Every month, usually twice a month (depending on where I am in my cycle) I experience really intense anxiety. It will last 2-3 days. It feels like there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Breathing in deeply, meditation, and various coping skills, just do not work.

I found myself saying over and over, “just allow this feeling to go through you” or “just relax into this feeling” – which this technique does work, but not during these times. It almost feels like an outside force affecting me that I have no control over.

I absolutely feel the resistance – I know it’s there because everything feels tight and constricted and just overall NOT GOOD.

I guess my question is, is there any special way to allow/relax into a feeling that seems to have a really strong resistance factor? This particular type of anxiety I feel during this time feels sticky, super strong, and almost like a really heavy zipped-up blanket that just won’t come off no matter what I try.

Or is there another way of thinking about this type of anxiety that might allow space for it that doesn’t feel as all-consuming as it does? I really would like to relax into it, but feel as though I’m running out of things to try and experiment with.