Interview 2: Mrs. Anderson (AP Psychology, Health)After interviewing Mrs. Ross, I still had some questions about the mental and physical science behind stress, so I visited Mrs. Anderson's classroom to ask. We started off the interview by discussing what really goes on in your head when you feel anxiety. Mrs. Anderson brought up the fight or flight response that all people have when faced with a threatening situation. She said that this response is more evident when something is physically threatening, but that for most people the source of stress is something in daily life, like not enough time or too much homework, making the response ineffective in many situations today. She told me that evolutionarily, anxiety as an emotion is meant to prepare someone for something that is going to happen in the future. However, because of how many overwhelming things there are for people today, anxiety has become the fear of the future and the endless things that people need to accomplish. People's responses to mental or physical threats are completely different, even though the response is rooted in common emotions and hormones. When someone becomes overwhelmed with anxiety, whether it is mental or physical, there is a physical response to the perceived threat. Adrenaline is released in any threatening situation and sets off a series of physical reactions. Afterwards, another series of responses attempts to return your body back to a calm and neutral state with the help of hormones such as serotonin. Neurotransmitters also come into play as apart of the physical response to anxious situations, and then also play a part of bringing the body back to homeostasis. We talked about meditation specifically. To quote Mrs. Anderson, "the idea with meditation is... you're giving yourself a break from new information and focusing on within". She compared this process to getting a full night of sleep, a beneficial break for your mental and physical wellbeing. Progress: I'm a month into daily meditation, and I can say that being in quarantine has made it surprisingly difficult for me to be consistent. All the days are starting to blend together, and I keep forgetting to meditate. I have meditated a few times, but with not much going on, it doesn't seem as important or helpful at the moment. I spend a lot of my days not doing anything too stressful, so luckily anxiety has been down lately. Reflection: I have seen meditation really help me in the past. In some of the worst moments it has helped to calm me down and refocus myself. In those aspects, it is really useful and beneficial. Right now, I am struggling to see it being effective for me. I'm a little disappointed with myself for how inconsistent I am being, and I want to try better. I now have a job, which means my days have some structure to them. Maybe I'll set a specific time for me to meditate after or before work so I can really see the results more clearly.
a good mentalityClearing your head while meditating can be really challenging, and when I'm very overwhelmed this becomes even more difficult. However, I have found that visualization has helped me immensely while I meditate. On some of my worst days, just picturing serene and peaceful visuals releases stress in my head and has helped me to feel so much better. To illustrate what images have helped me, I decided to make physical representations. This is an image of a tethered ballon, grounded and secured to the earth by a hand. When I struggle with existential dread, especially now that this is my main source of stress in quarantine, I have to force myself to remember what reality is. I have God, my family, and my friends keeping me grounded to this earth. They remind me that I have a purpose here, and that I do not have to face my struggles alone. When my thoughts spiral, I force myself to remember this image, and I am brought back to a place of peace and security. The beauty of nature is that it can be used to represent anything in life itself. To let go of anxious thinking, I imagine water pouring out of something and dripping off of my shoulders, leaving my body. I created a video that shows this process while I meditate. The water has a source, but it slowly leaves as I picture the anxiety parting with my body and my brain. This one has probably been the most influential practice that I have adopted into my meditation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |