Increasing Intensity

For about a little over a week now, I haven’t been practicing as much. I found out that I have shingles and have to take a lot of medicine and due to this, I’ve obviously felt less like practicing and found that for whatever reason, I’m not finding it as easy to practice as much. However, I realize that I still need to push myself as much as possible and that even though I have let myself slide a little more than I possibly should, I need to start slowly pushing myself to pick up where I left off before I started letting my practice fall by the wayside.

Is it okay to take small breaks and step back from practicing as much? Sometimes, yes. Sometimes we need to take a break. However, what is not okay is to let ourselves think that it is alright to never return to working as hard as we previously were when we were making more progress. We need to make sure that we remember the progress we made when we were pushing ourselves and we need to try to return to achieving the levels of success that we were making before allowing ourselves to take that break.

I am continuing to remind myself that while I may feel like I cannot do as many stretches as I once did, this simply isn’t true. I’ve just taken a break and most likely due to the break, I don’t feel as confident. What does this tell me? This tells me that I have to resume practicing and stretching more and that exercising really is important. I need to get back to feeling more confident so that I can do more things that I know I can do.

It’s important that even if you don’t do as much exercising, that you still do some each day. We cannot allow ourselves to give up on getting through our anxiety. We can also not give up on exercising and practicing, for it is what helps us prove to ourselves that we can overcome our obstacles. So if you must take a break from practicing as much, you can, but you still need to practice a little each day.

When Others Aren’t Understanding

Struggling with anxiety is difficult, but what may be even harder at times is when the people you love don’t seem to understand or try to help you with what you’re dealing with. It’s hard to be labeled by those who don’t understand as “childish”, “immature”, or “someone who just wants attention”. It’s also not easy when someone who you believe should be there for you, helping you get through your worst moments, seems to not want to help in the kindest way possible.

People have told me that you have to ignore the negative comments from those who don’t know what you are going through. How do you ignore, though, the cruel words of someone that means so much to you? How do you overcome the mean words of the ones you love and respect, the ones who you want to care about you and love you?

This is not an easy question to answer, or at least it’s not easy for me. On one hand, I want to be able to ignore the unkind words, but on the other, I don’t want to be someone who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. I think the important thing in this situation is balance.

Let’s say for example, you’re struggling through anxiety and/or having a panic attack and someone calls you childish or immature. You can nicely tell them that while they may think that, you are working hard to overcome your anxiety. Also, you can say nothing and remind yourself that you are working to make progress and you can remind yourself that the people that are rude usually don’t go through what you do, so they don’t really know what you are dealing with.

I know this is hard. It’s hard to remind yourself of the progress you’ve made when all you hear is the voice of someone getting angry at you for something that you dislike or hate about yourself. It’s hard enough to fight the battle of anxiety without others adding to the stress. However, we have to realize that not everyone in this world is understanding. Also, in a way, it’s kind of sad that these individuals cannot extend their understanding enough to try and imagine just how hard anxiety and other struggles can be.

I would like to also add that we should all be thankful for the people in our life that do try their hardest to comprehend what we are going through or at least help in any way possible. Also, even if there are people in your life that are less than kind, be grateful for all the times they have tried to help you.

Trying Your Best

While we all need to work hard to get through our anxiety and while we cannot afford to let excuses stop us from being productive, there are times when it is understandable that it is extra hard to practice. For example, when we are sick or in physical pain, it makes sense that the last thing we feel able to do is exercise. However, getting through anxiety should still be our top priority. So how do we practice facing our fears when we don’t feel up to it due to feeling extra anxious, being or feeling sick, or being in physical pain? Here are some tips.

1.) If you are feeling physical pain (this could be due to getting injured or for women perhaps going through that time when exercising is especially tough), you should still (if okay with doctor) do light exercises to keep your progress going. You do not have to strain yourself or even push yourself as much if you are unable to, but you should still keep up some level of motivation. Remember, getting through anxiety is important.

