Masha du Toit

I find it helpful to visualise my anxious mind as a small dragon who lives coiled around my neck.

When I start ruminating, it responds in the only way it knows to anything that seems dangerous: it rears up hissing and snarling at the potential enemies, choking me in the process and digging its claws into my shoulders. But if I do the things my brain and body enjoys, (swimming, dancing, cycling) it relaxes its squeeze and might even uncoil from my neck completely, and swoop about in ecstasy, or just lie across my shoulders, purring and making dragon biscuits.

My continual worrying and ruminating means my poor dragon is quite weary and ragged by now, but it’s still willing to throw itself into full alert at my call. So I have to be gentle with my thoughts so that my anxiety dragon can get enough sleep.