Dawn Storm: Awaken to tension

This is part one of a two-part series.

Ah…morning. A new day begins, fresh scripts, new opportunities. There are plenty of idyllic cliches: sunlight and soft breezes gently spill Gozai curtains, smelling fresh coffee brewing, day to grab. But for many of us (and our patients and students), the first light brings intense weather rather than mild sunrise. Instead of “New Day, New You,” there is a familiar storm already waiting at your bedside.

In my clinical research, people and anxiety And especially PTSDI was more tailored to asking about their awakening experiences and what goes with it. The novelty of a new day allows you to be afraid rather than hope, and can uniquely punish the morning. It tains the act of awakening to a foreshadowing. Instead of the natural curiosity and freshness we ideally desire, there is preemptive tone: branching of the body, mind scan. The day is framed not as a possibility but as a risk.

And terror can be a daily rehearsal, as waking is inevitable trauma– A subtle but merciless erosion with a sense of safety. In this and next posts, I would like to highlight some aspects and some aspects of this underreported difficulties Mindful How to manage it. First, define the trouble.

I wake up

To the act of awakening: Slowing the video will help you identify what comes out of the spread. sleepy Lala lands on an experience she barely notices. Then, perhaps suddenly, the reality grid snaps: me, here, now. And with that grid, the context would be: Today’s date, obligation, open issues.

For some, the grid and its contents are specific triggers for reflective tension. You are facing the interpersonal interactions of the day. It should be boiled or perfect. Or “FOMO” tension about the choice that already preparatory regrets.

And for others, it’s awakening itself It drives threats in a conditioned way from its limiting surface. The newness of “now” is dangerous and creates a surge in the number stress Neurochemistry is not even without a specific or defined trigger. The morning itself is the trigger. Over a few patients share that they have reflexive thoughts on a daily basis. suicideevery morning – not facing a storm, but a kind of imaginary euthanasia.

Just snap your eyes to open the drive fear? Of course, it sounds… odd. As we found out by gently exploring topics with our patients, it’s embarrassing for some. My prediction is that awakening anxiety is likely to be underreported as a result, but no specific data was found on this. But that “eccentricity” can add an additional layer of suffering: self-deprecation. Why can’t I wake up to peace like others? Why does my mind do this? This burden makes it difficult to move out of the state and reinforces the belief that the morning is a personal morbid struggle.

The immediacy of panic quickly from the unconscious is also really difficult to take part in treatment. Unlike daytime bursts of anxiety, they are working to identify warning signs and apply tactics to “land the plane,” and panic and “runways” already in flight will not become taxis. Palliatives are thinking of some alprazolam under the tongue, but at the expense of taking a dent in the morning in terms of prudence and mental clarity, for the sake of rescue. Nighttime medicines that try to preempt a wake-up storm pose a similar risk.

So…it’s tough. Each time you wake up, there are two branching paths.

• Confine it: The mind grabs the first uneasy hook and spins into anti-minative rehearsals, enhancing body tension and additional judgment.
• opening: With awareness, you can pause, breathe and witness the surge in anxiety as a byproduct of waking up. Not as the truth, but as the weather.

There are some mindful tactics from “core 4” (breathing) meditationscan, rehearsal, compassion practice) can really benefit. It can be divided into night and morning. But first you need to recognize it empathy Listening – Normalizing this pattern of suffering and perceive it as a common biologically primmed experience rather than a personal failure is a good treatment in itself. This gentle reconstruction alone can soften the edges.

If you wake up at dawn and feel like you’re stepping straight into a storm, you can simply name what it is. This pattern is common, biologically prepared and nothing to be embarrassed about. From there, the question is how to prepare the weather and how to navigate it when it arrives. This is the focus of the next part of this discussion. We’ll explore further details on how to prepare and respond to these morning storms. It’s a practical strategy at bedtime and awakening that helps to soften the shock and turn the first moment of the day from lock-up to opening.