Guest guest Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Simone, I also had heart palpitations all too frequently and they used to scare me so badly. I had a sever/untreated case of Graves Disease which speeds up the thyroid and heart, etc. I was a walking panic attack back in those days. :-) I hope you've had an EKG at some point just to cover all bases and a through physical. My biggest fear oddly was eating out, or eating food a stranger had prepared. Well one night I was starving in my college dorm and got up the willpower to buy a premade salad. Hours later after I had thrown the food up, certain it was poisoned as my heart palpitated away, I wrote a letter to all my loved ones saying Goodbye. It was the best thing I ever did, saying goodbye, laying in bed, waiting to die. Of course I did not die. I kept the letters though, and had them in an envelope addressed " To my Family " and slowly I tried more and more food because well, if I kicked it, 1)I wasn't going to die hungry and 2) The goodbye letters were right there on my dresser. I was free to go if needed. There was nothing to fear, if I was going to die, so be it. Slowly the fear went away and so did the palpitations. Can I make a fun suggestion? Write your goodbye letters, cry and cry at the thoughts of leaving your loved ones, tell them what eventually killed you. Let them know that it was either die or stay trapped in a 20-mile wide illusion. I'm serious, write these letters! Then just think about going a bit further. When you're ready to feel that flip- flop in your chest, take a deep breath, take a few more and keep going even if only for one mile! You can do this! P.S. One final defusion about palpitations: Sometimes a heart palpitation is really gas. I'm serious! A gas bubble trapped in the esophagus is close to the proximity of the heart so we think it is our heart and it may even " reflux " and feel movement. When we get nervous the digestive enzymes can go haywire and cause this. Try a few sips of soda and see if it helps or if you burp/hiccup. Your friend, Laita > > Hi , > > Yes, I get it. FEELING better. But on this particular issue - my palpitations which come in the form of a Skippy heart -the anxiety is so intense I lose my mind for a few moments. My whole being is shaken up and I really, really don't want to go there again. And I don't want to go far from home for fear of these symptoms. I suppose that this the problem my unwillingness to experience fully these symptoms. Trouble is they don't come often enough for me to practice with them. And to me it seems like an issue of life or death. > You said that you experienced this - could you tell me how you dealt with it? Using the diffusion techniques? Ignoring it and carrying on with what you are doing or expanding into it. ( Boy have I got the struggle switch on!) > One day I would love to go to Italy - its on my wish list - but I don't want to go carrying the exhausting anxiety with me. I guess that's the problem huh? > Hope the baby has stopped crying! > > Thanks so much > > Simone > > > > > > RE: Re: Another success story from me :-) > > Steve here. I'm in Europe for a month > > but have finally had a chance to get to a good email connection > > I used to struggle with palpitations and thinking I would die too ... though stuff. Note that this reply relates also to the > > message a few days ago from a list mate who had a " great response " from mediating and then later began to > > experience rebounds. > > Here is the problem. Your mind CANNOT get that the issue is NOT one of feeling BETTER > > (instead it is one of FEELING better, and LIVING better) because it evolved to do evaluations. So when you have " success " in the form of progress from diffusion, > > or acceptance, or mindfulness, if any of the " success " is in the form of feeling BETTER, your mind will > > begin to see this as a sign of success, and worse as the true purpose of diffusion, > > or acceptance, or mindfulness. It isn't. > > Here is how to know you have accepted a feeling: when you feel it with acceptance, your ability to feel it again > > without avoidance and without it negatively impacting behavior is slightly higher or at least no lower. > > That's it. It has zero to do with the frequency of the feeling; the intensity of the feeling; or the situations in which you feel. ACT is not another weapon in the war. It is a ticket out of the war. > > My guess with the person mediating and feeling BETTER and then having a backlash (notice: not immediately but gradually over time) is that mediation became a method to feel BETTER. Once there it began to do what avoidance and control does. The method does not matter. > > Same thing here. > > When you say " how to defuse from a feeling " your mind will secretly insert " so that it is not > > so scary " or " so that I don't think I will die. " The way to " get a handle on it " is to take the handle > > off it. It is a thought. It is a feeling. It is a sensation. Think, feel, and sense -- as it is directly experienced > > and do nothing in addition with it. AND get going behaviorally. One step at a time. > > Gee this message sounds bossy. Sorry, family calls, the baby is crying, and I can't make this less bossy ... > > please just forgive that part and see if there is anything of value in the message itself > > Peace, love, and life > > - S > > Steve in Milan, Italy > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Hi Laitawoman. I have had all the checks - so there are no excuses for me. I am just plain neurotic! I have been thinking about this the last few days and about my last post to - he did not reply and I thought 'oh well, he has nothing to say'. or 'Maybe he is fed up with trying to get his point across and people like me just don't 'get it'. Well, It has just dawned on me that I was struggling with the issue like a fish on a hook - trying to work it our with my mind like I have so many times before. Not willing at all to experience what I was experiencing. Running, hiding, avoiding. This time, the thought preceeding my papitations were something like this , 'I'm feeling a lot better, I have not had papitations for ages - I think this ACT stuff is working, great I'm better' _ and BANG the trap door closes because ACT isn't about getting better,but FEELING better and LIVING better as said in his post to me. My mind loves to chew on this issue over and over again and can't understand that it's not about getting better. So the penny has dropped! Perhaps the silence that I recieved from was the best answer of all - he could see that I was lost in the dream and needed to wake up myself. I don't like the **** palpitations or the **** anxiety but it is a part of me. And I can't wait to start living until everything is easy for me. As for writing letters to my family - I'll give that a go next time! My ACT journey continues - with the occassional detour! Thanks Laita Simone ( Your Friend) RE: [ACT_for_the_ Public] Re: Another success story from me :-)> > Steve here. I'm in Europe for a month> > but have finally had a chance to get to a good email connection> > I used to struggle with palpitations and thinking I would die too ... though stuff. Note that this reply relates also to the> > message a few days ago from a list mate who had a "great response" from mediating and then later began to> > experience rebounds.> > Here is the problem. Your mind CANNOT get that the issue is NOT one of feeling BETTER> > (instead it is one of FEELING better, and LIVING better) because it evolved to do evaluations. So when you have "success" in the form of progress from diffusion,> > or acceptance, or mindfulness, if any of the "success" is in the form of feeling BETTER, your mind will> > begin to see this as a sign of success, and worse as the true purpose of diffusion,> > or acceptance, or mindfulness. It isn't. > > Here is how to know you have accepted a feeling: when you feel it with acceptance, your ability to feel it again> > without avoidance and without it negatively impacting behavior is slightly higher or at least no lower.> > That's it. It has zero to do with the frequency of the feeling; the intensity of the feeling; or the situations in which you feel. ACT is not another weapon in the war. It is a ticket out of the war.> > My guess with the person mediating and feeling BETTER and then having a backlash (notice: not immediately but gradually over time) is that mediation became a method to feel BETTER. Once there it began to do what avoidance and control does. The method does not matter.> > Same thing here. > > When you say "how to defuse from a feeling" your mind will secretly insert "so that it is not> > so scary" or "so that I don't think I will die." The way to "get a handle on it" is to take the handle> > off it. It is a thought. It is a feeling. It is a sensation. Think, feel, and sense -- as it is directly experienced> > and do nothing in addition with it. AND get going behaviorally. One step at a time.> > Gee this message sounds bossy. Sorry, family calls, the baby is crying, and I can't make this less bossy ...> > please just forgive that part and see if there is anything of value in the message itself> > Peace, love, and life> > - S> > Steve in Milan, Italy> > The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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