Mental wellness/anxiety tips and tricks

[sonrisa]

Campermom's post about the mental reset from bracing cold got me thinking. What are your tips and tricks for for managing anxiety or other things?

A few weeks ago I learned a trick that has been much more effective than I expected. I don't know if I can explain it well online but I'll try. 
You push your palms together hard
(or hold them firm like this and pull out at the elbows:
 www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/6ky3bl/what_is_the_significance_of_this_gesture_while/)
While also wiggling your toes in your shoes and taking a big breath in.
There is something about the simultaneous tension and release of tension that really helps reset me.  I've even got my kid doing it.

What about you?

[bears]

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

[sonrisa]

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

The tranquillusionist episodes of the allusionist are like that 

www.theallusionist.org/tranquillusionist

[cattledogkisses]

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

TIL that there's a term for the thing I do laying in bed at night (I don't do it exactly as they describe it, but I do something very similar).

[AJL]

Some times when I'm feeling really anxious and have that outside-of-my-body feeling, I'll press one of those gel bead cold packs to my chest, just under my throat. Apparently that were your vagus nerve runs and the cold and gentle pressure can help you calm down.

I also like my afternoon beverage ritual. It's usually making hot tea from leaves in my English tea pot and with my favorite cup and saucer. I used to work as a receptionist in a church about 25 years ago and all the ministry assistants would stop at 3pm and make tea. We'd sit in the front reception area and drink our tea and have a quiet chit chat. I kept up that ritual ever since. Sometimes it's a Diet Coke in my favorite plastic tumbler and sitting in my favorite chair on the back porch, but it's the ritual of it that helps me ground myself and come back to the present. 

[StrawberryBlondie]

For me, it really helps to have an activity to do regularly that forces me to think about nothing but what I'm doing in that moment. I've found I need about an hour, 3-4 times a week to feel like I'm in a good place, mentally.

[joy]

Mar 1, 2023 18:34:00 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

TIL that there's a term for the thing I do laying in bed at night (I don't do it exactly as they describe it, but I do something very similar).

I actually fall asleep to podcasts. I’ve even started putting them on 0.5x speed. Just a quiet voice talking about something I don’t care much about keeps my brain occupied enough to keep the worries out and allow sleep in. I wake up to pee 2-3x a night so podcast back on and I’m out again quickly. Life saver.

[joy]

Honestly, I see a therapist once every other week. A time and place to dump my thoughts and get mind resetting in return? Totally worth it.

[beerlover]

joy, my H does that too, listens to podcasts all night. I am more of a white noise and sleep mask person, and in emergencies, .25 mg of Xanax.

I used to listen to a podcast called Sleep with Me that's just a middle aged dude droning on for hours. It worked well. It just reminds me too much of being postpartum and having PPD (I listened to it a lot that year) so I can't listen to it anymore.

Following this thread for other ideas as I really need all the tips I can get these days.

[mrsukyankee]

I'm doing a bit presentation on anxiety & mindfulness to our faculty this month, so I can share a few things I'm presenting. If anyone wants me to write up stuff on the brain and how it impacts all of this, let me know.

Here's links to the exercises I suggest:
Anchor exercise
Defusion exercises

[kittywalker]

I just started taking lavender oil supplements to try to help with anxiety. My doctor mentioned them, said they had been studied in Germany because they're given as a prescription drug there. It's called Silexan and I buy it on Amazon (it's called Calm Aid, it's inexpensive and has Silexan as the main ingredient). I've only been taking it for two weeks, so I don't know if it's helping, but I hope it will.

I also have been looking into CBD. Haven't tried that yet, though.

[noodleoo]

Mar 2, 2023 8:17:03 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

I'm doing a bit presentation on anxiety & mindfulness to our faculty this month, so I can share a few things I'm presenting. If anyone wants me to write up stuff on the brain and how it impacts all of this, let me know.

