|
Laurel guides you through a quick, accessible mindfulness exercise for when you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or panicked.
0 Comments
 Many of us want to make healthy lifestyle changes to facilitate better mental health. Whether you want to get into a consistent fitness routine, eat more nutritiously, sleep better, or decrease your substance intake, it can feel overwhelming to start. Maybe you’re great at starting, but struggle to maintain. Here are four tips that are backed by science to help you make and stick to a new healthy habit.
Transcript:
I wanted to do a quick video today on what to do when you’re freaking out. You can do this anytime if you notice your anxiety is really high… and either you’re feeling too much, or you may feel like you’re not quite all there. Some of us check out a little bit when we’re overwhelmed. It’s totally normal for that to happen. Here’s a way to get yourself back kind of down into what we call the Window Of Tolerance.  I created this short mindfulness audio as a holiday/end of year offering to anyone out there who might need it.
If you're new to mindfulness or you've thought about getting into meditation but it seems a little overwhelming, this is a good place to start.  Everyone’s anxiety has gone up this year, and with good reason. We’re all facing new and intensifying stressors, while having limited access to ways we may have previously coped well. Here are some ideas for things you can try right now, whether your anxiety is at a 3 or a 10:
1) Breathe and recognize your anxiety is not an emergency or something to “fix” right in this moment. Often our anxiety is a physiological arousal linked to a threat, however realistic, exaggerated, removed, or unconscious. Try thinking of whatever body sensations you’re experiencing as information that is neither good nor bad. Get curious and compassionate with yourself, and remind yourself that you don’t have to take action immediately unless you or a loved one is in physical danger. 2) Try progressive muscle relaxation. It’s free, simple, and has been shown in some academic studies to reduce anxiety as affectively as medication when done routinely. If you don’t have time to do the full body routine, trying clenching your hands, shoulders, or the back of your legs as hard as you can and holding for ten seconds before releasing. 3) Eliminate unnecessary stimuli. This may be obvious things like noise or light, but could also be the presence of your phone, visual clutter, or that nagging feeling that you need to do the dishes. Sometimes a small change in your environment can have a big positive impact on your mood. A Conversation Between Caleb Birkhoff, LMFT, and Laurel Roberts-Meese, LMFT
|
Laurel Therapy Collectiveoffers online therapy to California residents for anxiety, transitions, and trauma. Categories
All
Archives
March 2023
|
RSS Feed
|
Laurel Therapy Collective
415 504-2895
|
|
Copyright 2023 Notice of Privacy Practices |