Menopause Discussion > Personal Experiences

321 anti-anxiety exercise

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Bette:
Here's the exercise my hynotherapist taught me last year to help me with anxiety and panic attacks. Think it's a NLP exercise as she was also qualified in that.I found it very helpful although haven't needed to use it for a while. Bear with me as will be a bit long-winded to explain.

You're going to be using 3 senses - sight (peripheral vision), hearing and touch. You can say it aloud but I always found doing it silently worked. It gets better with practice but it's the "doing" of it that's important not being good at it. If you lose the thread at any point, just start again.

Sit or lie comfortably and fix your gaze on a certain object. Start by noticing what you can see in your peripheral vision.

Here's an example of what you might say to yourself:-

I can see -

My tea mug on the table
The computer keyboard
A book

I can hear -

The hum of the computer
The wind in the trees
A car engine

I can feel -

My left forearm resting on the table
My bottom on the chair
My right big toe touching the inside of my slipper

I can see -

A picture on the wall
The wardrobe

I can hear -

The radio downstairs
The dog snoring

I can feel -

My left thigh pressing into the table
My tongue touching tne inside of my lower teeth

I can see -

The headphones on the desk

I can hear -

My breathing

I can feel -

My left thumb touching my index finger.


That's it! It takes a lot of concentration which is probably why it works. I find it gets harder to find the words as you go on - it's like your brain (and breathing) slow down and I suppose that's why it's relaxing. I used to do it lying in bed sometimes or even in the car (as a passenger!) Because my house is very quiet, I sometimes had to repeat the same sounds but that's not a problem. The "feel" one is fascinating as you're not moving and have to notice tiny sensations. My hypno said one of her clients used to go to the loos at work and do it if she was struggling.

Hope it helps - please give it a go. Even sitting here thinking about it and typing this out, I can feel myself "slowing down.

Bette x

allysonone:
just read this thread and it sounds good. Will give it a try

Rosalie:
Thanks Bixby  :)

deni:
Thats a good statergy and will give it a go when I next feel the jitters/panic.

Thank you for sharing this with us Bixby

Deni  :thankyou:

Bette:
You're welcome. I'd suggest you try it before you feel you "need" it, then you'll feel you know how when you really want it, if you know what I mean!  ;)
Bixby x

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