The Relearning Blog

Ever sit on the couch with your mind telling you the long list of things you *should* or *need* to do and you can’t seem to get up and actually do any of them? You sit there for minutes, hours or even days naming everything you need to do and judging that it’s not being done. You are anticipating how hard the task will be, criticizing yourself thinking that it’s easier for everyone else. You might even go through your day-to-day completing your tasks, but it takes every ounce of energy for you to get them done. 

The longer you avoid a task, the harder your brain will believe it is and the less resources it will have to do the actual task.

Your mind has overwhelmed you to the point of poking at your sympathetic nervous system and BOOM you are frozen. 

You have a good body, it is trying to help you survive when danger is present. You might be thinking, “But no danger is present!” If your nervous system is activated and you are frozen, it is because it has perceived a danger. Your brain is trying to logic you away from this reaction, and unfortunately, the animal  just does not work that way. 

You can start to thaw your freeze response by following these steps:

TALK TO YOUR BRAIN – say “Thanks brain but you aren’t being helpful right now.”

NAME WHAT’S HAPPENING – I feel frozen and that is OK, this a normal response, even if the fear is not logical.

HELP YOURSELF – The feeling of helplessness creeps in and we might start to notice apathy, some “why bothers” or “what’s the points” floating around in your mind.

START SLOW – Look at the corners of the room that you are in. Move your neck. It’s hard to stay stuck when you are in motion. Keep trying to note all the corners. 

GET UP – Often we experience this functional freeze or freeze experience when our bodies are laying or sitting. Even though it might look like rest on the outside, the mind is jumping from thought to thought and feeling anything BUT peaceful. Even if it’s one foot on the ground, or bending your knees. Move your body. 

CHANGE YOUR TEMPERATURE – Once you have successfully shifted that freeze response, splash cold water on your face, grab an ice cube and let it melt in your hand. If you are brave, go outside in the cold for a moment. Feel that change of temperature as it shifts you further out of freeze.

Managing the human system is not easy and we do often need more help with our practice. We are here when you need that extra bit of support. Reach out to co*****@*************an.com for other resources or to find a therapist that might be the right fit for you. 

Authored by Annie Amirault RSW & Co-Founder of ReLearning Human

I never really understood my anger until my sister transitioned in 2022. I don’t think I ever needed to confront it until then. Maybe I never wanted to. I talked about being angry openly during this time. I joined boxing for two weeks because I needed to punch something. I was screaming on the inside and needing to release it on the outside. The only thing that I was able to connect to was punching a punching bag. That and screaming in front of a lake or deep in the forest and, when that wasn’t accessible, into my pillow or when driving in the car on the highway. What I learned from this horrific experience is that anger was serving a purpose. There was a benefit in feeling and expressing my anger. I couldn’t mask the anger because it was the only way an emotion, if any, would travel through my body and surface outside of my skin. It was safer for all my other emotions to stay buried deep inside.

We all experience this real-life human experience in some way or form at some point in our lives. Have you? Where your skin is no longer able to contain your emotions? Perfect moment for that expression, “I feel like I’m going to explode.”

There are many reasons we don’t fully want to access our anger. Or don’t know how to. It’s stuck. Especially as women, we are taught that we should not feel angry. Sometimes this message is not as explicit and sometimes the message couldn’t be clearer. What we do hear regardless is that it is not acceptable to be an angry woman. For many women, expressing anger publicly or aggressively can lead to judgment and have grave consequences. Women are often perceived as “too emotional” or “irrational” when they are angry, often reinforcing harmful stereotypes. Then we internalize this judgement, often suppressing, minimizing anger or avoiding confronting the issues, which can create long-term emotional & physical consequences.

Some of the questions/statements I hear from my clients, my close circles and words that have also come out of my mouth are:

“I don’t want to be angry or feel angry”

“I don’t know why I’m so angry” 

“I don’t know what to do with my anger, my rage” (this could be symptoms of perimenopause, but I’ll leave that for another blog! Let’s not minimize rage right now!)

“I have no reason to be angry – I have such a good life”

If some of these statements resonate with you, take a minute, breathe and reflect. Your anger needs acknowledgment. And I will tell you this.

IT’S OK THAT YOU FEEL ANGRY. 

GIVE YOUR ANGER THE SPACE IT NEEDS.

THE SPACE IT DESERVES.

