Lived Experience Forum

[BryanaCamp]

hi @Ali11 do you have a link or title for the cake decorating vidoes, it does sound relaxing.

@frog meeting new people is out of my comfort zone, I much prefer to be with familiar friends and family. I've been job searching all this year & the interviews have been brutal & very upsetting to my mental health, quite an uhpeaval to perform to an interview panal & sell myself. I can understand you finding it taxing.

[Shaz51]

this is a great thread @frog , thank you for tagging me

[frog]

Hi @Gazza75 same app! 

I can relate on the work stuff. Morale is low at my work, though managers insist that it isn't - so out of touch 

Alone in the natural world would do me a lot of good right now. I am planning a bushwalk for Saturday afternoon. I'm landlocked where I am, and also really miss the ocean. Maybe later in the year I can make a trip.

[Ali11]

There are a lot of these videos on YouTube @BryanaCamp but here's one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFIXPiphhvM 

[Ali11]

While finding a link to the cake decorating video there was also a long search to try find a video from a few months ago, but it didn't show up. The video was a tv show audience learning about breathing techniques for stressful or anxiety inducing situations. It said to stand up, in a superhero type pose with your hands on your hips, and take long slow breaths, each inhale and exhale has to be over 7 seconds long, so slow deep breathing. There was a study performed by Harvard Uni that showed just doing this exercise for 2 minutes reduced cortisol levels by up to 25% and boosted happy chemicals. Has anyone tried the breath exercise before and if you have, how much did it help reduce any anxiety? Some things we know we should do but don't do them, this is one of those exercises here

[MDT]

My comfort zone is usually when I plug the outside world out. So in other words I plug myself in. Sometimes I just have my headphones in and don't even listen to music or anything. Just limiting the outside stimulus can be useful for me I find @frog

Other times, I read in silence or eat in silence too.

A lot of my comfort comes from starving my senses. Food for thought maybe I guess ?

[Teej]

Been trying to get back to this thread for a few days @frog. It’s a good one and I found it interesting. 

Like others my comfort zone changes with my mood. Sometimes it is my bed and iPad under my quilt, others it is outside my home. Lately I’ve found having coffee with a friend to be a new comfort zone. I have a big park next to me which can either take me out of my comfort zone if there are other people with dogs there, or be a really special place. I have learned the times I can go and nearly always have it to myself. 

Getting out of my comfort zone is scary but when I do I nearly always need some time under my quilt in my bed doing something mindless on my iPad. I’m not so great at mindfulness after being out of my comfort zone but I do use it when I am out of my comfort zone if that makes sense. I think mindlessness is my thing to come back into my comfort zone 😳. I only just realised that as I wrote it too.

[frog]

Today, (re) connecting with my body is my goal. My physical health has taken a back seat due to various pressures and I need to go back to basics. I'm trying to think of my comfort zone in terms of a good base to build on. So, out for a walk in spite of weather, physio exercises and then find some warmth!

@Teej @Shaz51 @BryanaCamp @MDT and all in need of comfort - I'm guessing there's more than a few of us!

[BryanaCamp]

hi @frog hope the walk & exercises went well, it's always good to look after the body - I don't really get endorphins with exercise but after I've done my exercising I do feel relieved and satisfied that I've at least done something healthy & beneficial.

[Ali11]

That's great you're thinking of your comfort zone as a basis @frog, it's good to build on little by little. Have you kept up your walking (with exception to the last day due to the weather)?