You start rolling back in the MRI machine and your heart immediately starts racing. You're watching yourself get deeper and deeper into the tunnel. You try to keep still and then the banging starts. All the noises are echoing in that tight space. I got to get out of here, you think. I got to get out of here. How much longer? Am I going to make it to the end? Get me out. If this sounds like you inside an MRI machine, this episode is designed especially for you. Today, we are talking about managing these runaway thoughts and emotions during an MRI. I'm sharing strategies on how to stay calm to get you through your next MRI. And my friends, if you're looking for a more personalized approach to creating your MS diet,

so if you are ready to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis, welcome to my MS podcast. I'm your host, Alene Brennan. MRIs are nerve-wracking. The confinement, the noises, the uncertainty-your thoughts are bouncing all over the place. When will this end? Do I have new lesions? Did the medicine work? Why is it so cold in here? This banging is so loud. When will it stop? What if I get stuck in here? How will they get me out? Let's keep it real. They are daunting. Yet living with MS, they're part of how we manage this disease. And just because we're regulars at the MRI suite doesn't make it any easier. So if they're here to stay, we need strategies to stay calm during the MRI. And that's exactly what we're diving into today. The cold room, the tight space, the loud noises, just thinking about an MRI is enough to increase your blood pressure. Your heart races, your palms sweat, and your breathing becomes short and fast. It feels like torture. So how do we calm the anxious mind and body?

Deep breathing is focusing on slow, deep, intentional inhales and exhales. Why does it work? Because deep breathing is more than just filling your lungs with air. When we breathe deeply, we stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the longest nerve in your body. And activating this nerve shifts your body into the parasympathetic nervous system, which is our body's rest and digest mode.

To stay in a state of stress. But when you take those slow, deeper breaths, you are sending air to the lowest lobes of the lungs, which helps again to signal this parasympathetic nervous system. It gives your body the signal. It's okay to relax. It's safe and we can relax now. So how do you use this before your next MRI starts? Practice a few rounds of deep breathing.

It's pressing on the diaphragm. So it allows the belly to expand. So allowing your belly to expand on an inhale is actually really good. It allows you to take a deeper, calmer breath. So deep breath in, breathe in through the nose, allow that breath to fill the lungs, to fill the belly, pause for a second, and then full exhale out. I like to think about exhaling out longer than I think I can because that's another technique.

Pause for a second and then deep, full exhale out, allowing the breath to go back up and out. All right, so let's move on to the next one. Progressive muscle relaxation. I have kind of mixed emotions on this one personally, but the concept of it is it's a method where you tense and then release muscles in your body.

relax them. I find that I just like to focus on the relaxation part of it. And I think that that might be even more relevant as you are in the MRI because you really don't have the opportunity to move. Which on a side note, I don't know if anybody else, but I always feel like I have a little tickle in my nose whenever I go into an MRI machine. I'm so worried that I'm going to sneeze and it's going to throw everything off. That's my anxious thought. But that's where I just focus on my breath.

And full breath out. Good and then bring your attention to your head. Think about relaxing all the muscles in your scalp. Just allow the muscles in your head to fully relax and let go. You might find that you actually had a little bit of tension in your head and scalp that you didn't even know was there. But as you exhale out, you relax those muscles. And then you allow this relaxation to travel to your forehead. Think about relaxing your forehead and widening the eyebrows. Allow this relaxation to travel down to your eyes, thinking about your eyes sinking deeper into your head. Relax your cheeks. Ja. Tongue and lips. Release any tension you may be holding in your jaw. Just allow it to fully release and let go.

So this is a relaxation that I do. I go head to toe, but you can see how doing so, you're not really engaging any muscles that are going to affect you being relaxed in the MRI, but it really does help to just make you feel more at ease in your body, but it helps to really calm the mind and calm the emotions. So you can certainly connect this with the first strategy as well. So you can do deep breathing and tie that in with the progressive relaxation, but either way, whether you do them separately or together, they are two strategies. All right, now let's move on to visualization. And before you knock it and call it too woo-woo, you have to listen in because I have a story that's pretty powerful. But visualization is just as you can imagine. It's a mental exercise where you imagine yourself in a more calm, peaceful environment, something far more calming and peaceful than the tube of an MRI machine.

Now, I'm not talking about regaining mobility, but I'm talking about different biomarkers that he was able to improve. That's no small feat. And it's kind of amazing thinking that he was doing it just through visualization. Now, why it works is because our mind is super powerful. When trapped in tight spaces of an MRI machine, we can be focusing on thoughts that are not helping us. And it creates a more anxious environment in our body. Those thoughts can create a more anxious environment in our body. Whereas if we shift our focus to an environment that's more relaxing, a thought that's more relaxing, you can actually create a state of relaxation in your body. So how do we do this? Close your eyes and imagine yourself in a place that is more peaceful. It could be a beach, a forest, going out for a walk, spending time with your family, whatever brings you most peace. Feel the sensations of that place that you're visualizing. Hear the sounds. Notice if there's any

against the warmth of the sun. I really try to engage all of those senses so I can be fully immersed in this experience. And I will tell you every single time, my body is more relaxed because of it. Okay, let's move on to sound blocking or music, but essentially using either headphones or earplugs to block out the MRI noises because we know they are anything but common.

idea of music. You can't bring your own headphones into the MRI, but they often give you a set. And I don't know about you guys, but anytime I've gone, they ask what type of music I would like to have played. For me, worship music is the music that just brings me to a place of calm, relaxation, and assurance. So not only does it help to block out that loud clanging and banging of the MRI machine,

Now for the last one, mantras, affirmations, or prayers. So what is it? Repeating a calming phrase or statement in your mind. I know I've shared this in other episodes, but remember that what you focus on gets bigger. If you are constantly focusing on a thought such as, 'what if I get stuck in here?' What if I get stuck in here? That is all that you can see and think of. And that thought will continue to get bigger and bigger.

So how do we do this? Choose a mantra like 'I am safe' or 'This too shall pass.' Repeat this in your mind during the MRI, letting it be your focus. Now, I have a book that a friend recommended to me a while back. It's called 'Breath and Prayer', and it gives you different prayers to sync with your breath, helping you tap into your indescribable peace. The idea is that this is something that you practice for about five minutes every day, or ideally five minutes multiple times throughout your day, so you're just really instilling this practice of sinking your breath with prayer. And it comes in so handy when you're in situations like this, an environment that might be a little bit more stressful. And it's something that you can pull out of your pocket and just easily and instantly do.

Well, my friend, we've reached the end of this episode. Pick one lesson from today's discussion and put it into action now. It's time to reclaim your body, mind, and life from multiple sclerosis. And for more resources, events, and programs, head over to AleneBrennan. com. See you on the next episode of my MS podcast.