This blog category is the journaling and journey-ing of my quest to say (with cautious sincerity) “Hello, Anxiety” and to take a look at the condition from my “me-andering” views.
I’ve had requests for an easier-to-print copy of my anxiety protocol. Here’s another look at the entire protocol, followed by the downloadable copy.
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NPA — NEAL’S PROTOCOL FOR ANXIETY
All strategies are done “intentionally.” For ex, “I sit in this meditation practice with the intention that my current anxious experience will improve.”
FOR BOTH THE MENTAL AND THE PHYSICAL PARTS
(How I can attend to the experience in my mind and my body.)
• Meditation — any of my saved meditations from 10% Happier, Buddify or meditation on my own without guidance.
• Slow Side-to-Side Head Movement — Noticing colors, shapes, loved items, etc.
• Inhaling and Exhaling — “Breathing in, I calm the mind. Breathing out, I calm the mind. Breathing in, I calm the body. Breathing out, I calm the body.” — In through the nose. Out through pursed lips (like through a straw). — In, cool. Out, warm.
• Hot soothing teas
FOR THE MENTAL PART
(How I can attend to the experience in my mind.)
• Recognize anxiety as a part of my experience right now. Maybe even speak to it. “Hello, anxiety.”
• Assign anxiety a number from 1 to 10.
• Verbal self messages/affirmations. “I have felt this way before, and I always make it through.” “My anxiety level is at a six, but it is not at a 10.“ “This anxiety is like the tides, ever changing. In and out.” “If I keep breathing, which I will, sooner or later, I will feel better.”
FOR THE PHYSICAL PART
(How I can attend to the experience in my body.)
• Tai Chi/Qigong, Stretching, Walking, Exercising
• Warm shower/cold shower
• Tapping
• Essential oils/Aromatherapy
• Medication, including Buspirone, my Albuterol inhaler and chewable Benadryl
Here’s one of my favorite posts from a decade ago about an enlightening trip to New Orleans. Please remember, when looking at the photos, this was from a decade ago!
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Is there a botanical specimen you’re just WILD about? There certainly is for me! It’s the Elephant Ear (Colocasia esculenta in plant taxonomy). And not just because they make my big ears look smaller (though, of course, that’s part of it). Elephant Ears also exude a mysteriously mystical and magical quality.
Okay that sounded rather silly and new age-y. So I’d better explain. But when you hear the WHOLE story, DO NOT JUDGE ME! Or at least do not judge me too harshly. Deal?
Well, I have always simply adored the Elephant Ear family of luciously leafy plants. But my REAL love affair with EE’s heated up last October when I trekked to New Orleans to make an academic presentation at the Popular Culture Association in the South annual conference. Really, I’m telling the truth. Okay, fine, here’s proof: a blurb from the conference program:
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Saturday 11.8 Pedagogy
“A Presentation Software By Any Other Name: The Light and the Dark of Shakespearean Powerpoint Presentations in College English Classrooms” Mark King and David Janssen, Gordon College
“The Visual Essay: Thinking and Playing Outside the Paragraphs” Neal Saye, Georgia Southern University
“Teaching Students to Write for TV and Film: A Comprehensive Plan for the Undergraduate Dramatic Scripting Course” Michael Moeder
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So maybe mine doesn’t sound quite as smart as the other two. But I had lots of visuals, with continual streaming over two screens! And handouts! And samples of student work! And I gave out colored construction paper and had everyone do little projects! (My hypothesis is that a few bells and whistles, along with hands-on tinkering, can make up for intellectual depth. And besides, it was Saturday morning, for heaven’s sake.)
I think I remember having hair like that.
[The Elephant Ear connection is coming, I promise–just give me a minute or two.]
Let’s back up. When I got to the Hotel InterContinental on St. Charles to check in, I used the Winning Strategy a friend taught me years ago: ALWAYS ask if an upgrade is “possibly available.” But BEFORE you ask, set the stage: say something either Pitiful with a Touch of Humor (“I’m SO glad to FINALLY get here to your BEAUTIFUL hotel. My flight was SO turbulent! I prayed more in those two hours than I have in the past two decades! But what a peaceful aura both in this gorgeous lobby AND coming from you! Thank you so much!” or something excitedly exuberant, again with an attempt at a tad of humor (“New-Party-Orleans! I’m HERE! And you’re my INCREDIBLE host/hostess! Can you show me around when you get off work? THANK YOU for having me! You RULE this city!). Then smile like you’re high on beignets and plead for the upgrade. IT WORKS. SO VERY OFTEN. Try it.
