I’ve been learning a lot recently and it’s built around concepts that I’ve known about for a while, yet never really delved into.

There is a concept in Buddhism of addiction to emotions.  A level of attachment to our own experience. Physically this develops as well. Our brains acclimate to processing the experiences that we are having.

For me, someone with a background in trauma anxiety and fear have been part of my experience for a long time.

Another question is how we choose to spend our time and how do our choices affect us? Do our choices perpetuate a level of anxiety?

And when we feel anxiety, how do we pull ourselves back from that?

I’m considering at the moment, who do I want to be? Personally, I’d like to move past these anxiety issues. I’d like to be calm, happy and confidence when dealing with difficulties in life.

I’m learning about the importance of visualizing positive outcomes. The key with this is to generate positive emotions which I’m practicing during meditation.

I’ve managed to calm myself by simply asking? Is this who I want to be? I could be someone who is upset by something that happened, or I could refocus on the present and enjoy what I’m currently doing.

Physically, I’m training my body to relax multiple times a day. I recently managed to relax my spine for the first time. I’m hopeful that I can encourage my body to retain this relaxed state with repetition.

I can’t keep up with all of the physical practices that my teacher recommends, but I am doing my best. A lot of the exercises that I’m doing are related to breath work. I was very interested in breath work since it is supposed to be helpful in soothing the nervous system.

I radically altered my diet since I have been having stomach problems. When it comes to pain management, stomach issues increase pain sensitivity.