I've written before about my love/hate relationship with anxiety: I love that it keeps me organized and conscientious of others and that it's heightened my sense of empathy. I hate that it makes me feel nauseous, that I can't always enjoy important moments, and that it makes some really simple things really difficult. My biggest … Continue reading Getting out from under
Management Strategies
Spring cleaning
Let's just take a second and talk about how amazing sleep is. SERIOUSLY. I slept a lot last night and I feel way, way better. In therapy yesterday, we were talking about how the last couple of days have been and I was saying that I'm glad that the bad days are better and how in some … Continue reading Spring cleaning
Some things I’ve learned about anxiety
I was looking at my Symple data the other day and I noticed that I've only had one panic attack in the last six months. And while I've clearly felt some anxiety in that time, it's been pretty mild. (That blip in the data is the month where I felt like Symple wasn't helping me anymore … Continue reading Some things I’ve learned about anxiety
Rewards for the faithful
I'm back! I haven't been very committed to writing here lately, and for that, I apologize. Part of it is adjusting to my new schedule at work, part of it is that the dude and I have both been sick and thus my energy has been lacking, and part of it is that, to be honest, … Continue reading Rewards for the faithful
Gear
Ok, so a while ago I did a post about some tools that have helped me manage my anxiety. And now, I want to write about the gear that makes those tools possible. I know that seems kind of silly, but living with the dude has given me a new appreciation of good, functional design. … Continue reading Gear
The Daring Way
A couple of days ago I got a package from my mom, who had packed up some of my grandma's cross stitch thread and sent it to me. Sure enough, when I opened it, I found embroidery floss tucked into little protectors in plastic sleeves that I could put in a binder, as expected. What I … Continue reading The Daring Way
Rationalizing inertia
As I've written about before, when it's been a while since an intense anxiety day I tend to get complacent. I forget that I'm not experiencing much anxiety because I'm working on managing it. I forget that I need to take an active role in preempting it. I begin to tell myself that it's ok … Continue reading Rationalizing inertia
Identifying with anxiety
Ok. It's official. I'm in love with Headspace. There are a bunch of really wonderful things about it, but there are two that really help me address the two biggest issues I have with anxiety. First, Andy, the founder of Headspace, is clearly a conscientious person who understands how anxiety works. In the anxiety pack of … Continue reading Identifying with anxiety
Yoga to the anxious people
It's taken me a really long time to find a yoga routine that works for me, and it's still hard for me to fully commit to it. Because, honestly, working with teenagers all day is exhausting and even though I know I'll feel really good after I practice, it's really hard to want to change into … Continue reading Yoga to the anxious people
Anxiety is a partnership
Lately I've been doing the Anxiety pack of meditations on Headspace, and something has clicked for me. It's not about making the anxiety feel consistent: a panic attack always feels this way, small anxieties always feel that way. Because it's not going to be like that. While there are commonalities - tingling and expansion in … Continue reading Anxiety is a partnership
it's only fear 