[Rubylizard]

does anyone know of any good (effective) ways of reducing anxiety/stress, muscle tension WITHOUT using breathing or meditation techniques.
i've been going to different Ts for years and the one i'm seeing now just will NOT let up on it. she lectures me about the importance of breathing and meditation every single time and tomorrow when i go see her, i'm going to tell her that if she mentions it one more time, i'm not coming back!
i've been trying these methods for YEARS with little to no success and am sick and tired of thinking about it.
there HAS got to be another way.
not everyone is the same and shouldn't be expected to be able to have the same results as everyone else.
i'm sick of this point becoming so big in the Ts mind that they see me as resisting treatment, which i'm not doing..... no one ever seems to want to address my phobia, which is my real problem though. it causes my anxiety, not the other way around. no one gets it.
any ideas or suggestions?

[Bethsway]

the only thing I am doing is taking medication...It has helped me alot...but other than that I don't know of any new ways to help us cope with anxiety...

[Peanuts]

Mindful meditation helps me a LOT. It took a long time before meditation had a positive impact, almost a year of practice. I was skeptical at first but tried it anyway because I felt that I didn't have anything to lose. Taking 5 min per day wasn't going to make my symptoms any worse and so I thought, why not try it.

I try to do 5 min of mindful meditation every day - I don't always get to it every day - and suddenly I noticed it was working !! I am able to concentrate better and have reduced the amount of rapid heart beat sensation. Perhaps you are somewhat like me in that it will take a long time of practice.

[Sarah116]

The therapy Tangle it has done so much good for me! You can purchase one at Walmart or on the Tangle site. I highly recommend it!

[DizzyLizzy]

Self-talk usually helps me a lot.

For example, if I have to go grocery shopping and I am having major anxiety about it, I will have this little conversation with myself in my head about how nothing bad has ever happened to me in a grocery store, I will make a plan in my head about what to do just in case this time something bad does happen in the store, I will make a plan in my head about what I need to buy and what order I am going to get the items, and continually remind myself about all the other times I have gone shopping or gone anywhere and nothing bad happened.

Sometimes during my self-talk I will think of something bad that did happen in my life (not a major trauma, just a bad thing like having my pants rip at school) and I will remind myself of how I successfully dealt with that bad thing, and I will remind myself that even though something bad happened then it was not the end of the world and I managed to handle it just fine, and then I tell myself that if something bad does happen in the grocery store that I will be able to handle it just like I handled the time my pants ripped in school.

It's just a lot of positive self-talk. Positive reinforcement, making a disaster plan in my head for what to do if anything bad does happen, reminding myself that the odds of something bad happening are low, reminding myself that I have meds in my pocket that I can take for a panic attack if necessary, etc...

That has always worked better for me that meditation, breathing, or any other technique a therapist taught me.

For relaxation time on a daily basis, I set aside an hour each day and I lay on the couch with my eyes closed and I listen to a favorite TV show, usually one of the Judge shows or a soap opera. I focus 100% of my attention on listening to the TV, and because my eyes are closed I also focus on forming a visual picture in my mind of what is happening on TV.

It takes a lot of concentration to form the image in my mind to match the sounds from the TV, and so by having to concentrate to make that image my brain is less able to wander to anxious worrying. The combination of keeping my mind from thinking anxious thoughts and laying on the couch causes my muscles to untense and relax.

My final means of relaxing is to again lay on the couch with my eyes closed and the TV on, and I lay there and visualize/build my perfect dream house in my head (or sometimes I rebuild/redecorate my childhood home or the home of a friend or family member).

I start with the layout of rooms and the general look of the structure, and then once I have all the rooms where I want them I go through each room and arrange furniture and decorate it paying attention to even the littlest detail such as where the electrical outlets would be placed and the exact look and feel of the fabrics for the furniture.

If I still want/need to continue to relax even after my "house in my head" has been completely built and furnished, then I either move on and think of a different house or other building (such as rebuilding and redecorating my doctors office) or I continue to think of my dream house by redecorating the rooms, or I think of a friend or family member and build what I think would be their dream house in my head.

I hope at least one of my relaxation methods help you.

Liz

[DaveyJones]

Excercise helps...also, rather than meditation/breathing, I use progressive relaxation--that is, sitting comfortably and conciously relaxing one muscle group after another. Start with your forehead, then the jaw (a biggie), then the neck, the shoulders and so on down your body. What's kind of cool is that if you can remember to do this when you are stressed, pretty soon your body will become conditioned to relaxing on it's own when you get stressed. It was the strangest thing the first time it happened to me...I was all freaked out, and suddenly I could feel my muscles begin to relax...really cool. You can also practice by sitting down and tensing ALL your muscles as hard as you can and holding it for a count of ten, then relaxing as described above. Do this two or three times twice a day...it works wonders! (I learned this in an anger management class, BTW).

Hope this helps,
DJ

Hi Ruby,
Massage therapy helped me when I was at my worst with anxiety. The pills, meditation, yoga and all of that other stuff didn't help like the Swedish massages did. I think each person is different though so you're going to have to try different things to see what works for you.
Good luck with this.

[Rhapsody]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Rubylizard said:
does anyone know of any good (effective) ways of reducing anxiety/stress, muscle tension WITHOUT using breathing or meditation techniques.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Look into the book I placed in the Rate & Review section, called: Feelings Buried Alive Never Die - it is great for reducing ones anxiety (and) was given to me by my T.

Good Luck.......


LoVe,
Rhapsody - ((( hugs )))

[Perna]

I try to do things that really frighten me, live through the experience :-) and remember/add up the memories. Running from the dragons instead of fighting them rarely works for me. Try reading "The Last Unicorn" by Peter S. Beagle. The more fears I conquer, the "larger" and freer my life becomes and the more room I have to breathe. Took me 30+ years to figure that out though.

Hi Perna,
I think that's some great advice.

[Rubylizard]

thanks for the good ideas guys!

[zonja]

Hello, I am new here. My most immediate concern is to find a "structure", such as the 12-step method used in AA (I do not know the 12 steps, I have just heard of them) that might be used by someone having severe anxiety. My problem, when I read the latest postings as to things that might help, is that I feel I just arrived to the train station as the train was leaving: I do not know how to do any of those things *well* (meditation, breathing, etcetera), if not well done, they probably will not help. And the sheer accumulation of all that I "should" know in order to tackle my anxiety is enough to paralyze me. Hence, I repeat, any simple thing such as the 12-step "mantra" for alcoholics? Many thanks, and will continue to read you, zonja

[kvinneakt]

I get anxiety attacks sometimes, particularly in stores. I have found that "square breathing" helps, if/when I recognize what is going on and have the wherewithall to do something about it.

Square breathing is VERY simple. It is all in "4's" - four things to do with 4 seconds each.
1-Breathe in for a count of 4 seconds.
2-Hold for 4 seconds.
3-Breathe out for 4 seconds.
4-Hold for 4 seconds.
Repeat at least 4 cycles - you do have to keep breathing! It often only takes a minute or so to get refocused.

I have a problem shopping. Often the anxiety is there, but I don't realize it and don't do anything to help myself. It can be embarassing. I go into a bit of a trance. I can stand and stare at a display or product in my hands for 10 minutes without moving. It it exhausting. It takes all my will to finish up and go home. When I get home I often have to take a nap to recover from the process. It's very weird being nuts, sometimes.

[Perna]

I like this "Here and Now" meditation technique:

http://www.meditationiseasy.com/mCor...Meditation.htm

This site is interesting reading, there are lots of different "easy" techniuques and you might find one you like better.