Anxiety doesn't win today

I woke up this morning at the  terrible hour of 5am.  The crazy thing was, that my husband was already up and at em' going to work early, and invigorated by the fresh start.  It's funny how some people are so energized by the early morning hours.  I'm not one of those people.

So why 5 am?  Because my anxiety was kicking in, threatening to ruin my sleep for the day.  I did a few mental exercises and drifted off to sleep for another 40 minutes of sweet light sleep.

And then the adrenaline began.  For me it begins at the base of my neck and spreads down my whole back.  At this point, I knew it was get up or get worse, so I got up.

I tried to find a Yoga video on  Netflix  I could do before the kids had to wake up.  No luck.  Not even a Pilates  or any kind of exercise video to be found.  So I turned on Pandora and did my own exercise  in my room.  Hmm.  After 10 minutes I felt worse, though at least my heart rate was up because of movement, not just adrenaline.  I knelt down and said a prayer for some help with this as I could see it wasn't going away easily.

At this point I was starting to feel like I was going to pass out and laid down.  I knew what was happening.  Classic anxiety for me.

So I decided that my body may be on high alert, ready for all sorts of crashes and trouble, but my mind was not going to join in on the fun.  I put all sorts of ideas about health emergencies and worsening situations out of my head and focused on the tangible.  I took our dog outside, and enjoyed the cool air for about 30 seconds, after which I made a mad dash to the bathroom and threw up.

Avoiding the Anxiety Sucker Punch

First, some background: I have struggled with anxiety since 2011, when I underwent brain surgery and had a really difficult time healing.  The process was long and I found my anxiety impeded my ability to gauge what was real and what was not (health wise).  It's a very tricky thing, anxiety.  It consumes your ability to evaluate your sense of self, and it can be emotionally rending.

I sought help and found it (thankfully - life became overwhelmingly hard with anxiety).  I found a wonderful counselor that helped me to re-think anxiety and taught me how to cope.  I saw my doctor, who helped me with medications and directed me towards many of the suggestions I include below.  I was open about how I struggled - with my husband and other family members who loved me regardless.  I learned to depend upon God in ways I never had before, and He helped me in tangible ways.

With all that help, I'm much healthier and happier now.  I still struggle with anxiety, but on the whole am as happy as ever.  It does get better with time and effort.

Avoiding the Anxiety Sucker Punch