Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
I woke up yesterday after a good night sleep which did include a bunch of weird dreams about work and past jobs and coworkers. Anyway, I woke up and my mind was just spinning and my whole body ached. I could feel the physical symptoms of anxiety trying to creep in and my thoughts started going to "I'm anxious, why am I anxious" and all that nonsense. So, I took a hydroxyzine and layed down and just focused on my breathing and ended up falling back asleep. I woke up a bit later feeling calmer but still tired and achy and foggy. That's when I determined that I was was just physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted.
I've been going and going physically (working out, biking, running), work has been low-grade stressful for a while now, and it all sort of came to a head on Thursday, and emotionally I've got lots of stuff I've been processing. The cumulative effect finally just up and said, "we're done". Once I recognized that I changed the plans I tentatively had for the day and made a new plan for doing as little as possible. I napped, I did take care of a few things, I went and drank tea and relaxed, I napped some more. I basically have decided this weekend is about resting and recharging rather than exercise and chores.
I feel much better this morning. I'm sticking with my "do very little" plan. Anyway, that's all a long winded way of me saying that I had this realization that anxiety can appear/be triggered by/take advantage of exhaustion and it's not about investigating the anxiety, it's about stopping and taking care of the self.
Hope people are finding some peace and balance in their lives
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I haven't written in my diary on my computer since May because I thought that my computer was dying. I got away from writing but my computer is hanging in there. I think that I will start writing in it again. It's so therapeutic.
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Years ago, I won a mirrored armoire from my job. It's in my bedroom but I rarely stand in front of it. Yesterday, I had to have a dexascan done so I had to change into a gown. There was a full length mirror in the changing room. I'm aware that I gained 5 to 7 pounds over the last year from cheating on Keto but I didn't know what it looked like. It was a reality check.
Hungry
Angry
Lonely or
Tired
Any one of those four conditions will cause anxiety, all by their lonesomes.
Still, I feel the need to emphasize, "cause MORE THAN effect." The exceptions can be truly exceptional. One of my personal exceptions is what I call, "Working Dreams." Working dreams are where I go to sleep with a problem and wake up with a solution. They can be more exhausting than physical labor, but the gain is worth the pain. I especially get allot of working dreams during major life transitions. Gently leaning into the exhaustion often helps me clarify the solutions which were presented in my dreams.
Could your restless dreams have been working dreams?
Just wondering. . . It remains yours to sort. Continued support while you sort.
I do want to say I don't think anxiety is always the result of exhaustion. Anxiety is a wily beast that can find all kinds of ways into our minds and our lives. Rather, it was more just the realization that being spent like that certainly sent out an invitation.
Yup, they sound like working dreams. Don't nurture them, but do lean gently into them. They can produce far more creative solutions than logic is capable of.
For what it's worth
In my CAD design days, my working dreams was, perhaps unofficially, my most coveted talent. There are quite allot of scientific discoveries which channeled through dreams.
https://www.famousscientists.org/7-great-examples-of-scientific-discoveries-made-in-dreams/
I felt pretty hard core anxious all day long yesterday myself. I think it has just been simmering for a few weeks, and it finally hit me over the head yesterday. I had chest pains and physically felt tension in my whole body, something I have not had in a really long time with my anxiety.I knew it was anxiety but I didn’t try to sort out why or what it was about. I just tried to surrender a bit and adjusted a lot of my to-do list from yesterday because I truly felt overwhelmed by it all. Today is a new day!
Working dreams allow for positive resolution to present in quiet way and provide release of tension.
And, taking the time to rest is so important when you are having anxiety. It allows you reset your balance naturally.
Here's to finding what works for you! You've got this!