I did. And Bam! I was given a Club Level upgrade with full food and drink privileges and a nifty elevator key card that whisked me up to the exclusive Executive Floor. (Another thing, always buy a thank you card and give it to your benefactor during your stay. It’s good karma.)
Swinging from chandelier in “the club”:
So the second night in Nawlins, after Wandering around Bourbon Street and Wondering, both quietly to myself and out loud to my fellow conference attendee friends, “Do those people on that balcony KNOW they are sorta naked?” and “Why am I catching all these beads? I have forty strands now” and “That’s a real alligator that monkey is holding, isn’t it?!” I left the decibels and the adult circus, and meandered over, first to sweet Cafe Du Monde, and then to Jackson Square.
With powdered lips I walked the square’s perimeter, taking in the colorful display of late night street performers, vendors and musicians.
My watch yawned midnight, but my heart gave me the injunction: walk around the square again, and if I make “comfortable, knowing” eye contact with a spiritual reader, I will stop and, uh, be read or whatever.
I walked slowly, my footfalls methodical and audible.
Two-thirds around, I saw her.
A tiny, wisp of a woman from the islands wearing a bandana and clenching a shawl in the sticky October heat. She sat at a card table. Breaking eye contact first, I walked on, feeling silly. So we made eye contact–but “comfortable and knowing”? I don’t think so. Looking back confirmed my foolishness. Her gaze had dropped. Nothing but a bird-like woman beginning to close up shop.
Until she turned her body toward me and smiled. A caramel Mona Lisa. An inviting mystery.
Thirty minutes later I walked away from Ms. Michelle with 1) a small elephant ear plant wrapped in wet paper towels and 2) ears resounding with what I had heard.
“You live near moving water, a river, an ocean, which is good. Go embrace it often. You need the movement of water. You’re too rigid.”
Many other words and images left me, not shocked or awed by their relevancy and accuracy, but at peace with the connectedness of us all, the encouragement of strangers who are not strange after all. Oneness.
“What do you want to ask?
I had two queries. The first concerned the number four (my favorite number). I loved her mathematics. They confirmed what I knew–that all is well.
The second, as I took in the sight and smell of her small display of Mason-jarred summer leftover blossoms and greenery: “May I have that elephant ear?” The green beauty had caught my eye from the start, small but holding its own, even without vibrant yellow or red.
“Of course. It’s for you. Take it. Plant elephant ears, pick them. Put them under your pillow. They are health and good to you.”
Maybe I gave Michelle all the answers by coming to her, by asking questions. Maybe I heard what I knew already. Maybe I embraced the sugary night too tightly. But I walked away buoyed by knowing. Knowing that encouragement takes a myriad of forms.
Unexpectedly I saw Michelle the next day in the sunlight. We hugged and smiled, amped up in the brightness, having taken care of deep talk the night before.
Later in that final day of my New Orleans stay, I stumbled across the Jean Lefitte National Historic Site and Preserve.
But what was REALLY cool is what I found there:
Water. And Elephant Ears. Across the street from the mighty Mississippi River.
Back home in Savannah, one day I strolled the campus of Armstrong Atlantic State University, and here’s what I found:
Huge Elephant ears.
Oh, I planted my own Elephant Ears. This summer they grew beautifully:
(Excuse me for looking a bit like Captain Kangaroo in the above pic. Google him, kids.)
Moral of story (at least for me): Listen.
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NOW: Today Robert and I live two blocks from the Savannah River. And every time I walk along that powerful river (hosting one of the most powerful ports in the country), I think of Ms Michelle. I am grateful for Ms Michelle.
This blog category is the journaling and journey-ing of my quest to say (with cautious sincerity) “Hello, Anxiety” and to take a look at the condition from my “me-andering” views.
