lillamy

To halt and redirect yourself when you're future-tripping and awfulizing.

Go!

wicked

Quickly, I pick up one of the many books on recovery I have and read until I start breathing again.
Then, I come here!
or come back after reading.


Beth

fedup3

I come on SR or I call a loved one, or I allow myself to have a good cry, then I wipe my eyes and move on.

nowinsituation

I chant (in my head) as a breath in and out..... inhale - "Here", exhale - "and now"; over and over again.

m1k3

I too use conscious breathing as well. I say 'in' when I breathe in and 'out' when I breathe out.

I also try to meditate for 10 to 20 minutes every day. I just sit there and focus on my breath, in, out. For me it does a pretty good job of keeping from getting on the hamster wheel in my head in the first place.

Your friend,

outonalimb

I get myself to the nearest al anon meeting STAT.

I ask my HP to replace my anxiety and fear with complete and total trust in HIM. I can't do it myself. I need His help.

MamaKit

First I breathe. Then, I relax my jaw and shoulders.

Then I do a "check" (it's what I call it when explaining the technique to my sometimes anxious son)
A "check" means reminding myself that I am breathing, nothing is hurt or broken, I'm safe, I have people close by the love me....etc.... Essentially, I start listing the good things that I know RIGHT NOW to be true. It makes what I fear less certain or real in comparison.
I also try to remind myself that by focusing on the fear, future trip or awful thing...I am giving it ENERGY. If I focus on something positive, then that thing gets energy.

MamaKit

fedup3

I can't believe I didn't mention this in the first post, but everyday, all day I lean on God.

tjp613

Invariably, as soon as my head hits the pillow at night, that's when I start future-tripping. If I don't catch myself quickly I'll be tossing and turning for at least 2 hours. I say the Serenity Prayer then repeat, "All is Well" (because it is!) as often as it takes to calm my mind. Next, I focus on my breathing and nothing else....until I drift off. This has been working like a charm for me lately.

MsPINKAcres

I take a deep breathe and repeat the Serenity prayer -
and if I feel so overwhelmed sometime I just say:
God
Serenity
Courage
Wisdom

and I remind myself that with the help of my HP I have fought some pretty tough battles in my life and came out with a few scratches & scars but I did come out -
No matter what me & my HP are going to be ok - even better than OK - in fact we already are!

Focus on the Next Right Thing and First Things First -

My thoughts & prayers are with you

pink hugs!

lillamy

Thank you. Funny thing is, I go through coping techniques on a daily basis with my teen, who has severe anxiety, but when I need the strategies, I draw a blank and just run around like a chicken with my head cut off. And I don't run fast enough to shut my brain up...

PurpleWilder

First, I try to make sure I'm not HALTing. That stands for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Any one of those things going on can spin me straight into an anxiety attack - especially Tired.

One of my sponsors also told me, "When you get busy, you get better." I tend to sit around and overthink everything and whip it up into a big mental froth. So I go to the store, or watch something, or look at pictures of puppies on the Internet, or call my sister. And I just started working out a little at the YMCA, which has helped a ton.

Hope this helps.

LifeRecovery

I was asking about something similar to this the other day.

The kind person reminded me that awareness that we had another option was the first step (and the rest would come) like a muscle with exercising.

It helped me to see that even just realizing I had another way to be was a huge jump foward in recovery.....you not only did that but asked for options.

Somehow getting reassurance that what I was doing was normal made it easier for those options to come in the heat of the moment.

PippiLngstockng

When I get really stuck, and all my worries get tangled up into a big pile with my head in the middle of the mess, I think back to the last time I've had a workout. If I am all tangled up, that pretty much always means it's been at least a day.

So I run or swim or lift weights - whichever - and after an hour or two everything is back in it's proper place and I am centered again.

CeciliaV

I'm still new to all this codie/caretaker/worry-wart recovery business, but when I find myself freaking out about all that that is and ever could be, I try to remind myself of a few things:
- it does me no good to cook up imaginary stressful situations; my life is stressful enough as it is!
- even if what I'm going through right now sucks majorly, it could be worse. I try to steer clear of "absolutes" in my thinking and talking, and Smart Recovery has a few good exercises & articles about "exchange language" (swapping absolutes for non-absolutes) and letting go of that stinking thinking and awfulizing.
- I am my mother's daughter, but I am not my mother. I do not need to worry about everything and anything, and I can see the effect it's had on her health and mental well-being and general demeanor. I do not want that to happen to me.

Sending you hugs, lillamy!!

Mountainmanbob

stiney

This might sound silly, but could anyone fill me in on what you all mean by 'future-tripping'? I get that a lot of responders are listing ways to handle anxiety, and some of them I think are really great and I will try some. I was just wondering about the term that kept popping up.
Thanks.

CeciliaV

LOL, I love this, thanks for sharing!

lillamy

Future-tripping: whipping yourself into a frenzy or worry excessively over things that may never happen... (At least that's how I understand the word?)

Pippi, I have a stationary bike next to my bed (next to my roadbike, see a pattern here?) and I swear that thing has saved my sanity in the past month. I sleep like and workouts don't give me a hangover the next day like the few sleep aides I've tried do.

I think the problem I'm having right now is that my fears are well-founded. So what I'm trying to do is prepare for the worst case and yet not let that fact stress me out, if that makes sense? It's a bit tricky but that skill we Codies have in compartmentaliZing actually comes in very handy...

CeciliaV

Makes total sense to me. There's nothing wrong with being prepared, and personally, I feel better when I prep ahead...it tends to calm my nerves and anxieties a bit.