Month: December 2020

First of all, I hope everyone has had a WONDERFUL and safe Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings! It has been WEEKS since I posted. And I promise, I shall not let that be the case from now on. I plan to get into a weekly posting, at least. But in my absence, I have been taking the GABA I talked about the last time. GABA is the neurotransmitter that allows thoughts to be suppressed and reduces anxiety and helps you sleep better and relax. And I would like to share my experience with it thus far.

Okay, so I started taking it on Friday, December 11, 2020. So, I have only been taking it for a couple of weeks. I decided that I would give it 30 days. I have seen some improvement with my thoughts, but then again it seems as though I have slipped. I have my good days and my bad days. But I will say this, my bad days seem to pale in comparison to the good days. In other words, I have better what I call the “good mind days.” Whenever I have a good mind day, I consider that to be a blessing.

And what do I consider a good mind day? A day when I keep the bad thoughts at bay. I am not getting stuck in thoughts as badly as I used to. I can actually “switch” or “change” the channel of my thoughts. This isn’t always easy as someone who suffers with intrusive thoughts will tell you.

I am going to continue to take the supplement, as I have actually seen a bit of an improvement in my sleep. I had been waking up in the middle of the night of couple of times, whereas I can now sleep through most of the night. I get up early anyway. So, this is definitely an improvement.

I feel my anxiety has been reduced as well. I suffer from GAD – Generalized Anxiety Disorder. So, this is a plus.

Again I am not a mental health professional. And I am not endorsing this product for profit. I will not get any money from talking about this supplement. Just FYI.

Now on to my mental health journal. I decided that it would be a good idea to begin one and keep track of my thoughts and severity, etc. I began it on Tuesday, December 22, 2020. I only have one , which I think is good, because that means I have been doing better overall. In my mind, I figured if I would just stick to entering only when I have a “bad mind day,” which is a day where I am having a tough time controlling my thoughts, or the thoughts are stuck, etc.

There is actually another entry the next day detailing coping strategies for when the thoughts are severe, which include:

1. Listen to music, particularly from the 70s and 80s!
2. Distraction of any kind — even if it is something as simple as paying attention to your draperies, the outside sounds, the couch, etc.
3. Do a scene! ( I am an actor. So, I will do something from the show I am writing)
4. Just stop. Stop everything and be still.
5. Take a nap.
6. Change the channel of your mind, so to speak.
7. Go to another planet. In other words, I imagine a planet where EVERYTHING is perfect and to MY liking. And I have EVERYTHING I want the way I WANT IT!
8. Go inside your heart. I have been practicing opening my heart chakra and manifesting from my heart (which I will gladly get into later).
9. I repeat to myself “I am calm and rational” over and over again.

Those are just some of my tips. These, of course, will be different for everyone. I suggest finding your own that work the best for you.

Thank you again for checking in, and I promise I will be back much sooner this time. In the meantime, please continue to enjoy your holiday!!

I cannot believe that I may have found an answer to an EXTREMELY Longgggg prayer!! Is it possible I have FINALLY found some relief from these horrible intrusive thoughts that have plagued me forever??? Let me explain …

In my consistent (and persistent) search for relief online – yes, ONLINE! And you know how that goes – I found a great article on GABA, which is a chemical in the brain that can be linked to intrusive thoughts. Actually, it is the lack of such a chemical, GABA, which is a neurotransmitter in the brain that helps in suppressing bad thoughts and memories. I always figured that it was a chemical, or lack thereof, that was causing my problems. See the link below:

https://m.hindustantimes.com/fitness/tired-of-unwanted-thoughts-scientists-find-brain-chemical-responsible-for-it/story-ErEEpfsUwN3oX5d5mXjBDM_amp.html

In further research, I found out that GABA is also a SUPPLEMENT that you can purchase from a drug store!!! Hmmmmm ….

Now, I am by no means an authority on the subject, but I am learning.

I hope this information is helpful to anyone who is a sufferer of this. I plan to try this supplement as soon as possible. I shall speak more on this subject later on … TA!

So. I did a thing this past Sunday afternoon. I decided to, for the very first time in my life, try martial arts. It is called Krav Maga. I had never heard of it, until my friend Peter told me about it about a year or so ago. That last part of the name – Maga – stopped me for a moment. For Obvious reasons. But nope. It isn’t that. Thankfully.

According to Peter, Krav Maga is a form of martial arts based on a composite of SEVERAL different fighting techniques from various and other martial arts forms. See link below for more detailed info.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga

So, Peter did say that it is an Israeli technique where they had to learn to fight between houses that were so narrow that you could literally touch them both if you outstretched your arms.

My experience on Sunday: Well, I really didn’t know what to expect. We took his car and drove only a few minutes away from his house to a deserted park (which was perfect, because I didn’t want anyone to see me make a fool of myself – HA!!) But I was pleasantly surprised. Lesson 1 wasn’t that difficult. We started off with a LOT of repetitive footwork, which was fine with me. Then we went into some basic defensive moves.

And then he brought out the block mat thingy. (wish I had a pic of it. Maybe the next time). But it is a rectangle piece of foam that is about 20 inches long. Anyway, needless to say, this part was TOUGH for me. Let me explain. Because he had me hold it and then he proceeded to knee into it!!!! Oh. My. God. It was quite jarring. Now, he did have me do it to him while he held it. But I think I was kind of a wuss about it. Then we switched again, and this time he kicked into it!! Oh boy! I felt like my head was going to fall off!!

Then we later got into some defensive moves like if someone was going to choke you. I liked that part better. Not that I am into sadomasochism, but at least I wasn’t being kicked or kneed. LOL

All in all, we spent about two hours in the park doing this and more. He actually told me that I had power, which made me feel really good about it all. Some of the punching stuff I didn’t feel like I was hitting it – definitely – not as hard as he was. But overall, I really enjoyed it. He is a REALLY good teacher. He was very patient. He even gave me homework (I just hope I remember all of the moves) 🙂

Now. What the HELL does this have to do with mental health and fitness? I think it has a lot to do with it. First, of all it was a WONDERFUL relief and distraction from my mind and my intrusive thoughts. It forced me to FOCUS, which is always a good thing for my condition. And I was getting exercise and moving my body, which I do advocate and think is a fabulous thing, even if it is just for a few minutes. I didn’t think about my ruminations AT ALL. So, I think I’m going to keep this new thing in my life. We do it again in about two weeks.

By the way, even he had to agree that the rectangle mat thingy is tough and nobody likes it 🙂