been tested quite extensively in the lab. Part of the effect of mindfulness meditation is to quiet the mind by acknowledging non-judgmentally and then relinquishing (rather than obsessing about) unhappy or stress-inducing thoughts.
New research by Judson Brewer, MD, PhD and his group at Yale University has found that experienced meditators not only report less mind wandering during meditation, but actually have markedly decreased activity in their DMN. Earlier research had shown that meditators have less activity in regions governing thoughts about the self, like the medial prefrontal cortex: Brewer says that what’s likely going on in experienced meditators is that these “‘me’ centers of the brain are being deactivated.”
They also found that when the brain’s “me” centers were activated, meditators also co-activated areas important in self-monitoring and cognitive control, which may indicate that they are on the constant lookout for “me” thoughts or mind-wandering – and when their minds do wander, they bring them back to the present moment. Even better, meditators not only did this during meditation, but when not being told to do anything in particular. This suggests that they may have formed a new default mode: one that is more present-centered (and less “me”-centered), no matter what they are doing.
So is being happy all about shifting our tendency away from focus on ourselves? Research in other areas, like neurotheology (literally the neurology of religion), suggests that there may be something to this. Andy Newberg, MD at the University of Pennsylvania has found that both in meditating monks and in praying nuns, areas of the brain important in concentration and attention were activated, while areas that govern how a person relates to the external world were deactivated. These findings may suggest that for people who practice meditation or prayer, the focus becomes less on the self as a distinct entity from the external world, and more on connection between the two. This reflects the idea discussed earlier where shifting attention from inside to outside is at least part of what quells unhappiness.
What about using other tools like cigarettes, food, or alcohol, as a method for finding pleasure and calming the mind? Don’t these things take a person outside of him or herself, and move the focus from the inner world of stressful thoughts to something outside, or “other”? Looking forward to the next hit of caffeine, nicotine, or coke might seem like a valid method of moving attention from the inside to the outside, but if you look closer, it actually intensifies the unpleasantness.
Brewer uses the example of smoking to illustrate why addiction fuels negative thoughts rather than abates them. In addition to the pleasurable associations, smoking actually creates a negative feedback loop, where you are linking stress and craving with the oh-so-good act of smoking. So whenever you experience a negative emotion, craving returns and intensifies over time, so that you are actually even less happy than before. A cigarette may quiet the mind temporarily – during the act of smoking – but in between cigarettes is where things get bad, because craving creeps in. Though we’re using craving as the example, unhappiness, self-referential thoughts, or everyday worries can all be substituted in.
Substituting a carrot stick or other behavior for your actual craving (or other form of unhappiness) is a typical method of treatment, but it doesn’t often work, says Brewer, because the feedback loop is still there. Addressing the process itself with other methods (like meditation), which allow you to ride out the craving/unhappiness by attending to it and accepting it, and then letting it go, has been more successful, because it actually breaks the cycle rather than masks it.
So if you’re dealing with unhappiness of any kind, whether it’s every day worries, or more severe depression or anxiety, the method you choose for coping matters. Finding one that solves the problem – breaking the cycle, rather than masking it – is crucial.
What type of coping method do you use?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2011/09/21/eat-smoke-meditate-why-your-brain-cares-how-you-cope/
Another study found that mind wandering is linked to activation of network of brain cells called the default mode network (DMN), which is active not when we’re doing high-level processing, but when we’re drifting about in “self-referential” thoughts
Meditation is an interesting method for increasing one’s sense of happiness because not only has it stood the test of time, but it’s also been tested quite extensively in the lab. Part of the effect of mindfulness meditation is to quiet the mind by acknowledging non-judgmentally and then relinquishing (rather than obsessing about) unhappy or stress-inducing thoughts.
New research by Judson Brewer, MD, PhD and his group at Yale University has found that experienced meditators not only report less mind wandering during meditation, but actually have markedly decreased activity in their DMN. Earlier research had shown that meditators have less activity in regions governing thoughts about the self, like the medial prefrontal cortex: Brewer says that what’s likely going on in experienced meditators is that these “‘me’ centers of the brain are being deactivated.”