What did this feel like? If this is your first time truly acknowledging your anger, good for you, you’ve taken the first step in honouring this emotion.

It makes sense that we struggle to feel anger, but just like all the other icky emotions like jealousy or guilt, if we store it for too long, it starts to take a toll on our nervous system, on our organs, our minds and our overall state of being. Here are some of the impacts on our bodies of suppressed anger just to name a few:

Anxiety

Depression

Irritability or passive-aggressive behaviour

Risk of cardiovascular diseases

Headaches

Digestive issues

Weakened immunity or autoimmune diseases

Issues with female sexual/reproductive organs 

If you haven’t been acknowledging your anger until now, it may be helpful to learn how to channel your anger in healthier ways (or at least ways that won’t fuel further anger or guilt):

First and Foremost, NAME IT (acknowledging your emotion can help you feel more at ease even with anger).

Use “I” statements. It might sound simple, but it’s not. Anger can be expressed in constructive ways without aggression. “I feel angry.” Say it again. “I feel angry.” “I feel angry when…” This can help us communicate from a place of assertiveness rather than aggression and can foster more productive conversations.

We all need support. SEEKING SUPPORT can help process your emotions. Sometimes knowing that someone understands can alleviate the heaviness of anger. Also a reminder, we are not meant to do any of this alone.

SETTING BOUNDARIES. Anger and resentment can often stem from feeling taken advantage of. Understanding and respecting your own needs and setting boundaries in all of your relationships, (i.e., romantic, peers, etc.) will help you meet them. This will be hard to do, but it is your responsibility to do so. The truth is no one else is going to set these boundaries for you.

The PRACTICE OF PRESENCE & RELAXATION. Practices such as meditation, deep breathing, and journaling can help you release and process your anger in some way. When we bring awareness to our bodies, we can calm our nervous system, feeling more in charge of our body.

And when peacefulness, relaxation and deep breathing go to shit LET YOUR ANGER BE UGLY.

Your anger doesn’t feel pretty and calm does it? So let it look ugly if it needs to. It’s OK. Scream into the pillow if you need to. Chop wood. Run up a hill and scream at the top. Jump into the water. Take up boxing so you can punch something. Dance. Go to a smash room. Give yourself permission to get ugly with your anger (just don’t hurt yourself or someone else).

There is power in our pain with anger. For many women, expressing anger can feel like straying away from the expected societal mold of being patient, composed, tender and nurturing. Feeling anger and expressing anger doesn’t take any of this away. Both can be true. Anger is a powerful force. It is also freeing when released and not contained. It is also good for your body, mind and soul. So are you ready to explore your anger?

If you need some support in exploring your anger, reach out @relearninghuman.com to our therapists who also experience anger just like you.

Authored by Kavita Patel RSW, MSW & Co-Founder of ReLearning Human

Stress: acceptance and understanding

Feeling stressed? Me too! As humans, we all feel stress. ¼ of Canadians report feeling “quite a bit” to “extremely” stressed and that’s the problem. The problem is that we don’t know how to manage our stress hormones when they start firing off. 

While you can’t change the external situations that cause stress, you can learn how to manage and work with it. Understanding what stress is and how we experience it, is an important first step in accepting and working with stress. Stress is our body’s vital warning system that activates our hard-wired fight-or-flight response. When the brain perceives some kind of external stress, it floods the body with hormones like epinephrine, norepinephrine and cortisol and can cause a wide variety of physiological symptoms. 

While the symptoms associated with stress can feel uncomfortable, it is our friendly evolutionary trait that is trying desperately to help us navigate life’s hurdles. Since we have limited control over what our brain perceives as stressful, we have to work with it instead of avoiding it, surprising it or trying to control it. 

Declare a truce with your body and the stress that is a part of our innate wiring. Take this theory of acceptance and put it into play. By following these steps, you will support yourself responding differently to the external stressors that will inevitably happen in your life.

Grab a pen and paper, you’re going to want to take notes:

STEP 1 – Get to know your stress:

In order to make stress work for you, you have to learn what stress feels like in your body so you can become aware of it and manage it in a different way. Think back to a time where your work deadlines were looming, you were feeling sick, your colleague was on vacation and you were left to manage both workloads alone. How did you feel physically and mentally?  What does your body feel like as you think back to this stressful situation? How did your body tell you that you’re stressed? Common physiological cues are:

Perspiration

Pounding heart 

Trembling hands

Racing thoughts

Tension in shoulders and neck

Nausea, upset stomach and diarrhea

Shortness of breath

For whatever reason, your brain acknowledged the events you just thought of and released stress hormones to help you meet this perceived challenge. We can’t control what our brain sees as a challenge, we can just accept and manage it. By tuning into your body, noting the symptoms of stress, you can make stress help you rise to the occasion instead of having it rule your life. 

