Riding the wave

Riding the wave. This track is for the moments when fear arrives suddenly and the body goes into alarm. The heart races. The breath gets short. You may feel dizzy, hot, shaky, or strangely unreal, as if you are watching yourself from outside. Thoughts rush in. Something is wrong. I have to get out. I cannot cope. If this is happening right now, you do not need to do anything clever. Just listen.

One thing first. If what you are feeling is new to you, or you are not sure what is happening in your body, it is right to get it checked by a doctor. This track is for the surges you already know, the ones you have been through before and come out of.

Here is what is useful to know. A surge like this behaves like a wave. It rises fast, it peaks, and then it comes down. The peak usually passes within some minutes, even if you do nothing at all. The body does not stay at full alarm for long. It runs out of fuel and settles. Your job is not to stop the wave. Your job is to ride it until it passes.

So, first. Let it be there. Fighting the sensations tends to make them louder. See if you can say to yourself, quietly: this is a surge of fear. It feels terrible. It has peaked and passed before, and it can pass again.

Second. Let's slow the breath out. When the body is alarmed, people often breathe fast and high in the chest, and that itself adds to the dizziness. So do not try to take big breaths in. Instead, make the breath out longer. Breathe out slowly through pursed lips, as if you are cooling a hot cup of chai.

Out, slow and long.

Let the in-breath take care of itself. Small is fine.

Out again, slow and long.

Again.

And again, at your own pace, for a few more breaths.

Third. Let's bring the attention out to the room. Feel your feet on the floor. Push them down a little. Feel the chair or the wall or the ground holding you up.

Look around and name three things you can see. Say them in your head, slowly.

Now notice the sensations in the body without trying to change them. Where is the fear strongest right now? Chest, stomach, throat, hands? Point your attention at it, like a torch, and watch. Sensations tend to change when you watch them. They move, they shift, they get a little stronger, then a little weaker.

If the wave rises again, that is normal. Waves come in sets. Go back to the long breath out.

Out, slow and long.

Out again.

And keep going.

Thoughts will try to pull you in. What if it gets worse. What if I faint. What if I lose control. These are the alarm talking. You can notice them as thoughts, and come back to the breath out and the feet on the floor. You do not have to answer them.

Keep riding. Long out-breath. Feet on the floor. Eyes on the room.

The wave is coming down, or it will soon. Afterwards, you may feel tired, shaky, or wrung out. That is the body coming off alarm. Be gentle with yourself for the next hour. Drink some water. Move slowly.

Each time you ride a wave through instead of running from it, the body learns a little more that it can cope. This is slow learning, but it is real.

If you are in danger or feel you cannot keep yourself safe, call your Weave clinician, or Tele-MANAS on one four four one six, any time.