Anxiety is in your body, not your mind • Hacker News Board

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#161

Post by kneel » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 4:53 AM UTC

burlesona wrote: post #6

I noticed as young adult that I didn’t really worry or consciously stress, but my body had somewhat predictable reactions to situations that I would realize, in hindsight, were highly stressful. Those physical reactions sucked, and as they got worse over time, it really concerned me. At some point I was encouraged to go to CBT, which I did, but honestly it made things worse. I became hyper aware of how anxious I was…

Microdose mushrooms. Seems silly but you can break your thought patterns by disconnecting your brain from well trodden paths.

I think Michael Pollan is onto something

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#162

Post by nradov » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:09 AM UTC

nwienert wrote: post #143

osullip wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read Marcus Aurelius, Meditations. Written around 2000, it is surprising how many of his verses are relevant today. These are translations of the original, so have picked up some contemporary interpretation. "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment." "The happiness of your life depends upon t…

All this stuff really ignores some real advice that really works. Anxiety comes from a lack of competence, confidence, or self-awareness. Lack any or all (and we all lack them to some extent) and you’re more nervous. Get experience talking, presenting, comfort with how you look and sound, practice humor, gauge if you can maintain an audience. These are all practicable things. You can work on them. I think meditation…

Some of the most accomplished stand-up comics still struggle with anxiety. So being comfortable with presenting, humor, and maintaining an audience isn't necessarily sufficient.

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#163

Post by nradov » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:13 AM UTC

graderjs wrote: post #45

burlesona wrote: post #6

I noticed as young adult that I didn’t really worry or consciously stress, but my body had somewhat predictable reactions to situations that I would realize, in hindsight, were highly stressful. Those physical reactions sucked, and as they got worse over time, it really concerned me. At some point I was encouraged to go to CBT, which I did, but honestly it made things worse. I became hyper aware of how anxious I was…

That's why you need to do yoga. Relaxing the body is so important and Meditation, without yoga, can be harmful. Simple, long holding, hatha yoga, beginning with deep part by part body relaxation and pranayama prepares you for meditation and allows you to handle the energies that can be released during mediation. So much stress is held in the body. Western productization of more eastern traditional practices unfortuna…

People commit suicide for all sorts of reasons. Just because one woman attended a meditation retreat before committing suicide doesn't prove it was the cause. Is there a statistically significant increase in the suicide rate following meditation retreats?

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#164

Post by paulcarroty » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:20 AM UTC

After starting real home fitness 6 days per week my stress & anxiety level is unbelievable low. I don't think it helps in all cases but you definitely should try it.

Another suggestion: as long-term projects are inevitable always switch to short-term which can bring fast but realistic result.

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#165

Post by dorkwood » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:24 AM UTC

siquick wrote: post #58

burlesona wrote: post #6

I noticed as young adult that I didn’t really worry or consciously stress, but my body had somewhat predictable reactions to situations that I would realize, in hindsight, were highly stressful. Those physical reactions sucked, and as they got worse over time, it really concerned me. At some point I was encouraged to go to CBT, which I did, but honestly it made things worse. I became hyper aware of how anxious I was…

Reminded me of a passage from Sapiens on Buddah. "...Gautama Buddah found that there was a way to exit this vicious circle. If, when the mind experiences something pleasant or unpleasant, it simply understand things as they are, then there is no suffering. If you experience sadness without craving that the sadness go away, you continue to feel sadness but you do not suffer from it. There can actually be richness in t…

This resonates with me. A mistake I often made when I was younger was to try my hardest to make the anxiety go away. I'd employ all sorts of tricks to make it happen, but they never worked. If anything, I'd feel even more anxious.

At some point I got tired of this and just decided to allow myself to be anxious. To let the feeling completely envelope me, and basically say to myself "yes, I'm anxious, and I'm going to give the presentation anyway". Something about letting it happen takes its power away.

In the context of the article, perhaps this is a way of "closing the loop" on the initial anxiety response, because you're essentially choosing to fight the external object instead of looking for some other way out.

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#166

Post by jasfi » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:39 AM UTC

burlesona wrote: post #6

I noticed as young adult that I didn’t really worry or consciously stress, but my body had somewhat predictable reactions to situations that I would realize, in hindsight, were highly stressful. Those physical reactions sucked, and as they got worse over time, it really concerned me. At some point I was encouraged to go to CBT, which I did, but honestly it made things worse. I became hyper aware of how anxious I was…

Try Cissus, it blocks cortisol (the stress hormone).

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#167

Post by pyjug » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:45 AM UTC

The body and mind are heavily intertwined. It's totally useless to compartmentalize them when discussing something like anxiety. One day somebody in the West will "independently" discover what Buddha and Vedic Rishis discovered centuries ago, and popularize those ideas. Unfortunately, this is the only way those ideas will regain acceptance in the East as well.

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#168

Post by jokowueu » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:46 AM UTC

This reminds me of stella ganglion block that was shown to be effective against ptsd . Quite interesting

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#169

Post by moldavi » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 5:59 AM UTC

Zelphyr wrote: post #64

QuercusMax wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did breathing through the straw cause that reaction?

Simply breathing through a straw may not do it. My therapist had me run up and down a flight of stairs for about 30 seconds and then breathe through a straw cut down to about 3 inches while holding my nostrils closed. Your body thinks you're not getting enough oxygen. You're getting plenty, it's just that it all coming through that tiny hole tricks your body and that triggers panic sensations. Doing that several time…

I'm not sure that's correct. I've heard that high CO2 levels trigger the parasympathetic nervous system which calms us down. One could get the same effect from breathing into a paper bag, I think.

Re: Anxiety is in your body, not your mind

#170

Post by 99_00 » Mon, Apr 12, 2021, 6:06 AM UTC

> an increased interest in “brain science” and neurobiology along with continued research on mindfulness and mind-body connections are shifting our psychological understanding from focusing only on the mind to seeing the brain and body as a cohesive unit.

This is exactly what my talk-therapist is helping me with. So if these ideas appeal to you and you want to explore them keep an open mind about talk-therapy.