I learned this lesson the hard way. About 3.5yrs after Sofia was born, I was driving to work after I had dropped her off at daycare. All of a sudden I couldn’t breathe, my body went numb, I pulled into the nearest parking lot which happened to be Burger King. Now, I’ve had manyyy panic attacks before (#generalanxietyforthewin) but this was different – I felt like my whole body + mind were shutting down. I managed to call Mike and him and my Dad came to get me and took me to the Dr. I had no appointment, they had no availability but I told them I was coming any way. They hooked me up to the ekg machine to check my heart, heart rate was high but bp was normal. Besides some medication, I was told that I was doing too much and I needed to relax, get sleep and take it easy. Ha! Very easy to say to a busy Mom and beyond impossible to achieve.
After this experience, I began a deep soul search, reading anything spiritual I could get my hands on. I did a quick daily AM + PM yoga routine to take the edge off and I meditated like my life depended on it. Youtube guided meditations were my go-to, I got sucked in fast. It was so nice to shut my thoughts off for 30min every day and go someplace beautiful in my head. –> that sounds so lame after saying it, but it’s true!
It took years to get to the place I’m at today but I’m glad it all played out the way it did. I’m now in much better tune with my body and can pickup on the cues it’s giving when the stress load is reaching max capacity (for me I start wheezing, dizziness, my chest gets tight and I have rapid shallow breathing). I know this means to go to bed early that night, take my anxiety medicine (if it’s really bad), workout at least 10min to blast away adrenaline or I go read a few pages in a positive self-help book.
There is no right or wrong way to care for yourself. I thought it might help if I shared a little of my story. Your body may need completely different things than mine and that’s ok. Start to listen, tune-in, your body is always in constant communication with you.
Remember, relaxation is a chance for your body to return to a peaceful state that’s far away from the chaos and stress that regularly run rampant.
When your mind gives you all the reasons you can’t relax, shut it down and start thinking of all the reasons you should
And girl…
here’s your personal permission slip to GO RELAX (and make it a normal part of everyday life)!!!