This is inspired by one of my favorite breathing techniques!
Imagine your favorite color fill you up as you breathe in. When you breathe out, imagine your least favorite color leaving you. You can also imagine unwanted memories, thoughts, or emotions instead of your least favorite color. Repeat.
I love breathing techniques so much! Video credits go to myself!
soft subby girls that never speak unless spoken to and just look cute and needy, spreading their legs for you to take out all your stress on them whenever you want because they know their place and stay in it are the best
Yeah this is one big ramble. I needed to post something, I didn’t try to be totally cohesive and of course I want to be considerate of everyone suffering right now. Let me know if there’s something I can edit.
I’m happy for the calming tactics, I’m happy for those tv shows, buzzfeed lists, songs, etc that are a slight distraction. And they did work. But I also felt better signing up for email lists and staying tuned.
If you cant donate, please sign up for emails from organizations protecting your rights. Here are places to start. Many of them have petitions you can sign that will go directly to the White house.
Artists using the hashtag #drawdrive are offering art for a donation to those places. Search the hashtag on twitter.
Here is my list of things that I use for Anxiety though, if you’d like it:
1) Mozart In the Jungle on Amazon Prime (a drama but nothing jarring or upsetting about it) also curb your enthusiasm 2) Vulfpeck’s “Smile Meditation” 3) The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Broad City on Hulu 4) Again, the Lizzie McGuire movie on Netflix 5) FRASIER on Netlfix, also the Nightman Cometh episode of always sunny specifically 6) Getting into a webcomic, check out some on Tapastic or may I suggest starting Strong Female Protagonist (there’s a lot to read, it will take up some time)or Witchy 7) Those Buzzfeed lists that say “Betcha cant get through this post without spending 50 bucks” yadda yadda yeah they work 8) Every Frame a Painting, Nerdwriter and Vox informational videos on Youtube (focus on art-based ones). Also Nostalgia Critic/Chick for some v doofy movie reviews 9) If you have an e-reader, download books from the library. 10) Animal webcams 12) getting the add-on for facebook that removes trending topics from your feed 13) Target’s children’s home section has REALLY CUTE STUFF BELIEVE ME 14) this endless tumblr post http://shelbys-advice-blog.tumblr.com/…/…/calming-masterpost 15) Perusing Groupon. Seriously it’s very fun.
Change will be made. Much love to you all, and only that.
And to be clear no, this is not a “cure” for anxiety. (God, I cried in the process of making this a few times.) It’s that little dose of positivity that’s a kick in the head back to reality, and back to me thinking forward and onward and upward (instead of just blocking out the shit of the world).
(Apologies for the massive break. Promise there WILL be weekly posts from now on and thank you all for your support!)
On Pervasive Anxiety and Stimulating the Nervous System For Deep Relaxation
A short burst of fight-or-flight gives you an adrenaline boost and intensifies your mental focus so you can react quickly and effectively in a dangerous situation. Prolonged activation of this state is unproductive and damaging, however. It keeps you looking for danger—even in the most mundane circumstances!—and depletes you greatly, impairing your immune system, cognitive function, digestion, healing, nervous system, and more. It also makes it easier for you to be influenced or controlled.
How do you ease yourself into ease (your natural state) even when things feel scary? It might not be as difficult as it seems.
I like to start by making a clear goal—to shift myself out of anxiety/fight-or-flight into parasympathetic nervous system dominance (rest-and-digest). This state of deep relaxation is how you’d generally feel after an amazing massage, and is how you’re supposed to feel most of the time!
How often do you actually feel this way? Make your goal to go fully into it—stop settling for just okay! Once you find deep ease you will activate a positive feedback loop that makes it far easier to maintain.
There are lots of ways to do it, but I’ll share the two things I use most, then you can test them or do your own research.
The main tool I use repeatedly throughout the day is a simple breathing strategy. A few minutes of deep, full, noisy breaths to bring in more oxygen and stimulate the nervous system directly from within. Experiment with different ways of doing this and listen to your body. Do you feel high, tingly, giddy, or calmed? What feels best?
This strategy could also bring up some negative emotions at first. This is good! Be prepared to embrace and process what comes.
Secondly, I really like to use the system at the beginning of my first book (Create Now) about once a day to get into focus and flow. It also helps you to address underlying negative beliefs/emotions that may surface from the breathing—if you don’t cheat and skip the venting exercise!
If you want to, try a few minutes of noisy deep breathing now, and let me know below how it goes! Or tag some friends and you can try it together.