They also found that when the brain’s “me” centers were activated, meditators also co-activated areas important in self-monitoring and cognitive control, which may indicate that they are on the constant lookout for “me” thoughts or mind-wandering – and when their minds do wander, they bring them back to the present moment. Even better, meditators not only did this during meditation, but when not being told to do anything in particular. This suggests that they may have formed a new default mode: one that is more present-centered (and less “me”-centered), no matter what they are doing.
So is being happy all about shifting our tendency away from focus on ourselves? Research in other areas, like neurotheology (literally the neurology of religion), suggests that there may be something to this. Andy Newberg, MD at the University of Pennsylvania has found that both in meditating monks and in praying nuns, areas of the brain important in concentration and attention were activated, while areas that govern how a person relates to the external world were deactivated. These findings may suggest that for people who practice meditation or prayer, the focus becomes less on the self as a distinct entity from the external world, and more on connection between the two. This reflects the idea discussed earlier where shifting attention from inside to outside is at least part of what quells unhappiness.
What about using other tools like cigarettes, food, or alcohol, as a method for finding pleasure and calming the mind? Don’t these things take a person outside of him or herself, and move the focus from the inner world of stressful thoughts to something outside, or “other”? Looking forward to the next hit of caffeine, nicotine, or coke might seem like a valid method of moving attention from the inside to the outside, but if you look closer, it actually intensifies the unpleasantness.
Brewer uses the example of smoking to illustrate why addiction fuels negative thoughts rather than abates them. In addition to the pleasurable associations, smoking actually creates a negative feedback loop, where you are linking stress and craving with the oh-so-good act of smoking. So whenever you experience a negative emotion, craving returns and intensifies over time, so that you are actually even less happy than before. A cigarette may quiet the mind temporarily – during the act of smoking – but in between cigarettes is where things get bad, because craving creeps in. Though we’re using craving as the example, unhappiness, self-referential thoughts, or everyday worries can all be substituted in.
Substituting a carrot stick or other behavior for your actual craving (or other form of unhappiness) is a typical method of treatment, but it doesn’t often work, says Brewer, because the feedback loop is still there. Addressing the process itself with other methods (like meditation), which allow you to ride out the craving/unhappiness by attending to it and accepting it, and then letting it go, has been more successful, because it actually breaks the cycle rather than masks it.
So if you’re dealing with unhappiness of any kind, whether it’s every day worries, or more severe depression or anxiety, the method you choose for coping matters. Finding one that solves the problem – breaking the cycle, rather than masking it – is crucial.
What type of coping method do you use?
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2011/09/21/eat-smoke-meditate-why-your-brain-cares-how-you-cope/
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
symptoms
Looking at your Anxiety Diagnosis, Jessica, it’s easy to see that your physical symptoms are actually caused by the Fear-Adrenaline-Fear Loop. You see, when you constantly live in a high anxiety state, your adrenaline gland can go haywire. So from time to time it just dumps adrenaline into your bloodstream. And when it does, your bowels feel like they may let “go” at any time, you feel sick, your stomach hurts.
I don’t need to tell you how scary these symptoms are. But the very same moment you get scared of them, even more adrenaline is released ... your organs are stimulated to produce even more intense sensations ... which further continue to scare you.
The good news here is that actions of adrenaline are always predictable. They are restricted to the same organs, always following the same pattern. So there’ll be no more surprises in store for you. Other than the symptoms you already experience, no new ones can or will arise. But now, let’s take a look what we can do about the ones you already have…
Diarrhea and Frequent urination
Frequent urination and diarrhea are very common among people who suffer from anxiety. When adrenaline is released into your bloodstream a process called “fight-or-flight” is started. Fight-or-Flight commands your body to get rid of all the waste products in it, so you can run faster away from danger. Our bodies don’t differentiate between the type of imaginary fear where there is nothing to run from and the type of fear you would experience if a huge tiger was hunting you. Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with your kidney … though always wondering if you will make it to the next bathroom can be crazily annoying.