NPA — NEAL’S PROTOCOL FOR ANXIETY
As you know by now, I have divided my anxiety protocol into three parts. The first deals with strategies which can help with both the physical and mental aspects of my anxiety. The second with mental, and the third with physical. Of course those divisions are academic only. The mental and physical ebb and flow into and through each other. I struggled with categorizing my strategies.
Per therapist Rubi’s instructions, these strategies should be done “intentionally.” For example, “I sit in this meditation practice with the intention that my current anxious experience will improve.”
Today’s post deals with the third and final section of my protocol.
III. FOR THE PHYSICAL PART
(How I can attend to the experience in my body.)
• Tai Chi, Qigong, Stretching, Walking, Exercising
I LOVE this category of strategies. They are just so body oriented and … immediate. Qigong especially helps me to slow down, breathe and stretch in all kinds of ways. (Google for a few YouTube videos.) Before the pandemic, Robert and I attended a Monday morning Qigong class. Hopefully we can get back to it soon. My takeaway from those classes: Slow movement. Slow movement.
But also simply WALKING can be so grounding. When anxiety arrives, and if I remember to do so, one of the most effective things I will do is to begin to slowly walk around our apartment, paying attention to the sensations of contact with my feet on the floor. Right foot down, left foot down. Right foot down, left foot down. Calming. Grounding. Earthing.
• Warm shower/cool shower
The sensation of warm (or cool) water droplets pummeling, massaging is right there, on your face, on your body. “I feel, therefore I am.”
I also like to put a shower vapor tab on the shower floor to let it release its aromatherapy. Vicks makes a good one.
• Essential oils/Aromatherapy
I love putting various essential oils in the diffuser in our study by my chair …
or in our bedroom …
… and letting the incredible aromas soothe me, calm me, ground me.
• Tapping
I’m just getting started with this strategy. Have you heard about it?
From the book: “Like acupuncture and acupressure, Tapping is a set of techniques which utilize the body’s energy meridian points. You can stimulate these meridian points by tapping on them with your fingertips – literally tapping into your body’s own energy and healing power.”
So far, I like it. Update later.
• Medications
Sometimes I need this category. For me: Buspirone, my Albuterol inhaler (to help with breathing) and even chewable low dose Benadryl for quick help.
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So there you have it, my protocol for addressing my anxiety when it shows up. I know it’s very simplistic and incomplete, but it is a great help in my life. Let me know your thoughts or suggestions.
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And here’s a review of the entire protocol, in case you are interested.
NPA — NEAL’S PROTOCOL FOR ANXIETY
All strategies are done “intentionally.” For ex, “I sit in this meditation practice with the intention that my current anxious experience will improve.”
FOR BOTH THE MENTAL AND THE PHYSICAL PARTS
(How I can attend to the experience in my mind and my body.)
• Meditation — any of my saved meditations from 10% Happier, Buddify or meditation on my own without guidance.
• Slow Side-to-Side Head Movement — Noticing colors, shapes, loved items, etc.
• Inhaling and Exhaling — “Breathing in, I calm the mind. Breathing out, I calm the mind. Breathing in, I calm the body. Breathing out, I calm the body.” — In through the nose. Out through pursed lips (like through a straw). — In, cool. Out, warm.
• Hot soothing teas
FOR THE MENTAL PART
(How I can attend to the experience in my mind.)
• Recognize anxiety as a part of my experience right now. Maybe even speak to it. “Hello, anxiety.”
• Assign anxiety a number from 1 to 10.
• Verbal self messages/affirmations. “I have felt this way before, and I always make it through.” “My anxiety level is at a six, but it is not at a 10.“ “This anxiety is like the tides, ever changing. In and out.” “If I keep breathing, which I will, sooner or later, I will feel better.”
FOR THE PHYSICAL PART
(How I can attend to the experience in my body.)
• Tai Chi/Qigong, Stretching, Walking, Exercising
• Warm shower/cold shower
• Tapping
• Essential oils/Aromatherapy
• Medication, including Buspirone, my Albuterol inhaler and chewable Benadryl
Here’s to our mental health in these trying times and always.
NealEnJoy 