Center Parcs

[Dreaming]

I survived! & what's more I enjoyed it!

Main things I was anxious about:

1) being anxious all week long
2) liz and her sister getting drunk and being mean
3) having period pain all week/ getting ill

What happened
1) I had 3% of anxiety the WHOLE time! At pottery class (sorry Sim!) I walked in, it was hot and smelt funny (I am very conscious of heat and smell when I'm anxious). I went to the toilet, spent a couple of mins doing deep breathing, bought some water and returned and concentrated on making Sim a beautiful (hahahahahaha) mug to say thankyou for looking after the kitties, and anxeity passed. I had no other anxeity the entire time I was away.

2) Liz and sister drank only one night, and then only 1 pint each!

3) period pain on first day and then nothing. No illness!

All in all a very very successful trip away! I feel very rested and very stressfree!

Plans I had in place to cope with each thing

1) Had my relaxing playlist at the ready for any anxious moments. I took my "anxiety notebook" so I could write it all out if I needed to. I had medication packed. typing has gone funny am going to continue in a new message.....

[Dreaming]

...
2) I would excuse myself, reclaim the power and take myself off to do something I enjoyed
3) painkiller medication, watch what I ate, drank enough water.
As I said, I didn't need to do a single thing to help my anxiety, other than the pottery day. What a success!

Things I've learnt
1) I attribute my lack of anxiety to being in nature. The whole time we were surrounded by trees, flowers, water etc. The sights, sounds and smells of nature relaxed me immensly and I felt very at home - what a hippy!
2) Acitivity - every day was filled with activity, I literally had no time to feel anxious. I "played" and feel very rested for it!
3) We spent 3 hours at a spa- 15 different themed rooms to aid relaxation - IT WAS AMAZING! Outdoor heated pool, 6 different steams rooms - each with a different theme/scent/music - buddhist room with buddha blowing out hot multicoloured jasmin scented steam was my fav of these rooms - 2 suana's, a room full of different kinds of foot spa, a room full of different showers- light rain, tropical thunderstorm - all different scents - a room which was orange and bergamot scented with relaxing cushioned chairs and a sun on the ceiling which changed colour and shape, a room full of water beds with duvets and pillows you could sleep/read in with the sound of waves in the background! a room with open fires and sofas with a waterfull in the middle. A lemon scented room with white sofas all around and yellow draped curtains with 4 tubes full of water bubbles which changed shape and colour- the room also changes colour (one women fell asleep in here and snored really loudly- it was my favourite room!). I learnt I need to make more time to relax fully and to defo do a spa like experience again!

I def don't want kids any time soon - nor do "family holidays" for a long time -- shame we haveanother one booked end of june - 1 week in spain with liz's mum and step dad !

That's it folks - would defo reccommend center parcs - esp to those of you with kids. Am overjoyed that my anxeity has become so managable! fingerc crossed my success continues!

happy Bank holdiay weekend to you all

[stresspuppy]

Glad to hear it all went so well and has also contributed to your ongoing learning about and managing your anxieties. The Spa sounds really relaxing (apart from the snoring!) and the whole being in/around nature sounds like it was really grounding. Thanks for your inspiring posts 

[Ludo]

Wow, what a great post! Love the connection you made between being in nature and feeling less stressed/anxious, I really relate to that, just knowing that the sea is in sight, bird song, or tending my plants/herbs (I've just discovered my green fingers!) makes me feel more centred.
There are loads of good tips and things that could be useful coping mechanisms for all out as with AD etc Thanks for sharing and being so honest! Seems like you had both a really restful chilled time, and learned loads about how to deal with anxiety in a different environment, awesome!

 
x

[Alexandra]

Awesome! I saw some of the pics on FB and it looks like you had an wicked time. I'm glad it went so well!

[Noisy]

Yay! Well done Dreaming. I love the idea of the relaxation rooms.