Two things you can start doing right away to calm down your emotions...
We all seem to suffer from the delusion that emotions are entirely out of our control, that they’re just something that spontaneously occur in the reaction to the events of our lives. Often we dread emotions as if they were viruses that zero in on us and attack when we’re most vulnerable. In essence, there’s this misconception that we have no control over these mysterious things called emotions.
But if you want to make your life really work, you must make your emotions work for you. You can’t run away from them. You can’t tune them out. You can’t trivialize them or delude yourself about what they mean. Nor can you just allow them to run your life. Emotions you experience are merely a call to action. In fact, instead of calling them negative emotions, from now on, let’s call them Action Signals.
And once you’re familiar with each signal and its message, your emotions become not your enemy but your ally. So now, let's take a look at what is the message of your Action Signals...
Watching for signs of danger
One way to overcome your habit of “catastrophizing” (and many other negative emotions) is by learning to manipulate your face. University of California conducted an experiment where a group of severe anxiety sufferers were daily asked to change their facial expressions and smile. Not one of them was able to stay in an anxious state of mind while smiling. In fact, some of them began to manage themselves by smiling for twenty minutes at a time for no reason. Soon they began to feel great. In fact, 47% of them completely recovered within the first three month just by learning to manipulate their facial expressions.
Feelings of apprehension or dread
One of the ways you can reduce feelings of dread is to control your diet. And I’m not going to teach you health fundamentals here, although I’ll do it in your complimentary newsletter. I do want to say this to you: most of us in life do not pay attention to what we’re putting in our body. And what you’re putting in affects deeply how you feel emotionally. Blood sugar, for example, alone, makes a radical shift on how you feel emotionally. So if you aren’t paying attention to what or how you’re eating, and you’re just throwing anything you possibly can in your body, without looking at the consequences, you’re going to pay an emotional price.
“What to focus on?”
The first decision is what to focus on. You're making it right now, as you read this. It's your number one decision and it alone is responsible for the most of your physical symptoms. We feel whatever we focus on. Where your focus goes your energy flows. Focus on your physical symptoms (beating heart, rapid breathing, dizziness) and you'll get exactly that.
“What am I going to do?”
If we want to shift our lives and end anxiety, we've got to learn how to shift what we focus on consistently, the meanings we give it and the actions we take. Are you going to pull back or move forward? Are you going to give up or break through? Are you going to call 911 every time your heart beats faster ... or are you going to find a permanent solution to your anxiety? It's all a decision ... your decision.
I don’t need to tell you how scary these symptoms are. But the very same moment you get scared of them, even more adrenaline is released ... your organs are stimulated to produce even more intense sensations ... which further continue to scare you.
The good news here is that actions of adrenaline are always predictable. They are restricted to the same organs, always following the same pattern. So there’ll be no more surprises in store for you. Other than the symptoms you already experience, no new ones can or will arise. But now, let’s take a look what we can do about the ones you already have…
Diarrhea and Frequent urination
Frequent urination and diarrhea are very common among people who suffer from anxiety. When adrenaline is released into your bloodstream a process called “fight-or-flight” is started. Fight-or-Flight commands your body to get rid of all the waste products in it, so you can run faster away from danger. Our bodies don’t differentiate between the type of imaginary fear where there is nothing to run from and the type of fear you would experience if a huge tiger was hunting you. Trust me, there’s nothing wrong with your kidney … though always wondering if you will make it to the next bathroom can be crazily annoying.
Two things you can start doing right away to calm down your emotions...
We all seem to suffer from the delusion that emotions are entirely out of our control, that they’re just something that spontaneously occur in the reaction to the events of our lives. Often we dread emotions as if they were viruses that zero in on us and attack when we’re most vulnerable. In essence, there’s this misconception that we have no control over these mysterious things called emotions.
