What is it about the life sustaining breath that is so powerful...I am sure just the fact that a single breath keeps you alive is amazing enough. I honestly have never given the breath much thought. Aren't things like that though...You don't really seem to ponder them until you really need them.
I have been having major sleeping problems...I have over time invested in just about every tool to relax you that a person can think of. I bought a biofeedback device a few years ago. I had hope it would help me with my anxiety. After paying over 300 dollars I used it maybe a few weeks and then into a drawer for a few years. I had thought I would sell it on eBay and get some of the money I paid back. I could just never do it! I guess I always thought; what if it comes in handy. When I bought my first ipod it was much the same way. I bought it was all excited and it was put in a drawer for at least a good year. I then started therapy and found it a very useful tool to aid my recovery. Now I enjoy it so much and use it every day.
So back to the my biofeedback device called the Stress Eraser. Who wouldn't want to erase stress? Well recently I had been having more and more problems with palpitations and it was really scary. I had always found solice in sleep...no matter how bad things got in life sleep was always a great escape. While sleeping I could go anywhere and be anything. With the palpitations that were more and more frequent my world started to feel more and more closed in once again. This time though there wasn't going to be any escape.
My therapist during one session mentioned I might be hyperventilating in my sleep. It was an interesting insight at the very least. However no one knew for sure. She recommend my relaxation meditation and medication if needed. After about a few weeks with meds every night before bed it was working. I wasn't having palpitations but who the hell wants to depend on a drug. I wasn't going to.
One night after talking with my husband about how afraid I was to go to sleep I decided to try my Stress Eraser device. No meds this night I was going to brave the night without them. I did 60 relaxing breaths and well the next thing I remember was the sun peeking through the window to awaken me up. I must say it was a VERY relaxing night of sleep. I was amazed. Could it be as simple as my breath!!! Well I have done it every night now for 8 nights. No meds! Who would have thought it was that simple and the answer was in my dresser drawer. I guess we all have intuition for a reason. I knew there was a reason I was still holding on to the device.
I haven't had a palpitation since I started doing my breathing exercises. They say the breath is powerful but I have learned just how powerful it truly is. If I had settled for the drugs I wouldn't have gained this amazing knowledge that propels me forward. The courage to once again face that which I feared. The nights of crying and feeling so alone in my pain and fear. The nights of overwhelming panic attacks. There was a deeper meaning and as I knew in my heart it was not in vain.
5 comments:
what does the device do? You left a cliff hanger here!
As I mentioned in the post it is a biofeedback machine. It uses your pulse and breath to give you feedback on how well you breath. It helps you learn to turn on the relaxation response you already have within you. Go to stresseraser.com for more info. It explaines it perfectly!
I guess I don't know what a biofeedback machine is, I know I should, but I guess I have forgotten. i was imagining that thing I had that sends tiny shocks behind the ears so relax the body, but done wrong and it will zap the crap outta ya.
Tiny shocks behind the ears...that sounds painfull..there is no shock that I would call tiny! LOL If you go to the web site you will learn more silly girl!
so i went to the website b/c i am apparently a moron and do not know what a biofeedback machine would do. it looks like by watching your breath marks on the machine, it teaches you how to breathe so you see the marks you need to see. at first, i thought this sounded pointless.....until I found myself wanting a heart rate watch to wear during my workouts so i could stay at my optimal range. This is the same concept, a machine telling me to amp it up, workout harder, and not slack off! The same sort of goes w/ the biofeedback thing, it tells you breathe better so you can calm yourself. I didn't think a person would need a machine to do that, but then again, i never thought i would need a machine to tell me to workout harder. lol. So my conclusion is that they are both really great tools and now the "biofeedback" of the therapies i learned about in school is coming back to me. its a tool and it works! honestly i think having the stress eraser would just be kind of cool to have, just to see the breath waves on there, i think i'd probably be surprised to learn i'm breathing wrong! most people are! anyway, you got me thinking, so yay. :)
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