An unexpected side effect
Yesterday I did something I genuinely never thought I would be capable of.
It was Bruce's birthday and we wanted to do something new and exciting together, so why not do the bridgewalking tour on the "Littlebelt" bridge that connects our island Fyn to the mainland? Well, a damn good reason would be fear of heights, for example!
I'm gonna have to drag you all the way back to my late teens, when I experienced my first and only real panic attack, on a Viking boat at a Spanish fair. In case you don't know them, it's like a giant swing, but a boat that (vaguely) resembles a viking boat. This means that if you sit far to either end, you go up WAY high when it swings to that side, and when it starts going down again you're almost lifted into the air. This was the precise moment I discovered I don't like my stomach coming into my mouth, and my whole body decided we should absolutely not be on this boat, not now, not ever.
Now thinking about it, my anxiety was probably already humming as my baseline back then, and this panic attack was the first real visible symptom, only I never realised. Since then I avoided heights at all costs, getting seriously panicky when I had to cross any bridge, and I also struggled on take off and landing when flying (fun, considering how much I do of it).
So climbing up those wobbly metal steps yesterday was a huge milestone for me. I never did anything specific to work on this; fear of heights was not high on my priorities to be honest, there was so much else I felt I needed to "fix" in my life.
What kicked in was my new found ability to:
- Create safety from within, knowing deep down I'm not in real danger
- Lean into deep breathing on demand
- Feel grounded even high up in the air
- Accept whatever I'm feeling and lean into it instead of pushing it away
- Naming the fear and using that to calm my amygdala down, mitigating the fight and flight response.
I actually apply all this to flying now as well (plus the sentence "what a waste to spend the last minutes of my life feeling fear" I heard in a random film), and am as chill as a cat on gaba no matter the turbulence/wild landing/ screams of other passengers.
The ripple effects of learning to become calm and confident are never ending. It affects your everyday life, your family and your future decisions. If you're living in constant fight and flight in the veterinary profession it's possible you'll feel better if you leave. But taking the time to actually learn to deal with it in situ, and then from THAT position decide what you want to do with your life gives you so much more power, and the possibility to remain (happily) in the profession that used to be your dream.
THAT is one of the things you'll achieve when you come to our Recharge and Reframe Retreat in Denmark: Suddenly you feel back in control of your life, back in the driver's seat of YOUR journey, and you can see possibilities and solutions that were hidden from you before because you were in survival mode. To me, the most important bit though is finding YOURSELF again. This is one of the things my clients point out; their loved ones comment on how the feel they got the real version of them back.
A retreat is the fast track to all this, being away from your regular environment WHILE working on both your brain and nervous system. This is what many get wrong; they take a break, but don't change any of their inner patterns, so they go back to how they felt before the break, real fast, once they're back in the clinic.
Come and join us! We'd love to have you, and until the 6th April you'll benefit from early bird pricing with 15% discount. All info and pictures here: https://mailchi.mp/1d708765505b/rechargereframeretreatfullinfo
In your corner,
Ready to fall back in love with Vet Med?
If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or doubting yourself — I get it. I've been there. Here's how I can help:
- Book a Free 50-Minute Coaching Session — Let's chat about where you are and where you want to be. Book here
- Download the Free Burnout Guide — 10 ways to overcome burnout in the veterinary clinic. Get it here
- Explore the Happy in Vet Med Programme — Beat burnout and imposter syndrome. Learn more
You don't have to do this alone.