STEP 2 –  Calm your body:

The problem with stress is that it inadvertently causes our mind to race through other pretty uncomfortable symptoms. Calm your body and brain down by using diaphragmatic breathing. Sometimes known as “belly breathing,” diaphragmatic breathing lowers effects of cortisol (the stress hormone) on your body, lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. 

This practice will help you calm your body down when you notice symptoms of stress: 

1. Sit comfortably, with your knees bent and your shoulders, head and neck in a relaxed position. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach.  
2. Breathe in slowly through your nose so that your stomach moves out against your hand. The hand on your chest should remain as still as possible.
3. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other just below your rib cage, on your stomach. This will allow you to feel your diaphragm move as you breathe.
4. Tighten your stomach muscles, letting them fall inward as you exhale through pursed lips. The hand on your upper chest must remain as still as possible.
5. When you notice symptoms of stress in your body, use diaphragmatic breathing to help your nervous system deactivate and support your body in calming down. 

Practice diaphragmatic breathing for one minute a few times per week (this can help you get to sleep too!). I recommend setting an alarm to remind yourself to get your practice in and because your breath is always with you, you can practice anywhere! 

Want more mindfulness exercises? ReLearning Human has your back! Check out more here.

STEP 3 – Take a look at your stress thoughts, perspectives and predictions: 

Through my work as a social worker and psychotherapist (and as a human who has stress just like you), I have noticed patterns of thoughts that I label ‘stress thoughts.’ These thoughts align with hopelessness, helplessness and are generally catastrophic. 

Think of thoughts as the blueprint created through both conscious and unconscious interpretations of our lifetime of experiences. Here are a few examples of what stress thoughts sound like:  

“I can’t do this” 

“I can’t cope”

“This is unfair”

“This is impossible”

“I don’t have time” 

“I’m not going to make it”

If you’re having these thoughts, don’t despair! We all have them and they aren’t always helpful, are they?

Cognitive restructuring is a technique found in cognitive behavioral therapy and is a useful tool in reframing and shifting thought processes. Learning this key skill will help you to be aware of and challenge untrue, unrealistic or distorted thoughts known as cognitive distortions (or unhelpful thinking habits such as all-or-nothing thinking, mind reading, predicting the future and many others). 

Pause when you notice stress in your body, remind yourself that stress is a completely normal human experience (and how you know for sure that you are not a robot!). Calm down your body using diagrammatic breathing and take a look at what’s going through your mind.  Once you pinpoint the external event or situation that has caused your body to activate its stress hormones, don’t react automatically. 

Keep breathing and ask yourself the following questions about your stress: 

• What am I reacting to?  
• What is it that I think is going to happen here? 
• In all the times I have thought X, did it ever come to fruition?
• What’s the worst (and best) that could happen? What’s most likely to happen? 
• How is thinking this way helping me?
• How important is this really? How important will it be in 6 month’s time? In 1 year?
• Am I overestimating the threat? 
• Am I underestimating my ability to cope? 
• Am I mind-reading what others might be thinking? 
• Is there another way of looking at this?
• What advice would I give someone else in this situation? 
• How can I slow this down a bit? 
• How much can I control in this situation? What is outside of my control? 
• What changes (however small) can I make to those things that I am able to
  control? 
• What would be the consequences of responding the way I usually do? 
• Is there another way of dealing with this? 
• What would be the most helpful and effective action to take? (for me, for the situation, for the other person)
  

Cognitive restructuring can be a powerful technique for understanding and working with your stress thoughts. Remember, you cannot control every situation or person, but you can shift your perspective. This is your superpower. If you can reframe your perception of stress, then you can change your overall neuro-wiring and truly change your life.  

Like most things, PRACTICE is instrumental in re-training your brain to manage stress differently. Practice each step individually during times of lower stress so you can access these new tools in moments of higher stress.

Takeaways and key learnings:

• Accept that stress is part of life and that we all experience various levels of stress most days. 
• Get to know yourself! Learn about how stress resonates in your body by tuning into your physiological cues. 
• Learn how to manage any uncomfortable symptoms that stress creates. 
• Don’t buy into your thoughts – just because you think something doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.

