Horses

[Bill]

I know this may sound a strange post but it's just a thought and I wondered if anyone's ever tried it.

Have you ever noticed that horses are often too afraid to go into stalls before a race? I think it's because they're afraid of feeling "trapped" so to help them overcome their fear they put a blindfold on them. Once they do this, they walk casually in without a problem because they can't see what's around them.

It made me think that stress makes us feel trapped so that when we are say in a supermarket which emphasises this feeling, we start feeling panicky.

Alot of our fear enters our minds through our eyes so has anyone ever tried standing still and shutting there eyes whilst at the same time picturing say their lounge or somewhere similar where they feel safe until the panic passes? If so, has it ever helped?

I know I close my eyes in the dentists chair and picture somewhere nice so that I often end up nearly falling asleep so I just wondered if closing our eyes can actually help us stop being aware of our surroundings and so ease panicky feelings.

Just a thought.:shrug:

[pooh]

Ive tried this one and it freaks me out even more lol I am far more able to calm myself down if I am looking around and reassuring myself everything is normal.

Pooh x

[Yvonne]

Hey Bill

What an interesting thought. It's true they do put blind folds on horses. The horses may not be imagining being in their warm and snug stables but the fact that they can't see where they are means they don't know they are trapped and so it takes away the fear.

I always close my eyes in the dentist as well (not that I go often lol) - I don't imagine nice situations because I also can't imagine idyllic scenarios if I feel panicky.

You've touched on a very interesting subject here Bill because despite being led to believe that anxiety is all caused by thoughts it actually isn't. It's many things isn't it? It's about things we see, things we hear, - it's all the senses I think, just as a familiar smell can bring back memories of something in one's past then a familiar smell would bring back memories - hence feelings of a traumatic situation.

We bought a dvd yesterday - Sweeney Todd - the Johnny Depp one. Now, I'm not into horror in any way but I do like the story of Sweeney Todd and hubby picked it cos he fancied it.

Well, what a bloomin let down, there I was being prepared to be scared and it was a musical!!!!! ...... Bear with me I'm getting to an interesting point here. It was Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in one scene looking completely gruesome and scary but because they were singing there was no fear attached to it. Had I turned the sound down then I reckon it would have been scary. Does anyone know what I mean?

Also with some scary movies, nothing scary has to be going on - no gruesome faces or anything but the background music can terrify. Turn the sound down on that and you would not be scared.

Do I know what I'm talking about??? Yes I do, but dunno if anyone else will understand where I'm coming from.

Oh someone get me a shrink quick!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

Lots of Love Bill xxxxx
Yvonne

PS Will someone please reply cos I'll think I've completely lost it if you don't!

[joy]

well i always knew you were barmy!!!!!! seriously tho the scary thing about the film Jaws is the music not the rubber shark

joy

[Yvonne]

I object to that. I am not barmy, I knew what I was trying to say lol. I wouldn't mind being barmy cos I'd be in barmy bliss and unaware of my plight. xxx

[joy]

Course you aint barmy was only joking as you are my bestest friend

Joy

[kazzie]

Hi Bill:D

They arent blindfolds they are called blinkers!!!!

They enable the horse to look at whats in front of it not either side which spooks them and can make them skittish!!!!

Kaz x :hugs:

[Yvonne]

Oh Kazzie

I'm laughing with embarrassment. Of course they are blinkers - yes I remember now. Oh well.

[kazzie]

Lol I only know cause my line of work brings me into contact with horses quite often lol:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: first time I saw em I wondered where the horses eyes were:doh: :doh: :doh:

Kaz x x x:hugs:

[Bill]

Kazzie:hugs: ,

Yes, you're right in what you're saying about blinkers because they are used for when the horse is walking or racing so that they don't get frightened by objects such as cars moving beside them but I was talking about "blindfolds (hoods)" that they put over a horses head when it resists going into its stall. It calms them down so that they walk in quietly until the race starts and then they remove them of course! Be silly otherwise!:D

Blinkers are most commonly used but there are also visors that cover the whole head and look like colourful boxers head protection but they're not. I've only seen horses wearing visors in horse races.

