Anyone struggle with Anxiety?

[akakirby]

I have suffered from this for the past 3-4 years so I feel your pain, when it first happened the doctor gave me zoloft for about a year I then decided I did not want to take it anymore so I stopped, I can control it better now (breathing and thinking it through) and it has gotten better I very rarely get panic attacks anymore but still have anxiety sometimes, I try to breath and just think my way through it. Do you get panic attacks or just anxiety?

its runs in my family to, I have a cousin who suffered from it and my mom also had some issues years ago.

Originally Posted by akakirby

...the doctor gave me zoloft for about a year I then decided I did not want to take it anymore so I stopped, I can control it better now (breathing and thinking it through) and it has gotten better I very rarely get panic attacks anymore but still have anxiety sometimes, I try to breath and just think my way through it...

Breathing exercises can do wonders for dealing with stress and anxiety... throw in some mental exercises and you basically have meditation... which is my recommendation... Very simple... yet transformative in my most humble opinion...

Try this...

Robulous's guide to meditation

Go to Rainymood.com

sit Indian style on the floor or other non backed chair... rock back and forward, left and right... find your center of gravity and then hold it with comfortable, but not lazy, posture....

Close your eyes... Breathe from the diaphragm... count the inhales of your breaths... once you get to 10 count right back down to 1...

Dont worry if you miss a count or two... after doing this exercise for about 5 minutes I start to loose sensation, feeling, consciousness < pick one> of all of my body other then my head... <which I refer to as the "head plane" because it is as if there was a plane intersecting my neck and I become aware of nothing below it...>

I continue this till I feel calm and peaceful....usually doesn't take longer then 10 mins.... the more often you do it the quicker you will be able to ascend to the "head plane" which is the part of meditation that, In my personal opinion, is where the benefits of meditation come from...

after much, much practice, monks and other practitioners can maintain and even enter the "head plane" with their eyes open or while walking around...



My half-assed guide and terminology aside, Meditation is very powerful and beneficial, I would definitely give it a shot.... ESPECIALLY BEFORE ZOLOFT!!! My Mom was on it for YEARS and coming off of it was brutal on the family to say the least...