But if you want to make your life really work, you must make your emotions work for you. You can’t run away from them. You can’t tune them out. You can’t trivialize them or delude yourself about what they mean. Nor can you just allow them to run your life. Emotions you experience are merely a call to action. In fact, instead of calling them negative emotions, from now on, let’s call them Action Signals.
And once you’re familiar with each signal and its message, your emotions become not your enemy but your ally. So now, let's take a look at what is the message of your Action Signals...
Watching for signs of danger
One way to overcome your habit of “catastrophizing” (and many other negative emotions) is by learning to manipulate your face. University of California conducted an experiment where a group of severe anxiety sufferers were daily asked to change their facial expressions and smile. Not one of them was able to stay in an anxious state of mind while smiling. In fact, some of them began to manage themselves by smiling for twenty minutes at a time for no reason. Soon they began to feel great. In fact, 47% of them completely recovered within the first three month just by learning to manipulate their facial expressions.
Feelings of apprehension or dread
One of the ways you can reduce feelings of dread is to control your diet. And I’m not going to teach you health fundamentals here, although I’ll do it in your complimentary newsletter. I do want to say this to you: most of us in life do not pay attention to what we’re putting in our body. And what you’re putting in affects deeply how you feel emotionally. Blood sugar, for example, alone, makes a radical shift on how you feel emotionally. So if you aren’t paying attention to what or how you’re eating, and you’re just throwing anything you possibly can in your body, without looking at the consequences, you’re going to pay an emotional price.
“What to focus on?”
The first decision is what to focus on. You're making it right now, as you read this. It's your number one decision and it alone is responsible for the most of your physical symptoms. We feel whatever we focus on. Where your focus goes your energy flows. Focus on your physical symptoms (beating heart, rapid breathing, dizziness) and you'll get exactly that.
“What am I going to do?”
If we want to shift our lives and end anxiety, we've got to learn how to shift what we focus on consistently, the meanings we give it and the actions we take. Are you going to pull back or move forward? Are you going to give up or break through? Are you going to call 911 every time your heart beats faster ... or are you going to find a permanent solution to your anxiety? It's all a decision ... your decision.
uhhh....
I get all of these. at once.
Anxiety symptoms - Stomach upset, gas, belching, stomach distress
You may experience:
• nausea
• bloating
• burning sensation in the stomach or pit of the stomach
• gas, or being gaseous
• belching, burping, excessive belching
• feeling like there is a lump or knot in your stomach
• stomach discomfort or distress
• an uncomfortable fullness in your stomach
• feeling like you have butterflies in your stomach
• a tightness in your stomach
• an “anxiety” stomach
• an excess of acidity
• a “heavy” stomach
• a "rumbling" after you eat sensation
• an uneasiness in your stomach
• acid reflux
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• loose stool
• constipation
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• chronic stomach problems
To name a few.
Stomach distress may also cause erratic and sharp pains to radiate throughout the chest, neck, throat, and shoulder blades.
A person may have one, two, or all of the symptoms. They can come and go erratically, or persist indefinitely. All are common when anxiety is present.
Anxiety symptoms - Stomach upset, gas, belching, stomach distress
You may experience:
• nausea
• bloating
• burning sensation in the stomach or pit of the stomach
• gas, or being gaseous
• belching, burping, excessive belching
• feeling like there is a lump or knot in your stomach
• stomach discomfort or distress
• an uncomfortable fullness in your stomach
• feeling like you have butterflies in your stomach
• a tightness in your stomach
• an “anxiety” stomach
• an excess of acidity
• a “heavy” stomach
• a "rumbling" after you eat sensation
• an uneasiness in your stomach
• acid reflux
• vomiting
• diarrhea
• loose stool
• constipation
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• chronic stomach problems
To name a few.
Stomach distress may also cause erratic and sharp pains to radiate throughout the chest, neck, throat, and shoulder blades.
A person may have one, two, or all of the symptoms. They can come and go erratically, or persist indefinitely. All are common when anxiety is present.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)