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Viser innlegg med etiketten Authenticity. Vis alle innlegg

onsdag 27. juli 2016

My anxiety journey - From panic to clarity

The second I woke up I felt it. The feeling of the walls crushing in on me. I`m dizzy, my heart is racing, and I can`t formulate a single thought. All I sense is the terrifying feeling of panic and anxiety. I`m closing my eyes, frantically looking for calming thoughts. I know I had some good techniques for this specific occasion, because I have used years practising it. But I can't seem to remember a single thing. It`s all panic,no reason, no logic.


Suddenly there is a helping thought coming through. BREATH! I reassure myself that the only reason why I`m dizzy is because I`m afraid, which causes my breathing to change, which then leads to the feeling of being dizzy and short-breathed. Since I didn't listen the first time, I try to say it once more with a more strict and reassuring voice.


I`m starting with the best technique I know, breathing in through my nose while I count to 4, and out through my mouth. While doing this I keep explaining to myself why I do this. Why it's through my nose and out my mouth, and why I count to 4. I work hard to think logical. I start to breath. In 1-2-3-4 and out 1-2-3-4, in 1-2-3-4 an out 1-2….it's not working. Why doesn't it work? Does this mean that something really is wrong with me this time? Oh my God, there IS something wrong with me! So it`s here i'm going to die..29 and dead from a heart attack. My head fills up with million dark thoughts. I can feel my energy spiraling down, and I suddenly can't remember me feeling anything other than the way I feel now. The thoughts are rushing, my clients will think I `m a fraud, I can't even teach myself how to breath, that's how a terrible coach I am. And i'm fat and ugly, I don't know why, but this for sure has something to do with this!


And then, suddenly a clear thought pierced through my panic. Panic is emotion, and logic don't work on emotion! Suddenly I remembered a deal I made with myself. No more repressing emotion! I have to feel ,and completely be there. So instead of fighting and trying to do all my logical techniques, I began to feel. I close my eyes and I felt into my energy and into my emotions. Without reasoning, and without trying to change my feelings. I just let the feelings come. I felt how my head was full of dark thoughts, and how my head felt full and tight. I felt how it was almost like my body was crushed, like I was lying in a tiny coffin. I completely let myself go and went inside to the scared inner child. And then as magic, my anxiety went away and my body was left with a heavy, calm feeling which made me fall asleep.

The best thing you can do is to turn your face toward the storm and let the storm run you over. This is easy to say, but If you have ever been where I was tonight, you know it is the hardest thing you will ever do!

mandag 13. juni 2016

My journey to overcome my anxiety. | Goal: mountain hiking alone |

I want to start to share some more personal experiences. The reason for this is that I strongly believe in openness and authenticity. One theme that I'm very passionate about is openness about mental illness. By being open and honest about some of my difficulties in life I hope to reach you who also struggle with something similar. It's better to struggle together than alone :)


The story I wanted to share with you today is linked to my panic anxiety and agoraphobia. I am scared of walking alone, and it does not really matter much where. If I walk in my neighborhood, the forest or city, usually my anxiety symptoms are the same. It`s hard to say exactly why, but some of the reasons is that I`m scared that I will get dizzy and faint, or get so sick that I`m not able to get home. I'm also scared of what other people might think about me.


So here are my story about reaching one of my goals right now:


view from my hike
We have a cabin on a mountain in Norway, and behind this cabin there are endless hiking possibilities. One of my goals was to be able to walk alone up to the first of the tops behind this cabin. Last summer my anxiety was so bad that I did not go further than a couple of steps before I felt all those terrifying anxiety symptoms, and my head got filled up with hundreds of chaotic thoughts. It feels so bad when you suffer from paralyzing anxiety, but even worse when all those judging thoughts comes about how pathetic and what a failure I am for not even being able to go on a small hike.


The last 6 months I have really worked on exposing myself to this particular anxiety. How I specifically do this is for a later time. So when we this weekend went to the cabin I felt for the first time that I was ready to try out my goal. Hike to the first top! Keep in mind that we do not talk about mount everest here, it's only a 30 minutes walk all together, but for me it feels like an impossible thing to do on my own! The terrain is rugged, so you have to be focused - or in my head: not get dizzy and not be able to get anywhere. And there are no roads, so if something did happen to me, my husband can't come and get me. In my head this transfers to certain suicide!



On our way home
With my goal strong in mind I embarked on my journey with my dog, Luna. I don't know what made my pulse the highest, all my terrifying thoughts, or the fact that it's steep uphill all the way. But it actually went ok! I went to the top and took my time enjoying the view! It actually went so good that the next day, I went there one more time, but this time I kept going and found a new path further down the mountain! All alone!


It might look like a small goal, but for me in my situation this was a very proud moment, and it showed me that all my hard work and all my hard times paid off!


What is your big goal?


If you want to read more about my anxiety and what I do to overcome it, here are some blog suggestions:

9 tips for tough times:

And

My turning point
http://kristinectora.blogspot.no/2016/05/my-turning-point.html