So glad to hear you had nothing to recover from this May!!!!! Your garden looks amazing. We try very hard, but we don't get anywhere near that type of crop. If I could add a photo of our onions, you'd shake your head. Too hot here and not enough water. We do get a great pomegranate crop. And limelight hydrangeas are happy. 💛💛💛
I read Body Keeps The Score and many other trauma/mental health related books after my breakdown in 2021. It was good but it is long and a bit academic - 2/3rds of it is about the history of trauma research (stories of war veterans, kidnap victims, etc.) and how the brain changes as a result of trauma which was moving and gave me context, but not much about advice or treatment.
The last 1/3rd is about known treatments and it primarily makes the case that traditional talk therapy isn't likely to be effective for trauma when compared to body/neurology approaches like Yoga, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, neurofeedback, movement, theater, and dance.
Ah, good to know re the textbooky nature of it. I'll probably read it alongside something else a little lighter, then. I've heard a lot about EMDR over the years, but only recently learned this is the book most people heard about it from.
Good for you for piecing together your anxiety! This kind of thing can be so tricky. I often have a low mood around the anniversary of certain awful events, and anxiety can definitely spike once your body feels "safe" enough to let down its guard. Hope your garden and reading bring you some peace.
Thank you, Jen, for sharing with humor and grace. I too am a Formerly Chill Person (FCP) who has experienced panic attacks/anxiety for the last few years. One sent me to urgent care for an EKG (it was normal). I’m finally taking self-care seriously, and it’s helping, gradually.
Cumulative stress over years coupled with hormone changes can definitely lead to panic attacks. I have had a similar experience: family member illness, toxic job, pandemic losses and upheaval, unemployment, church dysfunction and meltdown... For me, the church dysfunction was the tipping point. Losing that support and and extended family connection plus the appalling behavior of some churches and Christians left me feeling untethered. I have had to work very hard to ground myself in Jesus and his gospel. Navigating personal trauma and pain while immersed in the noise and chaos of a world that has seemingly gone mad is exhausting. I've had to slow down and learn how to rest. It's crazy but that's something you don't know how to do when you are raised to believe that your value is dependent on what you do. It's a long and difficult journey.
A gardening journal? Holy moly. I can't even keep a regular journal.
I keep forgetting to write labels on my plants that don't disintegrate when they get wet. I have 6 types of peppers and I only remember what one of them is. I just juiced 8 large cucumbers because they had the nerve to all ripen at once. Which is forcing me to make cucumber and gin (with lime and mint and a bit of tonic) martinis every night.
I think you are spot on regarding the month of May. I'm currently listening to the audio book of The Body Keeps the Score. I like it but I have to admit that listening to it makes me more anxious. I think I'm gonna go back to trying to finish the Bono autobiography. He's a really great narrator but he needed a more brutal editor.
So glad to hear you had nothing to recover from this May!!!!! Your garden looks amazing. We try very hard, but we don't get anywhere near that type of crop. If I could add a photo of our onions, you'd shake your head. Too hot here and not enough water. We do get a great pomegranate crop. And limelight hydrangeas are happy. 💛💛💛
Pomegranates! How fun! Do they grow on trees? (I feel dumb for not knowing.)
I read Body Keeps The Score and many other trauma/mental health related books after my breakdown in 2021. It was good but it is long and a bit academic - 2/3rds of it is about the history of trauma research (stories of war veterans, kidnap victims, etc.) and how the brain changes as a result of trauma which was moving and gave me context, but not much about advice or treatment.
The last 1/3rd is about known treatments and it primarily makes the case that traditional talk therapy isn't likely to be effective for trauma when compared to body/neurology approaches like Yoga, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, neurofeedback, movement, theater, and dance.
Ah, good to know re the textbooky nature of it. I'll probably read it alongside something else a little lighter, then. I've heard a lot about EMDR over the years, but only recently learned this is the book most people heard about it from.
Good for you for piecing together your anxiety! This kind of thing can be so tricky. I often have a low mood around the anniversary of certain awful events, and anxiety can definitely spike once your body feels "safe" enough to let down its guard. Hope your garden and reading bring you some peace.
Gardening is definitely a peaceful, regulating activity. Love it.
Yes, on trees, and if you haven't been around them, how would you know? I think they can also be grown as bushes.
'I only grew 37 heads of garlic this year'! 🙌 And Jen, your RHUBARB!!!
Thank you, Jen, for sharing with humor and grace. I too am a Formerly Chill Person (FCP) who has experienced panic attacks/anxiety for the last few years. One sent me to urgent care for an EKG (it was normal). I’m finally taking self-care seriously, and it’s helping, gradually.
Cumulative stress over years coupled with hormone changes can definitely lead to panic attacks. I have had a similar experience: family member illness, toxic job, pandemic losses and upheaval, unemployment, church dysfunction and meltdown... For me, the church dysfunction was the tipping point. Losing that support and and extended family connection plus the appalling behavior of some churches and Christians left me feeling untethered. I have had to work very hard to ground myself in Jesus and his gospel. Navigating personal trauma and pain while immersed in the noise and chaos of a world that has seemingly gone mad is exhausting. I've had to slow down and learn how to rest. It's crazy but that's something you don't know how to do when you are raised to believe that your value is dependent on what you do. It's a long and difficult journey.
A gardening journal? Holy moly. I can't even keep a regular journal.
I keep forgetting to write labels on my plants that don't disintegrate when they get wet. I have 6 types of peppers and I only remember what one of them is. I just juiced 8 large cucumbers because they had the nerve to all ripen at once. Which is forcing me to make cucumber and gin (with lime and mint and a bit of tonic) martinis every night.
I think you are spot on regarding the month of May. I'm currently listening to the audio book of The Body Keeps the Score. I like it but I have to admit that listening to it makes me more anxious. I think I'm gonna go back to trying to finish the Bono autobiography. He's a really great narrator but he needed a more brutal editor.