Thanks for drawing the goopy subconscious thing that comes up with painful, intrusive thoughts! I think about that guy a lot. Using your senses is a good example of 'mindfulness' to try to zoom in on something else and distract yourself.
I'd never heard of 'ruminations' as a word to describe these, that's useful.
I love this, Aaron! I think I'll sub in the Kool Aid man to disrupt my future ruminations. *Remembers farting loudly in public* *Kool Aid man bursts through wall* "OHHHHHH, YEAHHHHHH!!!"
Oh man yeah, scent brings back so many memories too! I have a super bad sense of smell though so unfortunately I'm usually smelling nothing. It's a gift and/or a curse depending on the context, haha. So true about missing a ton just due to not paying attention. Trying to pay more attention / be more present seems like a worthy goal for this year -- but I refuse to call it a resolution :P
Oh yeah, I've had a lot of disassociated / totally non-present times. I still struggle with being more present, and every time I temporarily start doing yoga again, it helps for a while. I should start doing yoga again, thanks for the reminder... haha. Also, when I'm trying to be more present, I always start with what I can hear the way you did in the comic. I think I'm so visual 99% of the time that it kind of shifts my gears in a nice way. Sometimes I'll be going for a walk, just listening to the sounds of the world around me, and suddenly start getting a flood of memories I haven't thought about in ages. Such a trippy sensation, like I'm leaving room for a door in my head to open again.
I love this Ben, thank you for sharing! If you like hearing, wait until you try SMELLING! Or maybe you have, haha. Taking in ambient scent always gives me that flood of memories you're describing from sound. I think anxiety has turned me into a bit of a mouth breather so when I focus on smelling I'm kind of shocked at the realization that smells have been existing all around me this whole time. It's incredible how much we miss in our lives because we're not paying attention. It seems like it should be easier, but it sure is not. At least there's always trying. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Scott-- What! I love graphic tee's, where's mine?! I'm glad it sounds like you've learned to manage this strange experience. Thanks for commenting, it really does help me to feel less alone in this too. Btw I've wanted to travel to Lisbon for SO LONG! Top of my bucket list.
Ooof I felt this one. I started to meditate in the beginning on January and it’s definitely helped with my disconnected / dissociation. Thanks for this 💕
Of course, Grace! Thanks for commenting. I'm so glad I was able to connect with you and other people on this. It's wild how common it is, yet so isolating before you learn about how to get out. I need to meditate more, I think you inspired me for the day!
This has been a very common thing for me too. I went to share this post with a friend and was immediately thinking "what if he doesn't get it" and came to realize that's ok, because I identify with this.
It's so good to hear others experiences and how reconnecting with your body can help. And to find therapists, friends, yoga teachers, that can help is amazing. So much healing can be done in community with others.
I doubted myself in sharing this too, Roddy! I'm really glad it resonated with you. Now we can both feel less alone, woohoo! It's a strange thing to disconnect from your body, but I'm so glad there are ways to find ourselves again. It's a bit of a forever-journey, but I'm okay with that, as long as I have my tools for coming back down to earth.
100% Pat. I'm so glad you found a way to connect again. I'm such a proselytizer of yoga these days because it's helped me so much too. If I can't stretch throughout the day I've become that weirdo doing yoga poses in a Target aisle now. I've had ppl approach me asking if I'm "ok" because I'm doing a forward fold in public. Maybe they think I'm catatonic, I don't know, but I'd rather look weird than be uncomfortable anymore.
Thanks for drawing the goopy subconscious thing that comes up with painful, intrusive thoughts! I think about that guy a lot. Using your senses is a good example of 'mindfulness' to try to zoom in on something else and distract yourself.
I'd never heard of 'ruminations' as a word to describe these, that's useful.
If I have repetitive ruminations I've had some success using the _pterodactyl method_ I saw on reddit a while back: https://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/comments/437dmv/comment/czg9z74/
I love this, Aaron! I think I'll sub in the Kool Aid man to disrupt my future ruminations. *Remembers farting loudly in public* *Kool Aid man bursts through wall* "OHHHHHH, YEAHHHHHH!!!"
Oh man yeah, scent brings back so many memories too! I have a super bad sense of smell though so unfortunately I'm usually smelling nothing. It's a gift and/or a curse depending on the context, haha. So true about missing a ton just due to not paying attention. Trying to pay more attention / be more present seems like a worthy goal for this year -- but I refuse to call it a resolution :P
Oh yeah, I've had a lot of disassociated / totally non-present times. I still struggle with being more present, and every time I temporarily start doing yoga again, it helps for a while. I should start doing yoga again, thanks for the reminder... haha. Also, when I'm trying to be more present, I always start with what I can hear the way you did in the comic. I think I'm so visual 99% of the time that it kind of shifts my gears in a nice way. Sometimes I'll be going for a walk, just listening to the sounds of the world around me, and suddenly start getting a flood of memories I haven't thought about in ages. Such a trippy sensation, like I'm leaving room for a door in my head to open again.
I love this Ben, thank you for sharing! If you like hearing, wait until you try SMELLING! Or maybe you have, haha. Taking in ambient scent always gives me that flood of memories you're describing from sound. I think anxiety has turned me into a bit of a mouth breather so when I focus on smelling I'm kind of shocked at the realization that smells have been existing all around me this whole time. It's incredible how much we miss in our lives because we're not paying attention. It seems like it should be easier, but it sure is not. At least there's always trying. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt. Still do it on occasion. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Scott-- What! I love graphic tee's, where's mine?! I'm glad it sounds like you've learned to manage this strange experience. Thanks for commenting, it really does help me to feel less alone in this too. Btw I've wanted to travel to Lisbon for SO LONG! Top of my bucket list.
When you make your plans for Lisbon, let me know! I'll have the 👕 ready for you 😆
And I'm happy to chat more about managing the experience if it would be helpful. Drop me a line (check my blog for how).
Ooof I felt this one. I started to meditate in the beginning on January and it’s definitely helped with my disconnected / dissociation. Thanks for this 💕
Of course, Grace! Thanks for commenting. I'm so glad I was able to connect with you and other people on this. It's wild how common it is, yet so isolating before you learn about how to get out. I need to meditate more, I think you inspired me for the day!
This has been a very common thing for me too. I went to share this post with a friend and was immediately thinking "what if he doesn't get it" and came to realize that's ok, because I identify with this.
It's so good to hear others experiences and how reconnecting with your body can help. And to find therapists, friends, yoga teachers, that can help is amazing. So much healing can be done in community with others.
I doubted myself in sharing this too, Roddy! I'm really glad it resonated with you. Now we can both feel less alone, woohoo! It's a strange thing to disconnect from your body, but I'm so glad there are ways to find ourselves again. It's a bit of a forever-journey, but I'm okay with that, as long as I have my tools for coming back down to earth.
Thank you, Mitchell!
100% Pat. I'm so glad you found a way to connect again. I'm such a proselytizer of yoga these days because it's helped me so much too. If I can't stretch throughout the day I've become that weirdo doing yoga poses in a Target aisle now. I've had ppl approach me asking if I'm "ok" because I'm doing a forward fold in public. Maybe they think I'm catatonic, I don't know, but I'd rather look weird than be uncomfortable anymore.