Speed bumps in the brain.

[KatherinesPlace]

I need help with waking up in the morning at around 8 am and my mind is skipping from one thought to another, unable to fall back to sleep. This only happens in the morning. My thoughts are not of anything bad or scary. They’re just random silly stuff. How can I get some relief and make my mind slow down. Like speed bumps for my thoughts.
Im 75 and I take olanzapine and propranolol. I don’t want more meds or an increase in my meds, just some sort of natural way to work this out.
Anybody?

 

[MATD]

The more you stress about it, the more ingrained it becomes. Acceptance is key. Just let it happen without stressing or trying to get rid of it. Eventually, with practice, it will fade away. By allowing it to exist and accepting it without fighting or stressing, no labeling this phenomena as anything good or bad, just acknowledging it’s there and is no real threat, these thoughts will lose their power. It’s just like shrugging your shoulders and thinking “ so what?”

 

[Sloth54]

I need help with waking up in the morning at around 8 am and my mind is skipping from one thought to another, unable to fall back to sleep. This only happens in the morning. My thoughts are not of anything bad or scary. They’re just random silly stuff. How can I get some relief and make my mind slow down. Like speed bumps for my thoughts.
Im 75 and I take olanzapine and propranolol. I don’t want more meds or an increase in my meds, just some sort of natural way to work this out.
Anybody?

Yes, I know about that except the fact that mine Are filled with anxiety and fearful thoughts or negative thoughts. One thing I do is get out of bed right away. Otherwise it will continue. I do long slow deep breathing exercises to calm down my mind. The more I dwell on it the more it happens. So I try to stay busy with other things. Since your thoughts are just silly things, You could laugh about it and have a relaxed attitude towards it and say oh well that was a silly thought. And then move on to something else. The more we get upset about our thoughts the more we will have them.
But there are some great meditations on YouTube for relaxing the mind!

 

[He Man]

I need help with waking up in the morning at around 8 am and my mind is skipping from one thought to another, unable to fall back to sleep...
Im 75 and I take olanzapine and propranolol. I don’t want more meds or an increase in my meds, just some sort of natural way to work this out.
Anybody?

You might wanna try doing chores around the house.. I find focusing on tasks like that engages your immediate thinking, so your not ruminating about other things. And housework can help exhaust your body some. Then it's easier to fall back in to sleep..
Good luck ~

 

[KatherinesPlace]

The more you stress about it, the more ingrained it becomes. Acceptance is key. Just let it happen without stressing or trying to get rid of it. Eventually, with practice, it will fade away. By allowing it to exist and accepting it without fighting or stressing, no labeling this phenomena as anything good or bad, just acknowledging it’s there and is no real threat, these thoughts will lose their power. It’s just like shrugging your shoulders and thinking “ so what?”

I like your view point and this advice! I will start letting go with my anxiety over this.
Thanks much

Yes, I know about that except the fact that mine Are filled with anxiety and fearful thoughts or negative thoughts. One thing I do is get out of bed right away. Otherwise it will continue. I do long slow deep breathing exercises to calm down my mind. The more I dwell on it the more it happens. So I try to stay busy with other things. Since your thoughts are just silly things, You could laugh about it and have a relaxed attitude towards it and say oh well that was a silly thought. And then move on to something else. The more we get upset about our thoughts the more we will have them.
But there are some great meditations on YouTube for relaxing the mind!

Yes, the more I stress about them the more power they have. I’m thinking about listening to soft music. I’d happily go about household chores but I’m dependent on a walker and limited to how much walking I can do in one day.
Thanks people! This has all been very helpful and actually soothing for me. Looking forward to putting your advice to good use.

 

[KatherinesPlace]

I need help with waking up in the morning at around 8 am and my mind is skipping from one thought to another, unable to fall back to sleep. This only happens in the morning. My thoughts are not of anything bad or scary. They’re just random silly stuff. How can I get some relief and make my mind slow down. Like speed bumps for my thoughts.
Im 75 and I take olanzapine and propranolol. I don’t want more meds or an increase in my meds, just some sort of natural way to work this out.
Anybody?

Tried letting go for the first time this morning a little doubtful it would slow down things. It worked! I focused on acceptance and just lay there, arms outstretched, palms up with my dog at my side. I let those random thoughts roll through like thunderstorms and rain in our town in Iowa. It was surprisingly easy. Thoughts came and went then I fell asleep.
Thank you for all of your replies!

 

[MATD]

Good for you! Anxiety is usually worse in the mornings because the body, in the anxiety state, produces too much cortisol. This chemical’s purpose, among other things, is to help wake us up. It stimulates the body into arousal so I guess one could call it a stimulant. Keep up the practice of letting the thoughts come without reacting to them. They are just the result of the anxiety so no need to fear them or react to them in any way, no judgment necessary. That’s how acceptance works.