Here's links to the exercises I suggest:
Anchor exercise
Defusion exercises

If you have time and don't mind, I would *love* that.  I was working with a social worker for a few months and she taught me to recognize patterns of thinking/rumination and damaging self talk.  It has been eye opening how much it helped me. Once I could recognize these unhealthy patterns of thinking, it was so much easier to pull myself out of them.  Sadly she changed jobs and I didn't feel like starting over with someone new, so I'm on my own again.

[shauni27]

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

Thank you for sharing this! I did it yesterday to fall asleep, both for a much needed nap and at bed time, and it worked like a charm! I also did it in the middle of the night when I woke up. Great way to stop the mind from wandering.

[bears]

shauni27 I'm glad it helped! I learned this method from a Twitter thread a few months ago and it has been life changing. I have turned into a bit of an evangelist with it, but it's so helpful to stop my mind from revving up when I am trying to go to sleep.





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I also have found it really helpful in dealing with DD when she gets into an anxiety spiral. I just do the exercise out loud with her and eventually she will join in with some suggestions. It really helps her get out of these cycle and I'm hoping that she will be able to start doing this without my assistance.

[cattledogkisses]

Mar 3, 2023 9:07:45 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

Thank you for sharing this! I did it yesterday to fall asleep, both for a much needed nap and at bed time, and it worked like a charm! I also did it in the middle of the night when I woke up. Great way to stop the mind from wandering.

It's so simple, but so effective. 

[shauni27]

Mar 3, 2023 13:25:39 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Mar 3, 2023 9:07:45 GMT -5 shauni27 said:

Thank you for sharing this! I did it yesterday to fall asleep, both for a much needed nap and at bed time, and it worked like a charm! I also did it in the middle of the night when I woke up. Great way to stop the mind from wandering.

It's so simple, but so effective. 

I did it again today for my nap! 😅

[Gato]

I've got nothing for daytime except yoga first thing in the morning, but I read an article about how people are using the BBC's shipping forecasts to fall asleep, so I tried it, and it really works! I play this 5-hour YouTube compilation on loop. I have slept through the night for about two weeks (when usually I would wake up for about 1.5-2 hours each night).

This is the article:
www.nytimes.com/2023/02/14/magazine/falling-asleep-shipping-forecast.html?searchResultPosition=1

and here's the link to a compilation:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxHa5KaMBcM

[jlt19]

To settle my brain for sleep or if I feel too anxious I’ll do the “square” breathing thing. Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4 and repeat. I imagine drawing a square while I do this (if trying to sleep).

Another person in my family finds the 5 senses “trick” helps to get out of the heavy moments. Having a second person to give the prompts is helpful. What are 5 things you can see? 4 you can hear? Etc. it’s a good way to distract I suppose?

[sonrisa]

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

I've tried this now for three nights and it's a game changer. 

[glw]

Mar 6, 2023 19:29:22 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Mar 1, 2023 17:51:57 GMT -5 bears said:

I have been doing cognitive shuffling to help me fall asleep. I also found it really helpful to do at the dentist, which I am really anxious about.

qz.com/977182/a-cognitive-scientist-has-devised-a-drug-free-sleep-trick-for-your-restless-mind

I've tried this now for three nights and it's a game changer. 

I was all set to try this, then realized that because I have aphantasia, I don't know how to do it. 

[sonrisa]

Mar 8, 2023 14:18:58 GMT -5 glw said:

Mar 6, 2023 19:29:22 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

I've tried this now for three nights and it's a game changer. 

I was all set to try this, then realized that because I have aphantasia, I don't know how to do it. 

lol.

Honestly, I don't even form a picture every time. I just go through words and hold each idea in my head for a half or whole second before moving to the next. Some nights that means visual picture but sometimes not.

[SwimDeep]

Mar 8, 2023 14:18:58 GMT -5 glw said:

Mar 6, 2023 19:29:22 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

I've tried this now for three nights and it's a game changer. 

I was all set to try this, then realized that because I have aphantasia, I don't know how to do it. 

same! I've been trying it with just the words and not worrying so much about mental images. I'm trying to break my habit of creating fantasies in my head to fall asleep, which is something I've done since I was 5 and recently learned is a trauma response. If they were happy fantasies, I wouldn't think about trying to change the habit.