Does Relaxing Make You Anxious?

Therapy in a Nutshell

Therapy in a Nutshell -Emma McAdam

Mental Health, Education, Health & Fitness:mental Health, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 658 Ratings

🗓️ 25 May 2023

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Looking for affordable online counseling? My sponsor, BetterHelp, connects you to a licensed professional from the comfort of your own home. Try it now for 10% off your first month: https://betterhelp.com/therapyinanutshell Does trying to relax or meditate make you anxious? Isn’t it supposed to make you feel calm? I recently ran a poll on my channel and 61% of people said that trying to relax or meditate made them feel anxious, guilty, or panicky. So what the heck is going on here? In this video, we’ll troubleshoot what might be making you feel anxious when you try to relax. Learn more in one of my in-depth mental health courses: https://courses.therapyinanutshell.com Support my mission on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/therapyinanutshell Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.therapyinanutshell.com Check out my favorite self-help books: https://kit.co/TherapyinaNutshell/best-self-help-books Therapy in a Nutshell and the information provided by Emma McAdam are solely intended for informational and entertainment purposes and are not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment regarding medical or mental health conditions. Although Emma McAdam is a licensed marriage and family therapist, the views expressed on this site or any related content should not be taken for medical or psychiatric advice. Always consult your physician before making any decisions related to your physical or mental health. In therapy I use a combination of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Systems Theory, positive psychology, and a bio-psycho-social approach to treating mental illness and other challenges we all face in life. The ideas from my videos are frequently adapted from multiple sources. Many of them come from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially the work of Steven Hayes, Jason Luoma, and Russ Harris. The sections on stress and the mind-body connection derive from the work of Stephen Porges (the Polyvagal theory), Peter Levine (Somatic Experiencing) Francine Shapiro (EMDR), and Bessel Van Der Kolk. I also rely heavily on the work of the Arbinger Institute for my overall understanding of our ability to choose our life's direction. And deeper than all of that, the Gospel of Jesus Christ orients my personal worldview and sense of security, peace, hope, and love https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/believe If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or your local emergency services. Copyright Therapy in a Nutshell, LLC

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, I'm Emma, a licensed marriage and family therapist, and you're listening to the Therapy in
0:04.4	an Hitchell podcast. It's my mission to create easy to understand educational content about
0:10.0	therapeutic skills and topics that anyone can use in their daily life. I hope these episodes bring
0:15.3	you more insight into how your mind works and what actions you can take to improve your mental
0:20.0	health. Each podcast episode comes from a corresponding video you can find on the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel.
0:27.6	Also, these podcasts are educational and don't replace the advice or direction you may be receiving from a therapist or other health professional.
0:35.6	Now let's jump into today's skill.
0:38.0	Does trying to relax or meditate make you anxious? Like isn't it supposed to make you feel
0:43.3	calm? So I recently got this email asking about this common problem. The person said,
0:49.0	hi, I've just been trying out your relaxation techniques on the grounding course,
0:53.5	which I'm finding extremely
0:54.9	useful, but during progressive muscle relaxation, I started crying and my immediate reaction is to
1:01.0	stop relaxing so that I stop crying. Do you have any suggestions about how to best tackle this?
1:07.5	Okay, so this got me thinking, so I ran a poll on my channel and 61% of people said that trying to relax or meditate made them feel anxious, guilty, or panicky.
1:17.3	So like what the heck is going on here?
1:20.0	In this video, we're going to troubleshoot what it might be making you feel anxious when you try to relax.
1:26.2	And full disclosure, as soon as I started addressing this
1:28.8	topic, I was like, oh my gosh, like, I need this video. Hey, real quick, if you've been wanting
1:35.8	to pick up one of my courses where you can learn a bunch more in-depth skills, then now might be
1:40.8	a good time because all my courses are 35% off, but this is the last week of our
1:46.4	mental health awareness sale. And we only run these sales a couple times a year. So now's a great
1:51.0	time to pick up a course. We have a bunch of courses on intrusive thoughts and worry on how to
	...

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