I think that the dread is held inside of you and it's not something that can simply be let go of, and you have to sit with the dread because it is the terrible reality of what it means to be living as you are where you are. And it goes without saying that that specific experience is above and beyond what any human being should have to endure, let alone be expected to continue going through the world with. And so I don't have anything but solidarity from another country and:
- Somatic movement literally changed my life. You are forced to embody yourself without over-intellectualising exactly what your body is, you just have to be in it, and it makes you connect with this very internal part of yourself that is not defined by sociopolitical structure and it's lowkey emotional asf and I am a very cynical person who was made to change my mind
so, if you can find/afford/have capacity to pay for classes that work for you, I would recommend yoga, tai chi, or any form of movement class like biomechanics or something along those lines (I would also argue climbing counts as somatic movement)
if not, I think there is something to be said for a YouTube video that you listen to instead of watching, in the privacy of your own space, just moving your body
- If this is too slow and difficult, my other favourite somatic exercise is just to put in AirPods and lock the door and dance and dance and dance. This eased my clinical dread when antidepressants were not working. they do not want you dancing. therefore it is very important to do so
Mar 14, 2025
Comments (1)
Make an account to reply.
I 100% agree. I definitely need to get back to yoga and meditation. Especially as an autistic person, talk therapy just isn’t enough to fully process everything sometimes. thank u <3
Mar 14, 2025
Related Recs
🧘
While your anxiety could definitely stem from trauma or childhood, you can’t go wrong with learning somatic healing. Talk therapy can help with the rest. Combating anxious thoughts is a huge part of it, but it’s not complete without tuning into your body. It can be helpful to dig into why those specific people are making you feel anxious, and target those underlying thoughts and feelings. There’s a possibility they just suck and your body is alerting you of that 🤷♀️
Anxiety is our amygdala alerting us of danger. In the modern world, that can get trigged by things that aren’t actually dangerous. Deep breaths work because in actual danger we naturally do not breathe deeply. It signals to our brain to be calm. Everyone’s why for anxiety is going to be personal to them, although not always different.
Finding ways to activate your vagus nerve can help you enter into a relaxed state more often. I’m a put an ice pack on my chest, deep breathe with my legs up the wall, and maybe throw on a guided mediation gal myself. You’ll find what works, try things out.
Jan 23, 2025
🫂
But as someone who is emotionally distant and whose emotions are basically perpetually trapped beneath an ocean 1000 leagues under the sea of my mind and heart here are some other suggestions:
* chakra yoga… starting at the root to help you feel safe enough to even explore and embody your emotions, sacral chakra to feel those emotions, solar plexus to feel empowered and confident, heart chakra to feel strong compassion for yourself and others, throat chakra to EXPRESS these emotions. Honestly I haven’t gone beyond throat chakra I’m getting there
* also just regular yin yoga for the hips because stuck emotions generally are stored there
* meditation… body scans and Tara Brach’s RAIN method. Becoming aware of where these emotions sit in the body and learning to process them is key
* reading emotional awareness educational materials for parents of toddlers.. actually very helpful at the most basic level
* watch movies that relate to the emotions you feel distant from so that you can experience those emotions through the conduit of a fictional story. i call this an emotional enema
Jun 24, 2024
⭐
This is (I think?) a form of meditation, but it's what I use to calm my mind, especially when I've woken up in the night and need to get back to sleep. I learned it from my favorite dance teacher who starts every class with this exercise. What you do is just tell yourself things, in sentence form, that are true about wherever you are right now. Majority of them should be sensory things. Like, "I feel my sweat pants on my leg." "I feel the heater blowing my hair." "I hear a car passing outside." "I see a gray sky." "I taste the apple pie I had for dessert." Just statements about what is true right now -- and this is the important part: WITHOUT COMMENTARY. Of course, because you have a human brain and this is what it is hard-wired to do, your will start supplying commentary anyway. So when that happens you just notice it, and absolutely don't judge it or anything, it's just another "fact of the moment" -- "that was commentary." You acknowledge the commentary and then go back to stating other (non-commentary) facts until the next bout of commentary, which you then acknowledge and move on from -- or until you fall asleep, which happens shockingly fast for me once I notice and move on from my first bout of commentary. Eventually you might feel like you've run out of facts so you can start saying the sentences over to yourself, with more space in them to take up more time, and somewhere in there, a sense of peace develops? A place where, just for a moment, thoughts get lulled into taking a break? I find that as soon as I notice that I'm in that peace, huge thoughts come FLOODING IN, and then I have to calmly and gently be like, "this is commentary. back to the facts." It's refreshing and it takes a very passive form of discipline, like, you should be as relaxed as possible -- lying on the floor or on a couch, not holding a single part of your body up, maybe eyes closed, total release, but not *total* because the thoughts do need to be guided -- not controlled, not judged, not even stopped. Just guided, like re-routing a little rivulet of water that's rolling down a hill.
Feb 11, 2024
Top Recs from @madchen
💏
one night stand or future spouse nothing beats the anticipation.... the build...... the mystery revealed.....
Jul 23, 2024
🪙
builds character
Apr 2, 2024
📠
the old-fashioned way, like you would before the entire internet was monopolised into basically three conglomerates. why would you spend all your time on your computer swapping between instagram tiktok youtube pinterest when you could find some of the coolest websites you've never heard about learning information your algorithm would never feed to you!!!!
a good place to start is your favourite artist's websites (not just musicians!) sometimes they have blogs (especially if they're writers) and often they link websites they like.
I also like magazine websites - the face, angel food, hot literati
or craigslist missed connections. I check the new york section all the time
Oct 8, 2024