While we all experience stress, we do have the power in learning to manage it. If you want to connect with us, contact us at co*****@*************an.com or you can read through our therapists’ bios here.

Authored by Annie Amiralt, RSW & Co-Founder of ReLearning Human

Anxiety is a term that most of us barely go a day without hearing from our friends, colleagues, in the media or out in the world, and somehow, we struggle to conceptualize it within ourselves. 

Someone once said that the difference between fear and anxiety is that fear is a reaction to something that has happened while anxiety is a fear response to something that hasn’t happened yet.

As I anxiously sit here writing this blog thinking about what my dentist is going to say about my teeth, I can feel my palms start to sweat as I see a mental image of their judgemental face as I wince and whine with every poke and prod (all my braces and maxillofacial surgery folks stand up!). My mind begins to fog over as I hear a distinct alert to cancel the appointment. The whisper of “you can go another day,” “you don’t have time for this,” becomes more audible as I sit thinking. What I am experiencing is anxiety. 

The beautiful thing about fear is, when it presents, we react perfectly – the body is wired to survive. When fear is activated, we respond in whatever way we need to in order to manage the presenting danger. 

Anxiety is the same, except, the danger that is felt hasn’t happened yet (even if our mind and body says it’s inevitable). 

What is anxiety anyways?

Anxiety is our internal alarm system that sounds off when it perceives danger. Note: the word perceive. Unfortunately our lizard brain hasn’t gotten the memo yet that the email from your boss won’t kill you, the person talking shit about you and that an unknown caller isn’t a threat to your survival. That is where most people get stuck – anxiety is not logical and often does not work to manage it. Trust me, if I could say “hey, there isn’t anything to be anxious about, you’re fine,” I would shout it from the rooftops. Because logic usually doesn’t work to manage anxiety, what does? 

Because anxiety is usually a future-oriented experience, do whatever you can to come back to the space you are in, back to the present moment. There are many present-focused activities  and it is important to have one or two well practiced ones that you can use in an anxious moment. You can read more about coming back to the present here.

What anxiety sounds like:

Everyone’s anxiety voice is different. My voice sounds pretty catastrophic and it is distrusting of my ability to manage challenging situations. Yours might be different but mine sounds like:

1. “What if” Thoughts: “What if I fail? What if I embarrass myself?”
2. Future focus: “What if I don’t get the job? What if something happens to my loved ones? What if I can’t handle this?”
3. Overthinking: “Did I say the wrong thing? What did they think of me? I need to replay that conversation in my head.”
4. Self-Doubt: “Am I good enough? What if everyone else is more qualified?” 
5. Catastrophizing: “If I mess this up, it will ruin everything I have worked for. I’ll be a failure.”
6. Hyperawareness of the body: “My heart is racing too fast, am I having a heart attack? What if something is wrong with me? Why can’t I calm down?”
7. Avoidance Thoughts: “Maybe I should just cancel. It’s too much to handle right now. I can’t do it.”

Anxiety can manifest in a number of ways. Clients I have worked with have identified anxiety showing up in their bodies as:

Racing or palpating heart

Perspiration

Heat through head, neck and chest

Stomach in knots

Racing mind

Tension through jaw, neck and shoulders

Short and shallow breathing 

General unease and restlessness

Sleep disturbances and difficulty falling asleep 

Managing the above cognitive and physical symptoms is simple but not easy. Start by using your awareness muscle and: 

Accept it: stop resisting yourself and let yourself feel anxious. 

Name it: “I know it might not be rational but I’m feeling anxious about X and my mind is saying …”

Manage it: When I’m anxious I know that coming back to the present moment is helpful. Present-focused activities include grounding exercises (you can find some here) , mindful activities (available here) , and other tools that I have developed and practiced in therapy. 

Move on: instead of focusing on the fact that you were anxious just now, move on. Anxiety will pop up seemingly at random and that’s OK. The less time we spend in the anxious space, the less time we will spend in the anxious space (get it?). We cannot think our way out of challenges, we cannot prepare for every outcome, avoiding hard stuff makes it worse and we are so much more adaptive and resilient  than we give ourselves credit for.

