"Turning Toward" Fear & Anxiety For Chronic Dizziness & Pain

Our automatic reaction toward panicky thoughts, anxiety and fear about dizziness or pain is to get rid of them. Sometimes we do this by fighting them, avoiding them, blaming ourselves for having them or trying to stop them. This usually doesn't work, and it often backfires and makes them stronger. This exercise teaches you a different way of working with these thoughts and feelings by turning toward them. In this exercise, you'll observe, allow and soften toward these thoughts and feelings.

Transcript

Hello everyone.

My name is Dr.

Yoneet Arthur,

And thank you for joining me for this fear and anxiety exercise for chronic dizziness and chronic pain.

Go ahead and close your eyes if that's comfortable,

Or if it's not,

Just soften your gaze and let's slow your breathing down.

Breathe in just to center yourself.

Focus,

If you can,

On breathing into your back,

Belly and sides,

360 degrees all around.

Remember that slowing your breath and focusing on it is a great way to ground and remind your brain to release relaxation chemicals.

Now,

Try to prolong your exhales by making wind noise in your throat.

Take just a few breaths like this.

Now,

You're here today because you're feeling anxious or fearful.

Maybe you're feeling overwhelmed by sensations of dizziness or pain,

Or maybe you're caught up in worrying that the sensations are never going to stop or that you're never going to get better.

Now,

Notice for me,

For just a moment,

Your natural inclination to want to push away these feelings or thoughts.

Your natural response is probably going to be to make them stop.

What is your automatic response?

Do you naturally want to distract yourself or maybe blame yourself for having them?

Or maybe get mad at them or yell at them to stop?

I want you to see if,

Just for now,

Instead of trying to fight the feelings or blame yourself or be angry with them,

If you are able to imagine yourself turning toward them instead.

This may not feel natural,

But see if you can do that.

See if,

When you turn toward the thought or feeling,

Can you identify what it is?

Is it anxiety?

Is it fear?

Is it sadness?

Is it hopelessness?

Is it scary thoughts that are playing on a loop?

Or maybe something different or a combination of several of those things?

It's okay if you're not sure.

Just see if you can notice what's there.

Notice if there is a physical response associated with this thought or feeling.

Is there tightness or heaviness or fluttering or buzzing?

Is there a feeling that you can locate in a particular part of your body?

For now,

We're just being detectives,

So it doesn't matter if you're sure about where it is.

Just notice what you feel in your body.

See if you can locate where that thought or that feeling seems to be in your body right now.

Once you have an idea of where it is,

See if you can step back from it for a moment.

Ask the part of you that holds this feeling or thought to give you a little bit of space.

Say to yourself,

There is something in me that is fearful or anxious or having scary thoughts,

Whatever it is for you.

Thinking about it this way will give you a little more space to be there with it.

And you can directly ask that part to give you this space as well.

Reassure this part of you that you're not going to force it to go away today.

For right now,

You're just here to get to know it.

Now,

I want you to see if you can actually focus on it now from this new distance you've just created.

Just focus on it.

Notice it.

Breathe into it.

Wherever it is,

Whatever it feels like.

Imagine the air gently flowing into it.

Clear the air around it.

While you do this,

Observe what happens.

When you watch it,

See what you notice.

It might have a color,

A texture,

A shape,

An image,

Or not.

Just note what you observe,

If anything.

Just breathe into it and notice what happens.

Breathe into it,

And if it gets stronger,

That's okay.

Just follow it.

Just ride the wave.

If it fades,

That's okay too.

You're just getting to know it.

As you observe it,

See if you can soften toward it a bit.

Soften toward this part of you that is holding these painful thoughts,

Feelings.

Give it a little bit of gentle attention.

See if you can just allow it to be what it is and sit with it in the space you've created for it.

Like you would with a small child who is upset.

Keep this gentle focus on it and notice if anything changes about it.

It's okay either way.