You taught me something too because I didn't know what the difference was between blinkers and visors until I found the following on the Net............

Blinkers and visors encourage the horse to concentrate on going forward because it restricts the eyes' side vision. Visors allow a little more side vision than blinkers. Blinkers are a complete half moon cup. Visors have a slit in the cup to allow more light in.

Anyway, as has been said, horses don't have our imagination to contend with so they never suffer from worry as they live on instinct. Ignorance can be bliss! Our trouble is we have over-active minds and so as soon as we get bored, it starts thinking about something to terrify ourselves with!

If closing our eyes makes things worse then distraction can certainly be just as effective. I tend to use both techniques. The important thing is not to focus on "feelings" however much they frighten us because that's what they're trying to make you do by hassling you. If you ignore them, they get fed up of trying and just go which is why distraction is very effective because it stops us thinking about feelings.

Throughout the day our senses are bombarded by events that create thousands of thoughts and images but that's what we have to try and remember, that they are just thoughts triggered by our senses.

One last thing. Dogs also suffer panics! Ask our dog! He always starts panting in the car because I'm sure he hates being trapped in and because of the motion of the car. I don't think it's my driving! Maybe he needs a hood too!:D :hugs:

[Baby_Doll]

Very interesting concept Bill...inspiration can come from the strangest of places eh :) I personally find that if I do close my eyes in those situations,I don't feel like I'm on stable ground and it spins me out even more. Although,along the lines of the 'blinkers' concept- just focusing on one thing somewhere infront of me helps alot :) xxx

[Bill]

That's what I call "tunnel vision". I find it helps me alot because it trains the mind to focus on what we're doing or want to achieve.

For instance, when I go shopping in a supermarket I make a list and I focus on that list working out my plan from A to B to get all the things I need. It helps to stop me thinking about everyone else who are actually doing the same as me. If I start thinking about the crowd I'm more likely to start feeling panicky because I become self-conscious which makes me think about "me" rather than what I want to "do".

The same technique also helps me in sport. The other week the result depended on me and in the past I'd fail because my nerves would et to me but this time I focused on what I had to do and how to achieve the right result.

When you watch sportsman, say a penalty taker, their face is totally focused on the ball, how and where they're going to kick it. They don't think about the consequences of missing or of the crowd. If they do, they know they'll fail.

In the same way if we allow our fear to make us focus on the crowd and then on our feelings, we start the cycle which is then difficult to stop. Many a time people will say that once they start feeling anxious they can't stop it. It's because their mind is drawn to their feelings because they scare them and so distract them away from what they want to do.

The trick is to learn a technique such as tunnel vision so that it becomes a habit to replace the habit of watching for and worrying about anxious feelings.

I can remember that when I used to have panics in shops, people would appear "alien" as if they were all watching me. I became self-conscious and my anxious feelings made me want to run which I did by getting out of the shop as fast as I could.

My panics were caused by too much stress going on in my life so the first step was to find ways to reduce those stresses so that I had less to worry me. The next step was to learn how to train my mind to not fear panicky feelings. I must admit though that when I'm having a bad day say because I'm feeling stressed or over-tired, coping with these feelings is much harder but I still cope because of the techniques I've learnt.

When I'm in the dentists I'll close my eyes. When I'm playing sport I'll use tunnel vision. When I'm standing in a crowd I'll focus on what I need. I also used to find having a "comfort blanket" helped. This was my paper bag. I knew that if I had a panic I could rely on that to stop the anxious feelings. Knowing I had this back up helped to stop me worrying about panics and because I stopped worrying about them, the panics lessened and so I never actually needed the bag. It just takes time to re-learn what fear and stress have taken away from us but I always believe that people can learn to cope with panics through different techniques depending on the circumstances.:hugs:

[Franz]

If I could keep my eyes closed all the time, I'd never panic because my obsession is about "projecting" negative vibes through my eyes.

But also, more generally, yes: it is far easier to relax with closed eyes. Some people can meditate with their eyes open and I wish I could do this.

F