Tai Chi was okay, made exciting by the tornado watch sirens that kept going off while we were trying to focus on moving carefully and slowly. But all was well and there was a lovely double rainbow when we left the studio. My friend and I went for coffee and yakked for a couple hours, so that was worth going out for.

Did the ADs, when you were on them, help with the anxiety at all, or is it coming from a completely different part of your brain that just points and laughs at the ADs until they run away crying?

The ADs helped with the anxiety at first, but after a year or so, I felt they weren't really working anymore. I'm doing okay without them so far. I'm learning ways to manage.

It should get better, now I know what's going on and can reassure the inner frightened person that we can deal with the monsters out there

I believe it will get better, Connie. I hope it does. It did for me. Honestly, I learned more about how to handle my anxiety from Buffistas than I ever did from my therapists. So you're in good company, anyway!

sj and askye, take your meds! Says the person who isn't taking hers.

I like it once I'm there

Eh. I'm not really enjoying it, but it's probably good for me, anyway. I think I might enjoy something more that moved faster, odd for a person as slothful as me. I find this more frustrating than soothing.

I'm in bed at 9 because I have run out of spoons. I'm hoping ltc doesn't decide now would be an awesome time to wake up demanding food.

I like the meditative aspect of Tai Chi, and I like the softness of the movement, but I get how it might not work for everyone

I will probably like Tai Chi when I'm better at it! Right now I feel like a clumsy hippo. My own awkwardness is annoying me.

That is hard to let go of. I always find myself approaching it like a dance class where I have to get the steps right and that's not really the point. I feel more fluid when we're doing things i haven't learned at all and I just focus on shifting my weight and turning like everyone else is doing and don't bother with the hand movements at all. Anyway, good class tonight, confirmed that last week was cancelled and I should have gotten an email, so I will have to check all my spam filters (since I am not sure which email he has) to fix that so I get future notifications.

BTW, what I am learning now is some animal-based qigong and while there is not a hippo there is a Bear and I like it because the lumbering feel comes very naturally to me. We're doing Monkey now and it's more agile and quick, which is more challenging for me.

animal-based qigong

ooh, that sounds interesting! I could channel an animal.

Yeah, you're right, now that I think of it a lot of the qigong has animal-based names, like "phoenix rising from its ashes" and "stork spreads wings"

I did some of that sort of quigong a couple of years ago, and I really liked it. It was something I had to give up when I lost my last job. Perhaps I should see about picking it up again.

In a way, the qigong feels more like exercise and the Tai Chi feels more like dance, but what works best for me is to think of both of them as meditation, if that makes sense.

That makes a lot of sense. In fact, I should remind myself of that frequently, I think it would improve my mental state.