Stress hurts

Hi there @Evie1

When I am stressed I get the shakes and feel quite emotional too, I think it's good to let your emotions out when you feel that way, sometimes I will listen to some music or watch a movie as a way of letting it out and crying, instead of bottling it up. Some people find that expressing their emotions through being crafty helps to relax you, do you like to do any art? Sometimes painting with watercolours and even colouring in can be nice ways of making you feel more calm. You can buy cheap colouring in books from $2 shops

Lunar

Hello @Evie1

Sending you love, putting my cyber-arms around you

hi @Evie1

do you see a psychologist to get that one-one support?

do you have any coping strategies to help you when your anxiety is high?

hi @Evie1

its really good that your seeing a psychologist

ive got a few coping strategies that you can try

5 4 3 2 1 EXERCISE

These are exercises in noticing what is around us:
Sight: Look around you and name as you look at 5 different objects (variation: 5 blue/black/green objects), then do the same for 4 of those 5 objects, 3 of those 5 objects, etc.
Sight & Touch: Look at, name and touch 5 different objects, noticing their texture, temperature, mass and weight as you do so. Then do the same for 4 of those objects, 3 of those objects, etc.
Sight, Touch and Smell/Taste: Look at (in a garden or a kitchen), name, taste and smell 5 different objects, noticing their colours, texture, taste and aroma. Then do the same for 4 of those objects, 3, 2, and 1.
Hearing: Close your eyes and listen for 5 different sounds. Then 4, 3, 2, and 1.

ABDOMINAL BREATHING

So start by sitting either on the floor on a cushion with your legs crossed or in a symmetrical posture on a chair, and just start to notice the gentle sensations of air flowing in and out of your nostrils. You an have your eyes closed or open…
Just starting to take notice, spending a few moments sensing the breath there at the nostrils – in and out.
And now notice how your attention can move down to the level of your chest and sense the movement in and out of the chest, as the air moves in and out of your lungs. Upper chest, middle chest, ribcage part of the chest, just riding the waves of your breath, focusing on the sensation of your chest rising and falling with each breath.
And now noticing how you can let your attention move down to the level of your abdomen as you sense the inward and outward movement of your belly. You can put your hand over your abdomen if you find it difficult to sense your belly’s movement at first.
As air moves into your lungs, the diaphragm pulls downwards, and pushes your abdomen outward. As air moves out of your lungs, your belly moves inward. Just sense the breath in and out, riding the waves of the breath as you focus on the sensation of your abdomen, moving in and out.
Gentle natural breaths at the abdomen. No need to change your natural breath, no need to force it. You can practice this calming abdominal method of breathing wherever you are during the day; whether you’re standing in a queue waiting for your lunch, whether you are driving the car; just starting to become aware of where your breath is most prominent and moving your attention to where it is in your body.
We take our breath with us wherever we ago so it’s a tool we can use in times of stress, anxiety, frustration, irritation, just noticing… noticing the breath at the abdomen, will often allow you to recapture some groundedness and some calm in order to move on with your day
While you are sitting in this practice right now, focusing on your breath at the abdomen, you will notice that thoughts arise. They may be about ‘what am I doing this for?’, ‘this is a bit crazy’, ‘I’m never going to be able to do this’ – just notice those thoughts as thoughts and let them go. And bring your attention back lovingly to your breath at the abdomen. As your abdomen gently rises and falls. Breath after breath, in and out, moment by moment.
Shoulders relaxed, face relaxed, the only movement is your abdomen rising and falling.
And now this exercise is finishing. Open your eyes if they were closed, looking around you, coming back to the space where you’re sitting, taking a few long deep inhalations and exhalations, stretching the body, and moving on with your day

BODY AWARENESS

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, making sure that you do not have any constriction and loosen any tight clothing. Starting with your feet pay attention to the physical feelings in your feet – any pain, discomfort, cold, warmth, whatever. Simply pay attention to the physical feelings – don’t try to change them, just be aware of them. Slowly allow your awareness to drift up from your feet to your lower legs, again simply paying attention to any physical sensations in that part of your body. Then slowly let your awareness drift further up your body, doing the same gentle noticing for all of the parts of your body – your upper legs, your hips, your buttocks, your stomach, your chest, your lower back, your upper back, your hands, your lower arms, your upper arms, your shoulders, your neck, the back of your head, your forehead, your temples, your face – eyes, cheeks, nose, mouth, jaw line – and then let your awareness drift gently and slowly back down your body, noticing any other places where there is pain, discomfort or tension and simply noticing this, until you awareness settles back at your feet.
Commence doing this exercise just for 5 minutes – it can be done sitting down in a chair or lying in bed. Over time, don’t worry about how long it takes – just allow yourself to pay attention to the sensations in your body.

BREATHE, HOLD AND RELEASE

1. Take a deep breath – breathing in fully and as deeply as you can.
2. Hold the breath for a count of 5 – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
3. One the count of 5, release the breath all at once.
4. As you continue to do this exercise you can slow down the counting a little bit each time so that the holding of the breath becomes progressively a little longer.
5. In between breaths that you hold you may wish to take a couple of normal breaths.
6. Remember that no matter how long you hold the in-breath that you let the out-breath escape in a “whoosh”, releasing all the breath at once.
After a while you should notice that your breathing has slowed down. You may also notice that your muscles feel more loose and relaxed, especially after each sudden out-breath when your body may even go floppy for a few seconds