Living is challenging enough without having the persistent experience of anxiety. I get it. Looking back, I was a highly anxious kid during the 90’s who had no idea what was happening and despite having medically-focused parents, they couldn’t help me accept, name, manage and move with the anxiety so here I am. A human, just like you who is trying to manage their anxiety day to day through weekly therapy (Elizabeth, you’re the BEST!), daily awareness and mindful practices and a community of people who help enable AND check in on me when I need it. Remember, you aren’t alone in this and there are people who are not only trained, but have experienced something similar to what you are managing now. We are here when you need us – or – when you want us.

If you want to connect with us, you can contact us at co*****@*************an.com or you can read through our therapists’ bios here.

Authored by Annie Amirault, RSW & Co-Founder of ReLearning Human

When was the last time you had some rest? Not just sleeping or scrolling through your timeline while you think about the dishes that have to be done — but genuine rest — the kind that feeds your mind and body. With all the things we have to do in a day, it can feel impossible. I know, there’s just never enough time. But the thing is, rest is not a privilege or something you need to earn, it’s a priority. So, when can we simply rest? 

If the time we spend taking breaks while thinking about our next task to do isn’t rest, then what is it? Rest is when someone takes a break, physically or mentally, from an activity as a way to recharge. And so, when we are thinking about other things, we aren’t really fitting into this definition. 

If you’re still not convinced that finding ways to rest beyond what you have been doing will help, here are a few reasons why you should begin practicing rest. I’m sure if you take a moment to think about it, you’ll come up with a few reasons of your own as to why you owe it to yourself to take a break.

1. Rest is important for minimizing stress: not only this, but as a practice, it can also be good for avoiding burnout.
2. When we are rested, we can make better decisions: when we step away from something to rest, we can look at it with a fresh perspective.
3. Beneficial for our physical health: have you ever noticed that when you’re particularly overwhelmed your body feels off too? Stress and our fight-or-flight response impacts different aspects of our body like digestion, blood pressure, heart rate and hormones. When we rest, we give our bodies the ability to recharge and lessen stress.
4. Rest can make us more productive: when we force ourselves to get stuff done because we are stuck in a mindset of what is and isn’t productive, we can sometimes start dragging our feet and procrastinating, so we struggle with the task at hand. Rest makes it easier to focus on the task, ultimately improving our ability to complete what we need to do.
5. Rest can be a form of protest: in a world where we often aren’t given the opportunity to rest, and are even told we shouldn’t, it’s a great act of resistance to rest and prioritize ourselves. Community and being there for others is important, but we can’t always be everything for everyone — and that’s okay too — you can take time for yourself when needed.

It’s one thing to say that rest is helpful, but let’s be honest, it’s also difficult to find time for it. We are so busy these days and the responsibilities pile up. Here’s a few ways to get better rest:

1. Schedule it in: just like you can schedule other parts of your day, you can schedule rest too. It doesn’t have to take more than 20 minutes, but find a time where you can focus on you and recharge. Scheduling it in may help you stick more to the plan and avoid distractions that take away from your rest time. 
2. Find something you enjoy: your rest time is for you — how you recharge doesn’t have to be typical or make sense to anyone else, it can just be. It may not click right away and you may have to try out different ways to unwind, but if it feels right to you, hold onto it.
3. Consider what rest means to you: is it more recharging to be with others socially or do you find watching a  movie alone under blankets to be more restful?

Don’t know where to start, try these ideas. You may find them helpful or you may not, and that’s okay, we are all different after all. But maybe, just maybe, it’ll lead you somewhere where you can feel rested.

1. Get active: try moving your body in any way that works for you — go for a walk, hike, or try dance.
2. Try breathing exercises or similar activities: practices like these can help us to regulate our stress response. Try a few practices and see what works for you. Not sure where to find one that you like? Check out some of our resources here.
3. Consider your favourite type of media: do you love music? Is there a show or movie that brings you comfort? Try to implement these into your day, but not just as background noise; instead, immerse yourself in it.
4. Play: when was the last time you played? Play has many benefits for your mental health. You can read more about this here and understand your play style through this worksheet.
5. Take a nap: sometimes the most basic methods of rest work best. Try resting your mind and body with a nap to recharge.
6. Find a hobby that fuels you: consider what you enjoy, maybe it’s something creative, playing video games, baking, etc. If the hobby leaves you feeling fulfilled and recharged, it’s rest.

Now, please find some time to rest — it’s okay to prioritize yourself! 

Authored by Dani Caruso, BSW