This kitty was made when I was just feeling kind of glum and blah and like I wanted an actual cat to spend some time with (can’t get one because I’m deathly allergic and all that jazz). I named mine Mrs. Bigglesworth. The right ear has a bow, which is explained in the pattern, but the left ear has a fake flower that was given to me at my first semi-professional art show that I thought would be an added bonus.
Difficulty: Beginner
Yarn: Neutral colour (I used black), Exciting colour (I used a variegated pink-white-purple), gray
Extra supplies: Two safety eyes (I recommend ones that aren’t black, or have colours on the outer edges), plastic bag, small amount of rice or small beans (approx. 2g)
Body (Start with exciting colour)
Round 1: ch2, 6sc in second ch from hook. (6)
Round 2: 2sc in each st. (12)
Round 3: (2sc in first st, 1sc in next st) around. (18)
Round 4: (2sc in first st, 1sc in next 2 stitches) around. (24)
Round 5: (2sc in first st, 1sc in next 3 stitches) around. (30)
Round 6: (2sc in first st, 1sc in next 4 stitches) around. (36)
Round 7: In BLO, 1sc in each st around. (36)
Round 8: sc2tog, 1sc in next 32 stitches, sc2tog. (34)
Round 9: sc2tog, 1sc in next 30 stitches, sc2tog. (32)
Round 10: sc2tog, 1sc in next 28 stitches, sc2tog. (30)
Round 11: sc2tog, 1sc in next 26 stitches, sc2tog. (28)
Round 12: sc2tog, 1sc in next 24 stitches, sc2tog. (26)
Round 13: 1sc in each st around. (26)
Round 14: sc2tog, 1sc in next 22 stitches, sc2tog. (24)
Round 15: 1sc in each st around. (24)
Round 16: sc2tog, 1sc in next 20 stitches, sc2tog. (22)
Round 17: 1sc in each st around. (22)
Round 18: sc2tog, 1sc in next 18 stitches, sc2tog. (20)
Round 19: 1sc in each st around. (20)
Round 20: sc2tog, 1sc in next 16 stitches, sc2tog. (18)
Round 21: (sc2tog, 1sc in next st) around. Switch to neutral colour. (12)
Fill small bag with rice/beans. Place in bottom of cat. Be sure to tie a very sturdy knot in the bag. Fill rest of cat body with stuffing.
Round 22: (2hdc in first st, 1hdc in next st) around. (18)
Round 23: (2hdc in first st, 1hdc in next 2 stitches) around. (24)
Round 24: (2hdc in first st, 1hdc in next 3 stitches) around. (30)
Round 25: (2hdc in first st, 1hdc in next 4 stitches) around. (36)
Round 26-31: 1hdc in each st around. (36)
Round 32: (hdc2tog, 1hdc in next 4 stitches) around. (30)
Round 33: (hdc2tog, 1hdc in next 3 stitches) around. (24)
Round 34: (hdc2tog, 1hdc in next 2 stitches) around. (18)
Round 35: (hdc2tog, 1hdc in next st) around. (12)
Round 36: hdc2tog around. Fasten off. (6)
Sew top of head shut with tail. Sew on nose and whiskers with gray yarn
Ears (Make 2, in neutral colour)
Round 1: ch2, 4sc into second ch from hook. (4)
Round 2: 2sc in each st around. (8)
Round 3: (2sc in first st, 1sc in next st) around. (12)
Round 4: (2sc in first st, 1sc in next st) around. (18)
Round 5: 1sc in each st around. (18)
Round 6: sc2tog, 1sc in next 7st, sc2tog, 1sc in last 7st. (16)
Round 7: sc2tog, 1sc in next 6st, sc2tog, 1sc in last 6st. Fasten off. (14)
Flatten ear and sew to the top of the head.
Tail (in neutral colour)
Round 1: ch2, 4sc in second ch from hook. (4)
Round 2-13: 1sc in each st around. Fasten off. (4)
Sew to back of the project
Bow (in exciting colour)
Round 1: ch17, slst in ninth ch from hook, bring over original end and slst through it as well. Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.
This was a butt selfie taken by my Zoey approximately 5 minutes after a severe paddling. Zoey told me she needed a good cry and so I pulled her over my lap, and paddled her, turning her into a slobbering mess. Half way through it she started thanking me through her tears and told me they were happy tears.
Sometimes a stress relief paddling is exactly what my Zoey needs.
It amazes me that her butt is only slightly pink, yet obviously swollen. She took quite a paddling!
