Being willing to stay with trauma

[Guest guest]

I did this today. Some images came on the television, setting of a series of sensations related to a trauma I have. I have to admit not knowing much about the origin of my trauma, its nature, the why etc, but I do know enough to know its something that causes deep feelings of horror, sickness, and of course, I usually avoid it.So today, when I felt this feeling, I thought: lets not run away, lets stay just for a bit. And i did. It felt very very hot round my chest and throat, I felt nausea, and a strong urge to get away, definitely a survival mechanism similar to panic, but sort of slower and deeper I think. I stayed with it for maybe 10 to 20

seconds, and then had to go out of the room. I then sat on the balcony and also stayed with the "afterglow" of being with the feeling, this was pleasant either, but again, I stayed with it. Now as I write I feel a bit of an urge to cry, very subtle, not enough to cry.I do notice in the last 8 months, that I say yes more and more often to experience, while before I just avoided full-stop. ______________________Signature: Mrs Em Equanimity This is my personal blog where I record my experience

applying Acceptance Commitment Therapy to my anxiety and agoraphobia in particular, and my life in general. Feel free to browse. http://eyeofthehurricane-act.blogspot.com/

[Guest guest]

Mrs Em Equanimity,What a great thing you have written. Very brave of you to be aware of your fears and face them. I guess we all have our demons and its our mission in life to decipher our way to a fulfilling life. We all find our cues along the way as long as we search for them, ACT has been a great tool in my life, and if I may say something to you, I'd say to keep on your quest and never to give up (either via this behavioral approach you're doing now, or any other that best suits your needs). Life has a lot to unfold for all of us who go in the search for it. (Personally in such cases what helped me the most was precisely that, to stay present with all the sensations, even focusing on a specific sensation in the body, but after that I was able to use some cognitive techniques which led me to an even better phase, now I'm not saying I'm over everything, but i can definetely say that I can sense, know, feel the improvements in my whole life, I guess that the fact that it is not that easy gives our life an even better taste after we overcome such obstacles). 

keep on the good work!Rodolfo 

 

I did this today. Some images came on the television, setting of a series of sensations related to a trauma I have. I have to admit not knowing much about the origin of my trauma, its nature, the why etc, but I do know enough to know its something that causes deep feelings of horror, sickness, and of course, I usually avoid it.

So today, when I felt this feeling, I thought: lets not run away, lets stay just for a bit. And i did. It felt very very hot round my chest and throat, I felt nausea, and a strong urge to get away, definitely a survival mechanism similar to panic, but sort of slower and deeper I think. I stayed with it for maybe 10 to 20

seconds, and then had to go out of the room. I then sat on the balcony and also stayed with the " afterglow " of being with the feeling, this was pleasant either, but again, I stayed with it. Now as I write I feel a bit of an urge to cry, very subtle, not enough to cry.

I do notice in the last 8 months, that I say yes more and more often to experience, while before I just avoided full-stop. 

______________________Signature: Mrs Em Equanimity 

This is my personal blog where I record my experience

applying Acceptance Commitment Therapy to my anxiety and agoraphobia in particular, and my life in general. Feel free to browse. http://eyeofthehurricane-act.blogspot.com/