Dear K-Ley,
It's so great you finally found something that worked. Sometimes perseverance until you find that thing seems to be the way through. It's sometimes those very normal conversations about everyday things with a friend/relative/neighbour etc that help to ground us and reconnect us to ourselves and others. It can be kind of normalising and helps the nervous system start to regulate itself again, calming down feelings of overwhelm.
I hope you are doing ok this weekend. I was really struggling last night and I called Lifeline and got the most intuitive, helpful person who really connected with me. She helped me reconnect with the things that are grounding and meaningful for me. I've found myself returning to my sense of self that was getting lost in overwhelm, remembering things I have loved doing in the past, good memories of things such as being at a music concert I loved or songs that I loved as a child, or basically anything that reminds me of who I am at my core amidst feelings of overwhelm, which for me at the moment has been multiple overwhelming losses and the grief accompanying them. I just mention those things as there is a part of us that remains pure and untouched even when it feels like we are really not ok, and that part will be in you too. There will be a part of you that is grounded and ok.
The counsellor I spoke to last night spoke about feeling safe in the body as our home, so recognising that the body can be our place of safety. I think that can particularly helped me. She asked me what I was going to do after speaking with her and I was looking at my guitar and I said I might play my guitar which I haven't in a long time. She was then mentioning to me about the role of rhythm as a self-soothing technique that things like music or exercise can provide. She mentioned this as something discussed in the book on trauma, The Body Keeps the Score, in which the author describes rhythm as a self-soothing pattern that can be calming and ease us out of a trauma state. It made a lot of sense to me. In the mornings I listen to the sound of the Bronzewing pigeons which are quite repetitive yet somehow comforting and reassuring. So even finding something like a ritual or activity that makes sense for you might be something that helps to bring some comfort and peace when things get difficult.
Take care and sending you best wishes.
