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amazing to me that when i search for advice on how to alleviate anxiety buildup in my solar plexus, the *only* sources that come up relate to chakras. is modern science so behind meditative practice?
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"tim what are you anxious about" frankly i'm anxious about romance. every potentially romantic encounter gives me deep spiky anxiety pains emanating from just below my xyphoid process. the first-order source is pretty opaque to me but once i start to feel it it's a feedback loop
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i've waffles for ages about what this means. sometimes i think it's a useful signal, body warning me of something not considered or some aspect of the person to be wary of. one working theory is that it's a clash between reasonable fears and a belief that i should *have* no fears
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other times it's seemed more to me that this feeling is purely maladaptive. i spent a lot of my first ~2 year relationship wishing not to be in it and not knowing how, it's possible this embedded itself in me and never left
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regardless, the practical result is that ive spent much of my life pretty avoidant in relationships. the more someone likes me, the worse the anxiety hits it sucks
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i'd love to know if anyone else in this audience has experienced what i do, especially if you've come out the other side. wherever the lynchpin in the pattern is, i'd very much like to pull it out
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the fact that you know where it is in your body is already huge. from here IFS-type moves or bio-emotive could be useful. one way or another trying to find out what exactly the feeling is "about" - sounds like a fear, what exactly is the fear of
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imo a strong sensation like this in your solar plexus indicates *stuck* emotional energy; that is, there is both some emotional content some up and some resistance to that content coming all the way up; the way forward is to find a way to "move" it so it actually comes up
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the way i've moved stuff like this (in my solar plexus and gut and other places) is variations of gendlin focusing (of which bio-emotive is one), basically trying to name very precisely in emotional language exactly what the emotions are and are about; can lead to crying etc.
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