But now,

See if you feel comfortable maybe even reaching out toward it,

Like I'm here and getting to know you.

Notice if it responds by softening back toward you.

If it does not,

That's okay.

We are allowing it to be what it is regardless.

Now that you've sat here with this feeling or thought,

And you've gotten to know it a little bit,

See if you are able to recognize that in its own way,

It's been trying to help you.

You may not like its methods,

You might feel like it's misguided,

And that's okay.

It might have even caused you a lot of trouble or pain.

And for right now,

That's okay too.

Because for this present moment,

We're not judging it for the past,

We're just noticing it as it is.

We're just noticing that it's a part of you that is here and has been trying to help protect you in its way.

And notice that in the past,

It's been punished for its behavior by being pushed away,

Blamed,

Or even hated.

See if maybe from this new place of space and getting to know it,

You can even maybe send it a little bit of understanding that it's a part of you that is trying.

Just breathe.

Sit with this part of you.

Notice how you feel toward this part of you now that you've spent some time with it.

If you have been able to soften and send some understanding to it,

Notice what's changed.

If that's been a challenge,

That's okay too.

You're just spending time with this part of you without resisting it like you have been.

And that is a wonderful start to working with it and helping it transform.

Take a couple more moments here to sit with this feeling or thought,

Follow it wherever it goes.

And in a moment,

I'm going to ask you to open your eyes if they've been closed.

But before you go,

Just take another three breaths to ground yourself.

Feel that physical sensation of the breath coming in and out.

Slowly come back to yourself away from that space you created.

And when you're ready,

You can open your eyes if they've been closed and stop the exercise for now.

Reviews

This is so helpful for chronic dizziness and overwhelming body sensations.

Thank you for this approach 🙏 I am learning how to be with my discomfort with compassion and this really helps.

This was such a beautiful blend of somatic tracking and parts work. Thank you Yonit, I’ll return to this again 🙏

Thank you

Thank you Dr Yonit. This helped me sit with my needy anxiety-induced body part instead of running away from it as a natural reaction! I will come back to this often to transform the reaction for good! 🙏

Unbelievably healing and helpful. I love, feel empathy for, and am actually grateful for my fear now!

So helpful. I will be using this meditation again, many more times I'm sure 🩷

I find this practice very supportive and helpful in sitting with my fear around the pain and dizziness. I find myself relaxing into it. Thank you for this practice!

Yonit, your work has been nothing less than life changing for me. I want to ask you, however, why you do not address POTS on your YouTube channel. I have been physically debilitated and psychologically beaten down, not only by the constant rocking and swaying like I am living in a boat, and when I walk it feels like the earth is moving out from under my feet, and sometimes like an elevator dropped abruptly one floor down. I listen to every single podcast you put out because it’s the ONLY time I’ve ever heard someone so clearly articulate my life experience. But until long COVID no one knew or cared at all about POTS - and the social isolation that I lived with for yeeeeears. I was bed and couchbound and in a wheelchair for 3 years until I started to take my own life back. Channels like yours and Howard Schubiner (all you amazing practitioners who fight the good fight for us) are the reason I am walking now. And yet, I feel emotionally… left behind I guess? Have you ever worked with POTS patients. I’d love your thoughts. Truly, Yonit, your work, your heart, your passion and spirit is evident in all that you do. Thank you🙏🏼. Amy Fortoul

The realization/remembrance that the feeling has been trying to help us, our show is something was very helpful.💞

Such a great way to somatic track my dizziness, which is my body’s current symptom of trying to protect me from my emotions. Much thanks🌻

I really enjoyed this practice. I’ve been doing IFS parts work with therapeutic guidance and support, and this is helpful to continue the work on my own. How beautiful to practice turning toward these parts with curiosity and care (easier said than done some days). Thank you for creating this track!

Really hope this helps the debilitating dizziness and chronic health issues I have been living with for nearly 10 years. Thanks