Anxiety Recovery ... Chasing "Rest and Digest" (Episode 93)

Disordered: Anxiety Help

"I MUST BE CALM OR ALL BETS ARE OFF!"

If this feels like a rule you're living by, you may find that you're chasing calm all the time, looking for ways to force your way into the coveted parasympathetic "rest and digest" state. Anxious people tend to work very hard to create calm and to maintain it at all costs.

This week on Disordered the guys are talking about "rest and digest" or the state of neutral calm that an anxious person would pay a large sum of money to achieve. What is rest and digest? How does one get into that parasympathetic state we hear about from all the wellness gurus online? There must be some way to calm and regulate your nervous system to get to that place, right?

Well, as usual, we're looking at a paradox here. An anxious person chasing calm - trying to force "rest and digest" - is not terribly likely to achieve or maintain that desired state.

Great. So are you and your anxiety stuck forever? Not really. Tune in and give this episode a listen for more on why demanding calm is generally a bad plan, and why its safe to stop doing that, even if you're really anxious!

---

Disordered Roundtables are here. Think of it as "Disordered Live", a way for members of our audience to spend time with us in an intimate virtual setting (attendance is limited) to engage in real time sharing and discussion on specific anxiety disorder and recovery topics. To be notified when new Disordered Roundtable sessions are scheduled, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠visit our homepage and get on our mailing list⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

---

Struggling with worry and rumination that you feel you can't stop or control? Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Worry and Rumination Explained⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a two hour pre-recorded workshop produced by Josh and Drew. The workshop takes a deep dive into the mechanics of worrying and ruminating, offering some helpful ways to approach the seemingly unsolvable problem of trying to solve seemingly unsolveable problems.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/worryrumination⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

-----

Want to ask us questions, share your wins, or get more information about Josh, Drew, and the Disordered podcast?