2.) If you are feeling extra anxious and do not feel you can practice, you can do lighter exercises or, if too anxious, you can take a break until you feel better. However, don’t let feeling extra anxious make you feel like you’ll never be able to practice and get better again. You will be able to!

If anyone has additional thoughts or opinions, I will be happy to hear them!

 

 

Don’t forget

This is an amazing and very inspirational post. We all have the strength to get through our anxiety, we just have to show ourselves that we have the strength. For more inspirational posts, check out https://thepersistentplatypus.wordpress.com.

The Persistent Platypus

While in the middle of a difficult fight with anxiety, we can forget to continue living our life. We seem to draw into ourselves and focus only on surviving day to day without pain. What is difficult to remember is that the world continues on. Our lives are NOT over, even though it feels like it. I know. I have been there. Do not give up hope for fear. Continue to push onward and never forget that there is happiness waiting for you. Never stop looking for it! You are strong and you can beat it!

If you would like to get more encouraging words and have support while dealing with your anxiety, Follow me on here and check out my Facebook page. The only way we can get through anxiety is by banning together and fighting! Together we are strong! 🙂



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Remembering Our Progress

First, I would like to thank Mary from marysaverageadventures.wordpress.com for helping me figure out a way to post this. I tried to write it the normal way, but WordPress wasn’t working right.

 

When we find ourselves struggling and feeling as though we cannot get through our anxiety, it is important that we remind ourselves of the progress that we have made.

It is no coincidence that after practicing and exercising, that we have accomplished some or all of our goals. We have managed to get through our anxiety and find the strength to stand up to our challenges. We have to remember that we have the ability to overcome our obstacles and that the only reason we may feel otherwise, is because anxiety often  creates self-doubt. However, in reality, we have no reason to doubt ourselves.

I know that this might not always seem to be the case. When we struggle, negative thoughts tend to form and make us think that we are unable to get through our anxiety. However, we can prove to ourselves otherwise. The truth is that most of the time, there’s nothing wrong with us physically. We just need to work hard in order to be able to trust ourselves. It’s important to practice facing our fears but it is also important, as I have previously mentioned, to really realize how you have made progress. Progress doesn’t just happen. I know that many of us wish it did, but it doesn’t. We need to work for progress and we need to constantly tell ourselves that we do have the strength to get through this. Sadly, we need to expect that we will have challenges. Expecting challenges is one thing, but giving into those challenges is another. We need to understand that while anxiety may try to fight back, we can still win the battle.

Continuing To Work Harder

When you start to see yourself making progress with consistent practice and exercise, you need to take some time and absorb all the success you have made and how it has happened. I think that while we may realize what practicing is doing for us, we also tend to only focus on it for a moment, instead of really letting it sink in.

As I have mentioned before, there will most definitely be times when you experience setbacks. Setbacks are not a sign of failure, but a side of your mind simply challenging the other. In order to overcome setbacks, we need to continue to practice and prove to ourselves that we can get through our anxiety.

In addition to realizing the power of practice and exercise, we need to understand that we need to continue making more steps in order to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of us reaching our goals. We need to push ourselves harder. I am not saying that we put too much pressure on ourselves, but that we continue to work hard to accomplish the goals that we want so badly to reach. We can get through our anxiety, we just have to show ourselves through practice that we can do so!

When You Feel Yourself Losing Momentum…

Prove to yourself that it’s only temporary.

Sometimes when we begin to feel ourselves moving backwards, we tend to worry that we will not get back on track. The truth is, however, that we need to expect some bumps along the way. We need to remember, though, that we have made progress and that with consistent practice, we can and will continue to do so.

Our mind can be a very challenging thing and while we want to get better, that doesn’t mean that the negative side of our brain won’t throw us some curve balls. Just as the negative side challenges the positive side of our brain, we need to challenge it back; prove that we can overcome any negative thoughts that come our way. We can control our anxiety and not let it control us, we just have to show ourselves that we are in charge. So don’t give up when you feel yourself struggling, work harder!