What do you do when life becomes too much?

[Elmorton]

Sometimes I get really anxious and I need a minute to focus and calm - meditation and breathing works wonders. I stole this from the end of a Yoga video and it works. Takes about 20 minutes -

Lay down on the bed on your back, lights off, and close your eyes. Then tense your toes for a couple seconds, and then release them and let them "feel heavy." Once they "feel heavy" (relaxed), move on to the next part up. Repeat the process with your ankles, legs, thighs, waist, abs, shoulders, arms, fingers....until all the way to the tiny parts like your face, cheeks, eyelids -until you''re not tensing up any of your muscles. I find that somewhere in there, just concentrating on releasing the tension inch by inch, I start breathing normally again. I don''t think about anything but focusing on the tension and releasing it. If my mind wanders, I don''t move on, just repeat where I was when my mind started wandering. Sometimes at the end, I picture myself in my favorite place (a beach in Mexico where I went with DH) and then imagine the sun shining on my skin before I open my eyes and face the world again.

Sounds goofy, but just concentrating on something other than the problems and focusing on your physical tension can give some short term relief.

 

[nebe]

I''ve been taught deep breathing before and I try, truly I do, but when I get hyped up enough to actually HAVE a panic attack, deep breathing is the last thing that''s going to work. I have medication for it but I''m often afraid to use it because of the addiction factor it carries. Iiiiii don''t know. I''m working on it, I guess.

 

[Beacon]

I focus on my breathing. Like "breathe,2, 3 - release, 5,6" and that''s one breath. This can help calm you.

Excersize is key and I think it takes more than you think to make a difference, but in the end it does. Try getting 5 hours/week of the treadmill or other cardio.

Cut the sugar and the caffeine. I took them all out of my diet a year ago. Don''t miss it at all. If I eat candy now I get a huge headache. I think eating it increased my anxiety.

Search for the good. Your mind may always be searching for the disaster. It''s a habit. Try to think of 3 bad things, then 3 good things. If you find the bad things are quick to name and the good things come slower it''s a sign your mind is habituated to looking for the bad and knows where to find it. You can reverse this with practice of looking for good.

Good luck to you and I hope things look up. Holidays are always hardest.