Hi Friends,
No one told me this about anxiety, so now I am telling you!
I have struggled with my mental health for over 12 years now. 8 of which have been actively dedicated to healing. Until last year, I was convinced that healing your mental health was solely a mental thing. I thought it was about learning to control your thoughts and understand your trauma. Period. So that’s what I did. 4 years of therapy spent working on controlling my thoughts and talking through trauma, and I thought I was done. My anxiety was under control and very manageable, my eating disorder had improved, I had pulled myself out of my depression, and well, I thought I was in the clear. And then summer 2024 hit me over the freaking head with a brick.
Now, my mental health has always affected me very physically. Migraines, chest pains, dizziness, stomach aches, you name it. In times of extreme stress, I would literally acquire a cold because I was so anxious. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have many people who can confirm it’s true. As an athlete, before every competition, I would literally make myself sick from stress. So I guess at some point it should have dawned on me that physical symptoms need some sort of physical treatment, yet it never did.
Until summer 2024, that is. In July 2024 my anxiety became more physical than mental. To the point where the physical symptoms I was experiencing made the mental anxiety worse. (The vicious cycle of health anxiety. Being anxious causes physical symptoms, which make the anxiety worse so on and so fourth). So of course I started to do some research as anyone does when they are having odd symptoms and that is how I learned about the need for healing your nervous system. Due to the whole cold thing, I always thought there was something wrong with my nervous system. Seeing it obviously couldn’t process my stress in a normal way, but I kinda just thought that was the way I was and never pursued anything to fix it. That is, before I learned that this wasn’t just a mistake in my makeup but something many people unknowingly suffer from, and something you could actually heal.
I first read about this in June 2024, and looking back, I should have been overjoyed to learn I could heal, and that this was not just a me thing I would have to live with forever. However, I did not implement it until September 2024 because I was in a hard state of denial and avoidance. It felt like I had to start over. It felt like for those 4 years, I had been doing it all wrong, and now I needed to go back and start from square 1. Sure, I was happy that there was a solution. But things were good before that summer 2024 brick hit me, and I just could not wrap my head around or accept the fact that I was back in this hole I had just thought I had escaped. So I didn’t. I labelled it as “A new chapter in my healing journey”. This helped me see it as if I wasn’t tearing down the house I had spent the last four years building; I was adding to it. Putting in an addition, if you will. Maybe with a sunroom or a separate office, that kind of thing.
My automatic thought when I learned about healing the nervous system was, “Why on earth did no one tell me this sooner?” How did no one stop me in my tracks during those 4 years when I thought I was working toward my healing finish line and had then graduated with honours in “healing from anxiety and trauma” and tell me that 1. Healing is actually never over 2. You have to heal physically, mentally, and emotionally 3. All of that trauma you think you worked through because you learned how to replace the thought is still stored in your body.
So that is why I am telling you. I am calling this new series on my blog “Nervous System Regulation Station”. It will be a deep dive into everything I have learned and experienced over the last year and ½ on my journey to heal my physical body and regulate my nervous system. I will be sharing ways to begin healing your nervous system. As well as small things you can implement in your daily life to stay regulated. People ask me all the time how I do things in spite of my anxiety. This, my friends, is the golden ticket! It is my key to travelling with anxiety (I have a new travel anxiety series coming to my blog as well! Check back on Thursday for more Details on this!), facing my fears, processing trauma, and learning how to live a full life with mental illness.
I can’t wait to share what I have learned and everything I’m still discovering on this journey! In this series, you’ll find honest stories from my journey, practical tools you can use right away, and a real look at the ups and downs of reconnecting with and healing your mind and body. If you have ever wondered, “What is wrong with me? Am I the problem? Is healing even possible for me?” then this series is for you. I have come a really long way and have been able to handle things I never thought would be possible for me because of my anxiety. Thanks to regulating my nervous system, and you can too! Together we can grow and heal in a safe, encouraging and supportive community.
Subscribe, follow along and check back each week. I promise to keep it real, keep it helpful and keep showing up for you each week! The best is yet to come!
Until Next Week, My Friends,
P.S. I’m proud of you 😉