5 Principles of Reiki

Just for today, I will not worry

Just for today, I will not be angry

Just for today, I will do my work honestly

Just for today, I will be kind to all living things

Just for today, I will be grateful for my many blessings

CBD & Mindfulness & Sitting With Anxiety

With a history of PTSD, anxiety has riddled my entire adult life. I am currently and successfully using CBD, a derivative of marijuana called cannabidiol, to relax me enough to implement the many mindfulness, emotional regulation and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy skills in my anxiety management toolbox. I struggled to implement these skills pre-CBD because the anxiety was so intense, I would become lost in it.

The greatest gift, the most empowering ability available to me now as a result of CBD is using mindfulness to be with and observe anxiety when it happens.

When I am triggered, the beauty of CBD, for me, is how my mind is quiet, relaxed enough to not go down the rabbit hole (mostly), lost in fear-based thoughts. Instead, I become acutely aware of anxiety’s physical manifestation; of how powerful anxiety clutches its claws into my chest.

I observe the anxiety in my chest – crushing in on me – feeling like I can’t breathe. I reflect back to the trigger. What started this? What is my body trying to protect me from? What is this anxiety trying to tell me? Also, I can recognize anxiety as an old friend, a noticing with a compassionate “Here we go,” sorta response and ride it out – without taking the anxiety personally.

Another noticing is how often anxiety hits me during the day. I am baffled as to how I lived like this for so long. I guess anxiety had become my normal: inherently fear-based and reactive with the struggle to hide it and manage it.

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Ride the Waves

I’m learning to surf the waves of anxiety. This is a profound transformation for me. I’ve always been drawn to mindfulness, and now with the assistance of CBD – I can actually practice it. I’m not sitting on a pillow and meditating. Not yet! As mentioned above, I’m practicing non-judgmental noticing of an emotion, observing it and learning from it while riding it out. The sitting practice of meditation is when I go to bed and listen to Tamara Levitt’s 10 minute Daily Calm on Calm. Small steps… one day at a time.

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CBD is part of my success story of managing anxiety.

However you are managing anxiety, just for today…when the waves hit, let us ride them out and surf successfully to shore!

S, 🏄🏼‍♀️