Latest / From Recovery to Wellness | Life After Heart Surgery, Aneurysm Repair & Cardiac Healing / Managing Anxiety, Mindset, and Emotional Recovery

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Managing Anxiety, Mindset, and Emotional Recovery · From Recovery to Wellness | Life After Heart Surgery, Aneurysm Repair & Cardiac Healing

• 0:08
  Welcome back to From Recovery to Wellness. This
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  is episode 3 and I'm really glad you're here
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  today. If you're listening while resting or walking
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  slowly or sitting quietly with a cup of tea,
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  you're exactly where you need to be. Today we're
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  talking about something many people don't expect
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  after heart surgery or a major health event,
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  but deeply experience. Anxiety, emotional swings,
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  a mindset that feels unfamiliar. And if that's
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  been part of your recovery, I want you to know
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  this first. You're not weak. You're not failing.
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  and you're not doing recovery wrong. So often,
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  recovery is framed as physical, incisions healing,
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  strength returning, vital stabilizing. But emotional
• 1:03
  recovery doesn't follow a neat timeline. You
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  might feel anxious for no clear reason, tearful
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  one moment, calm the next, hyper aware of your
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  body. fearful of normal sensations, unsettled
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  even when doctors say you're doing well. And
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  that can be confusing. Many people think, why
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  do I feel this way if my recovery is going well?
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  The truth is, emotional recovery often lags behind
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  physical healing. Now, to better understand your
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  post -recovery anxiety, There are some things
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  that you will need to just acknowledge and know.
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  There were, after a major medical event, your
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  nervous system has been through a lot. There
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  were alarms, medications, disrupted sleep, loss
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  of control, uncertainty. Even if everything went
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  according to plan. Your body remembers the stress.
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  Anxiety after surgery can show up as racing thoughts,
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  fear of something going wrong, checking your
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  body frequently, trouble relaxing, feeling on
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  edge without knowing why. This isn't your imagination.
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  It's your system learning how to feel safe again.
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  I always equate this to the fight or flight.
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  We do one of those things to protect our bodies.
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  We go into protection mode. And this is what
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  I equate that to. And it takes time to adjust.
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  Again, your body has been through so much. And
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  I call it trauma. And actually that's what it
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  is, it's trauma. And so what I would suggest
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  is to just reframe your mindset. One gentle shift
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  that can help is moving away from the idea of
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  fixing anxiety and towards understanding it.
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  Instead of asking what's wrong with me, try asking
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  what might my body be trying to protect me from.
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  Anxiety isn't a personal failure, it's a signal.
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  A signal that your system has been through something
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  significant. A simple grounding reframe. When
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  anxiety shows up, you might try quietly saying,
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  I'm safe right now. This feeling will pass. I
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  don't need to solve everything today. You don't
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  need to believe these statements perfectly, but
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  just letting them exist can soften the moment.
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  Just keep them in your mind if you can just repeat
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  them over While you're resting while you're healing,
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  you know it you would be surprised of how much
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  of a difference that it makes Because sometimes
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  our mindset can change a lot of things, you know
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  in the way that we respond the way that we feel
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  Yeah, and the way that we we act in a way that
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  we heal And so I just want you to know that emotional
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  recovery is not linear. It's just not on the
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  straight and narrow. Some days you may feel hopeful,
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  grateful, steady, and the next day fragile, fearful,
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  emotionally tired. And this doesn't mean that
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  you're going backward. Emotional recovery moves
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  in waves. Progress doesn't always look like feeling
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  better. Sometimes it looks like looks like understanding
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  yourself more. Now here are some gentle tools
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  for emotional support. They are non -overwhelming
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  gentle practices you might explore only if they
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  feel right for you. Nothing is cast in stone.
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  The major part of healing is is not going with
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  the flow but going with how you feel. So, I would
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  suggest name the feeling. Instead of pushing
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  it away, try naming it. This is anxiety. This
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  is uncertainty. This is emotional fatigue. Naming
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  creates distance. Constantly searching symptoms
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  or outcomes can increase anxiety because you
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  want to limit information overload. It's okay
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  to take breaks from medical forms, statistics,
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  endless research, because your nervous system
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  needs to rest too. Use structure as support.
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  Some people find comfort in writing one sentence
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  a day, tracking how they feel, noting small wins,
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  not to control recovery, but to ground themselves
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  in the present. Did you know? Emotional swings
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  after major surgery are extremely common, even
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  when physical recovery is progressing well. Stress
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  hormones, medications, disruptive sleep, and
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  the shock of a major health event all play a
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  role. There's nothing extra or wrong about how
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  you're feeling. This is part of the human response
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  to a major life interruption. So I have a reflection
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  question before we wrap up. Here's a gentle question.
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  Here's a gentle question to sit with. What emotion
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  has surprised you the most during your recovery
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  so far? There's no right answer. If you'd like
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  to share, you're welcome to email me or send
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  a message. Sometimes naming it out loud makes
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  it feel a little bit lighter. I will put my email
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  address in the notes below. And then, or either
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  you can DM me. Now, before we close, I wanna
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  say this. You're not expected to stay positive,
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  you're not required to feel grateful every moment,
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  and you don't need to rush emotional healing.
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  If having something structured helps you feel
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  calmer, I'll occasionally mention journals and
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  wellness tools I've created are personally used.
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  They're always optional and always shared as
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  support, not solutions. And next week, we'll
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  talk about sleep, why it's important, why it's
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  often disrupted after surgery, but why it is
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  so important for you to get good quality sleep
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  and how to gently support rest during recovery.
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  Now, I also failed to mention earlier that by
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  journals and wellness tools, I will put the link
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  to where they are in the notes as well. So you'll
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  have that information available to you. And all
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  of this is optional. And so the main thing here
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  is that you get your rest and continue to heal
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  during your recovery. Now I want to thank you
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  for being here. Take care of yourself today and
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  in whatever way feels possible. Take care and
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  be well. And I'll see you next week.