Jessica was anxious and exhausted when she came to see me. I’ve never seen a psychologist before. A young mother of two, she enjoyed her job and her children, and for the most part felt she had a good life.
But at night he would wake up with his heart pounding and he would go round and round. Sometimes he was on the brink of panic for what seemed like hours. He was losing sleep and feeling irritable with his family.
When we started, she felt overwhelmed, out of control. But after he started doing some behavioral changes, more exercise, some meditation, I taught him automatic writing. Soon she was controlling her anxiety and sleep on her own.
With automatic writing, your brain and body can let go of anxiety even when you can’t “fix problems.” You may be reluctant to do so at first, as it involves confronting thoughts that we are trying to get away from.
In fact, however, the work your brain does to avoid those thoughts is the same process that causes anxiety. Threatening, threatening, scary thoughts circulate through your brain, with no way to escape. When you take those thoughts out and move them around all parts of your brain, you process them. You get distance and a more positive outlook.
Even for the things you can’t change.
Releasing anxiety not only makes you feel better, it also keeps you healthy. Living with anxiety means living in a constant state of biochemical stress, and the impact on your body can go far beyond the pounding heart and tightness you feel. It can create stomach problems, IBS, headaches, and reduced immune function, even the development of hypertension and chronic pain.
All this, because your body is constantly bombarded with stress biochemicals.
But when you write the thoughts, your brain processes them. It frees them. It turns them into something you can work with, live with, and even grow with.
Automatic writing takes between 20 and 30 minutes. I know, that’s hard to find in your busy schedule! But it gives you emotional freedom to enjoy your life more.
Find a time when you are not distracted. That can mean getting up early, staying up late, or getting up at night when thoughts wake you up. For 20 minutes, no more than 30, write down the most horrible, horrible thoughts that you can’t bear, that scare words, and that you can draw from the depths of your mind. These are the thoughts you normally try to get away from. Just spill out all the negative thoughts that lurk in the nooks and crannies of your brain. Don’t worry about spelling or punctuation.
You may find yourself saying things that you don’t even like to think, let alone say. Okay, you’re just taking out the thoughts that have been hiding there, worrying you.
Write them down even if you feel bad while doing it. That they are as bad, as scary as they are. You may have horrible thoughts about someone you love. You may be afraid of something that you cannot change. It does not matter. Let your brain do its work.
After 20 minutes, it’s time to stop, although you can finish a few thoughts if you want. Be sure to write for the full 20 minutes, though, or you’ll stop when the scary things start to come out.
When you’re done, tear it up. Break it down until no two words are together and no one can ever read them. If you’ve done it right, it won’t be something you want anyone to see. It will probably seem extreme even to you!
At the end of your automatic writing, things may look different. Or maybe not! Regardless of how things look on the outside, your body will start to feel different on the inside. Your catastrophic thoughts have moved through all parts of your brain, onto paper, so that your brain can see and handle them.
And your body does not have to be afraid.
