How you spend your mornings determines how the rest of your day is going to go. My old lifestyle went something like this; wake up, focus on my sensations, drink coffee, and deal with emotional turbulence as the day went on. When it came to 2pm, I felt emotionally exhausted and the day was only half over. Truth is, we wake up already focused internally on your sensations and we start to dread that the next panic attack is right around the corner. How do you start your morning so that you can take on your anxiety and feel empowered and truly fulfilled throughout the day?
Fist thing I do when I wake up is drink filtered WATER. Your body is depleted after your 8 hr sleep so why not give back to your body? I drink 1 litre of filtered spring water before noon because this helps with digestion and refuelling the body to take on the day. Anxiety can occur if you are dehydrated.
The second thing I do is write in my MORNING JOURNAL. This is important and you should be doing this every single day for the rest of your life. Since my recovery, I have not missed a day. This is crucial because this allows you to get all your thoughts and worries down onto paper. Describe what your worried about, what sensations are you feeling, all the ‘what if’ thinking going on in your head, and also, what are you excited about today? If you are currently suffering from debilitating anxiety, what are the challenges you want to overcome during the day? I remember I was afraid of having a panic attack during a job interview. I wrote it down in my journal, then I wrote that I’m excited to prove my old self wrong by facing this challenge head on. I had to prove to myself that I can overcome my horrible panicky sensations. The job interview went great because I ended up riding the wave of panic when I was in the interview and left the place feeling liberated. Put yourself in those anxious situations, but first, start with that journal.
The third thing is MEDITATION. Start off with 10 minutes a day if you have never done it before. Sit in a quiet space in your home and focus on your breath while you sit. At this moment, I have gotten so good at meditation that I have been advancing my skills to more deeper breathing exercises that have have gotten my body so relaxed and charged up with oxygen that I would mediate for an hour and not even realize it. It all starts with the breath. This is the gateway to overcoming anxiety and depression. Meditation allows you to better your breathing which is important for anxiety sufferers because we are shallow breathers. So start with the breath and sit for your 10 minutes in the morning. Over time you will become addicted to it and you will advance your skills and go deeper and deeper into a relaxed state every time you Meditate.
When you Meditate, it is important to cycle through mental imagery. If you think of yourself not healthy, weak, and shy, then picture yourself on the beach running in the sand healthy and vibrant. If you have a meeting or have an important interview, then picture your posture straight and you being outgoing and laughing. Use mental images to better plan your day and show to yourself that this is the person you want to become!
