Everyday Mindfulness

Hello, new to the board.

I find the twitter posts comforting. This one today made me come to this board to respond: Wow, anxiety explosion whilst walking the streets. Chest feels hella tight. Cue mindfulness practice to bring myself back. (via @AdamAxon)

The everyday fleeting thoughts that make me uneasy, and the realization that others get them too, and that they are not part of me. Just acknowledging the way I feel for a minute or so, breathing, maybe thinking something pleasant, I can feel the dread melting away. A thought that helps me during those moments is thinking there's nothing I have to do right now except just be.

So in my journey I'm being more aware. I'm finding it tricky to define what I'm being aware "of", so I will just leave it at "aware" for now. I benefit from taking moments during the day to remind myself that all is well--relax my shoulders, breathe, smile--and the twitter posts help me to remind me to "check in".

thank you to whomever posted that tweet!

Hi Flow.
Welcome to the gang. I think you'll find us a friendly and helpful bunch.
It is a comfort to know that one is not alone in being tormented by thoughts.
Just being aware of the knowledge that we don't need to be held hostage by our thoughts is often enough.
Hope to hear from you again on this forum.
All good things, Jon

Hi,

I tweeted that this morning because I want this site to be about average people and how mindfulness can help. That tweet seemed to fit the bill, because it was from just a normal person who mindfulness had helped.

Mindfulness helps me in these small ways every day, and I want it to help others too. My illness might cause me to stumble or fall, but mindfulness enables me to come back, instead of starting some story about how bad my life is.

I'm really glad that the tweet helped and that you came to the forum. Please stick around and help us build this community. How long have you been practising?

Welcome to our community Flow, I look forward to getting to know you

Hi Gareth,

It was the "everydayness" of the tweet that made it so valuable, that mindfulness can be ongoing, routine, like exercising, brushing teeth, emptying the dishwasher, attending to mail, not letting it build up until it becomes overwhelming.

I've left a stressful job through early retirement, and I'm enjoying finding myself again. I can see that so many of my difficulties were due to being rushed and trying to fulfill competing demands in unreasonable time restrictions, and feeling that my inability to cope was my fault. The unrelenting pressure led to sleeplessness, depression, and anxiety. Those problems have dissipated over the past few months since leaving.

Occasionally (yesterday morning, just before I noticed the tweet) I get a pang (panic pang?--hard to describe)--a thought that things might not be well, a tensing, churning, and my body seems to brace itself for the inevitable slide backward. And yet--a moment's pause to shift, to literally catch my breath, a slight refocus, a minute shift of the steering wheel, a few seconds to remember that a response is not necessary. The sunshiny joy of feeling the darkness slip away, leaving me still and collected, is not a small thing for me. I went on to have a wonderful day with my daughter.

The everyday can be extraordinary. Great to be reminded of this.