Rough weekend, can anyone help?

[Kevin87]

Happy new year everyone!

I am in need of some words of encouragement today.

I have had a rough weekend after spending it in the ER. Nothing horrible, just complications with a medication after having my molars pulled. I am however now experiencing some extreme anxiety. I am feeling better but for some reason I have a nervous feeling in my stomach which I cannot get rid of. I’ve been off work for over a week which I’m pretty sure is not helping things (idle hands I guess?) and my father just began cancer treatment today so that is not helping matters either. I should note that he is fine, and is in good hands, however I’m sure you can understand why I’d be feeling like this. I’ve had this nervous feeling for about a week now and I am not sure why. It’s so hard to shake sometimes but I can’t help it, it just happens!

I hope someone can understand where I’m coming from or ways I can relieve the tension I am feeling.

Thank you all and I hope you have a blessed new year !

[Brightstar0109]

Firstly I'm so sorry about your father and your experience in hospital. As silly as it sounds I feel the little things help me relieve all my stress and worries, hot baths, cups of tea, yoga, reading books. The little things help in more ways than you know, perhaps returning to work in the new year would give you some distractions from your anxieties (i went to work today to do the same thing). However, you should also let yourself feel it a little, you're going through a difficult time and it's normal to be anxious about it. I hope the new year brings you so much happiness, be well xx

[Miniwheats]

Have you tried meditating? Try Ryan Taylor's "Breathe" (10 minutes) and Jason Stephenson's "Peace" (30 minutes guided imagery meditation for anxiety). Do them both every day, perhaps the shorter one in the morning and longer one in the evening depending on your schedule. They are both on YouTube. Remember it takes a while for your sympathetic nervous system to calm down after you've experienced repeated anxiety, and meditating will increase your parasympathetic nervous system activity - the one you need to boost right now. Listen to what Ryan Taylor is saying about the physiological benefits of breathing deeply and calmly because everything he says is evidence based. At first I thought it was a load of hooey until I read about the physiology of anxiety and it turns out that what he speaks is actually the truth. 😊 Anxiety BC is a great website with tools and information you can start using right now to bring down your anxiety as well. It's amazing how much you can kick it down in just a few minutes after learning about the tools to overcome it. Steer clear of caffeine and alcohol as they are both stimulants. Hope this helps you😉

[wingsofadove in reply to Miniwheats]

Thank you for this post. I am sure your advice will be helpful to myself and many others who read and follow the advice.

[Kevin87 in reply to Miniwheats]

This is great thank you!