Muji, no idea if you're familiar with my neck of the woods down yonder here, but...

You are sitting on a mountaintop, facing a lovely soft sunrise over a fog-wreathed valley. The slope immediately below you is alive with soft-chirping crickets, thickets of sumac just turning red for autumn, and a crisp smell of clean earth. The light on the mountain across the valley shifts so it is first outlined, then washed, and now, in that blink of an eye, bathed in palest gold that turns the fog below to a dazzling blanket of diamonds.
And there is a puma hanging out nearby, quietly watching all this, too, and purring for the glory of it.

And nothing that touches you there is anything but fog, or light, or a purr.

*hugs*

That's a fantastic visualization, Leo. Thanks for that puma!

I feel sheepish asking for support every time I go to the doctor. I know it's the same old same old. Here he goes again. But that's the way it is for me, and I know it is for you, too. Old Faithful PTSD prepares an anxiety geyser every time beforehand, so it's smart to let off the steam before every appointment. And for me that's done by admitting how I'm anxious and asking for support.

Thanks so much for giving it so generously like this!

Well, Muji, I have a doc appointment Thursday involving poking and prodding on scar tissues and damaged nerves, so I thought: Hey, I will use that visualization! So I will picture a wise white-bearded man hanging out with me, and you can imagine the puma, and it's all good....

Personally, I am going to question the mental health of anyone who actually ENJOYS that sort of poking and prodding by strangers, or even close friends, muji. Personally, I hold your apprehension as healthy, with or without your PTSD history. But... ya gots to do what ya gots to do...

I like visualization to help me through these types of procedures, also. A visualization aid can help me sometimes. Something I can hold in my hands in order to engage my tactile senses in the visualization. In the days before the procedure I gently seek a physical object which fits the current need. Portability is the only requirement. A picture. A doodad. A rock. A twig. A poem. A prayer. Whatever. I leave logic out of it, since I am looking for emotional comfort and emotions are not logical.

Gentle support, muji. Hope the procedure leads to healing.