There's this rash I used to get when I was little , I always noticed it after football practice
After all these god awful tests, the doctors concluded that I'm allergic to grass
Well excuse the pun but I smoked some grass today and wouldn't ya know it I start breaking out in the same hives I used to get after football.
And I haven't been outside since yesterday
Anxiety is weird man.
What I find is that when I'm not inhaling deeply (I'm rejecting the world around me) is when I'll subconsciously go elsewhere for an "intake"
Because my intake of breath is insufficient,
my body will tell me i need some form of intake
and I'll end up eating an ungodly amount of food, or chain smoking, or binge drinking bc my body is telling me that it needs
I believe you can see this in people's eyes- their eyes truly overwhelmed- glazed over and out of focus
An example would be the classic "1000 yard stare" of soldiers who return from the horrors of war and they just can't take it anymore- they don't wanna see
And the opposite is true for when I'm preventing my exhale
When I'm not letting myself BE MYSELF- I'm slouching I'm squinting I don't want to be seen
That's when I get bottled uP and I'll do anything for a release. Angry outburts, sex, violence
That rash I was talking about earlier?
It's a stress rash. I'm now sure of it.
I tend to inhibit my exhale and breath realllyyyy shallow
if Ithe psychologist in me feels like speculating I'd say it was the way I was treated in my youth
I deal with anxiety in every cliche negative way in the book.
But one thing that me therapist told me that ****** me up, albiet incredibly obvious
Cigarettes don't calm you down. nicotine is a stimulant. It's the deep breaths that relax you.
sounds ******ed but I seem to have the most difficulty with the simplest of things
Here's a simple thing.
Most people say "concentrate on your breathing". Doesn't work for me. I'm too in my head lately, and I'll monitoring my breathing technique to make sure it's 100% correct, which increases my stress load.
I need to get out of my head, and let anything else in.
Visualization makes my rash disappear. Or really just closing my eyes when i have a source of stimulation- music, or an instructor leading me through a session of visualizing.
I would like to get to the point where I can lead my own visualization.
Internal dialogue is is an ability I do not have yet. I envy you if you can do it.
I need to write something down or talk to myself, whereas some people can come to full blown conclusions in their head!
It's really hard to explain, but through my habits I've made it way harder than it has to be.