My 21 yr old D, college senior, has a sort of medium-level anxiety - doesn’t keep her from functioning (in fact, sometimes she hyper-functions) but often troubles her and tends to express itself physically, especially as chest feeling “dry” or “tight” (medical issues have been ruled out). She sometimes does yoga and a form of breathing-focused meditation, and it helps her, but she doesn’t keep it up regularly (and then beats herself up for lapsing). Has anyone tried biofeedback for issues like this, and did it help?
I think it would be worth a try! I went, years ago, because I got lots of headaches since I hold my tension in my back and neck muscles. When the technician hooked the electrodes up on me, he thought the machine was broken because the tension levels were almost off the chart. But it working fine! He taught me how to slow my breathing and heart rate, and it really did help reduce the number of headaches I got. He taught me to say, “Let go…” once every hour and purposely relax my shoulders and breathe deeply.
I tried it once, and decided that “real” meditation was cheaper and equally effective. I now do a 60 minute mediation once a week, with 10-15 minutes at a time, as needed. Self hypnosis helps too, which I learned with the help of a licensed hypnotherapist. It takes time to “learn” to meditate and self hypnosis, but my experience is that it wasn’t as difficult as I had been led to believe. I’ve been told that I happen to be a “good subject” by the way -
How would you describe the difference between the biofeedback and the self-hypnosis? I work in health care and will be taking a hypnotherapy course this spring. Maybe I can teach it to her.
She might be interested in this course.
http://palousemindfulness.com/selfguidedMBSR.html
I expect bio feedback could help, but she would have to stick with it.
Is there another form of exercise that she finds more compelling?
Perhaps if she took a class or joined a team, that structure would be helpful.
I am going to look into self hypnosis.
The few times I’ve been hypnotized was the most relaxed I’ve been in my LIFE!
The main difference (for me) between the biofeedback and self hypnosis is the cost (high VS none) and being able to do it anywhere, anytime - Initially I did 6 sessions with a locally based hypnotherapist (who is well regarded in the field) - during the first couple of sessions she recorded us (she asked questions). As she learned MY learning style, she recorded only HER - providing me a road map if you will. She basically taught me to listen to her in my own space and time, and at the end of each recording offers me an opportunity to “remain at rest for as long as necessary” or to “come up, relaxed and refreshed” if ready (so if I’m listening as I go to sleep, I can stay asleep). For me, I can do the 30 minutes and come “up” feeling energized and as if I’ve taken a deep nap. I’ve been doing self hypnosis now for more than 10 years, and I literally begin in my head hearing her opening statement(s) (take a few deep breaths, see myself in a place that puts me at ease (which initially she helped me to find)), and that’s it. Somehow, miraculously, 30 minutes later (almost to the minute) I “come up” - I don’t think I’ve “consciously” heard her entire spiel (as it were) in more than 9 years. When I really utilize the technique to its fullest value is when I travel. Never get jet lag, and always arrive (after a flight) ready to go.