 

[Jonathan123]

I like the idea of speed bumps in the mind. Why? Because that's just what's needed to slow us down. And if we continue with tha analogy of road signs, how about a speed limit? 'Go slow'. That does apply in anxiety as does 'dead end ahead'. How many of us have gone or been led up dead ends by ill thought out advice? 'Curves in the road'. Life throws many curves at us and it is our problem that we speculate what is around the bend. 'It's driving me round the bend'!! It does seem that way.
'One way street'. And how often do we metaphorically go down the wrong way? 'No parking'. We can't stop and admire the view, there is work to be done. Yes, we can rest from our labours for a bit, but the path beckons and we have to keep walking on. Any sign to slow us down is helpful. How about 'Road works ahead'? Now that means taking precautions to avoid finishing up in a big hole. Go carefully and obey all the signs. Pace yourself. Don't try and do things that are beyond you at the moment. No forcing to do anything. It will all come later as you improve.

 

[KatherinesPlace]

Good for you! Anxiety is usually worse in the mornings because the body, in the anxiety state, produces too much cortisol. This chemical’s purpose, among other things, is to help wake us up. It stimulates the body into arousal so I guess one could call it a stimulant. Keep up the practice of letting the thoughts come without reacting to them. They are just the result of the anxiety so no need to fear them or react to them in any way, no judgment necessary. That’s how acceptance works.

I just discovered that if I take my anxiety medication later in the evening I don’t have all those speed bumps of anxiety flooding my mind and mornings are quieter. Combined with those relaxation techniques you told me about, I’m much clearer and happier when I wake up and just want to roll over and sleep more!
Thanks!!

 

[KatherinesPlace]

The more you stress about it, the more ingrained it becomes. Acceptance is key. Just let it happen without stressing or trying to get rid of it. Eventually, with practice, it will fade away. By allowing it to exist and accepting it without fighting or stressing, no labeling this phenomena as anything good or bad, just acknowledging it’s there and is no real threat, these thoughts will lose their power. It’s just like shrugging your shoulders and thinking “ so what?”

I need to let you know that it’s been about 4 weeks since I posted about my morning anxiety and let you know my progress. I’ve been letting go and focusing on acceptance of my thoughts. This technique has taken the power out of the constant flow of thoughts and they just flow away. My mind doesn’t go blank but I find not giving them power had taken 95% of this anxiety away!
I was so focused on running away from my thoughts that I had actually put myself in a corner and was fearful of them.
Im able to enjoy being in bed alone with my own mind now.
Thank you isn’t enough.

 

[MATD]

I need to let you know that it’s been about 4 weeks since I posted about my morning anxiety and let you know my progress. I’ve been letting go and focusing on acceptance of my thoughts. This technique has taken the power out of the constant flow of thoughts and they just flow away. My mind doesn’t go blank but I find not giving them power had taken 95% of this anxiety away!
I was so focused on running away from my thoughts that I had actually put myself in a corner and was fearful of them.
Im able to enjoy being in bed alone with my own mind now.
Thank you isn’t enough.

Thank Dr Weekes! If only she was still here and could receive it! Acceptance is a powerful tool if one chooses to utilize it. I’m glad you found it helpful. Don’t stop using it. In his book, Carl James gives us a surprising use for acceptance. He said even if you drop a piece of buttered bread butter side down on the floor, instead of getting upset or ticked off, use acceptance. Sh*t happens, why make it worse by complaining or getting angry. Instead just clean up the mess and move on. I tend to think of his analogy quite often when mundane things don’t work out as I hoped or planned. It does save me a lot of stress and therefore I don’t compound my anxiety. Moral of the lesson is acceptance is quite beneficial for more than anxiety.

 

[Jonathan123]

life is all about 'sod's law'. I know you call it something else in the US, (murphy's law?), but it is certain to come in at some stage in life. Dropping a piece of toast jam side down is a good analogy. If you are driving up a very narrow country lane along comes a big oil tanker coming the other way, and no passing places!! It seems that way but is it? Could it be that things we just took for granted become exaggerated in anxiety? Anxiety is all about exaggeration. Everything that is 'normal' gets blown up out of all proportion. If we look back on things we now worry over we may find they happened before, but we just shrugged them off. As MATD says, just mop up and move on with total acceptance. It can become a way of life even without anxiety, and a very helpful tool in any negative aspect of life.

 

[KatherinesPlace]

Thank Dr Weekes! If only she was still here and could receive it! Acceptance is a powerful tool if one chooses to utilize it. I’m glad you found it helpful. Don’t stop using it. In his book, Carl James gives us a surprising use for acceptance. He said even if you drop a piece of buttered bread butter side down on the floor, instead of getting upset or ticked off, use acceptance. Sh*t happens, why make it worse by complaining or getting angry. Instead just clean up the mess and move on. I tend to think of his analogy quite often when mundane things don’t work out as I hoped or planned. It does save me a lot of stress and therefore I don’t compound my anxiety. Moral of the lesson is acceptance is quite beneficial for more than anxiety.

Are you referring to the late Dr. Clair Weekes?

 

[MATD]

Are you referring to the late Dr. Clair Weekes?

Yep