Sharna Burgess Opens Up About Intrusive Thoughts She Has as a Mom
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Former Dancing with the Stars pro Sharna Burgess recently posted on Instagram about her experience with “super dark” intrusive thoughts as the mother of 5-month-old son Zane. She shared some advice for how to deal with it.
Sharna Burgess Opens Up About Intrusive Thoughts
Burgess shared a video of herself holding Zane while about to walk down a set of stairs. She then stopped and lip synced to audio of Cardi B saying, “Oh my God, what is that?” The dancer captioned the post, “Intrusive mom thoughts….”
“This is a real thing,” Burgess continued. “Honestly I thought it was something wrong with my brain at first. These super dark thoughts of all the things that could go wrong. All the ways I or life could accidentally hurt my baby.”
Examples included her falling down the stairs while holding her son, him getting sick, or getting into a car accident. Burgess said she has “learned to tame them and understand them” and knows she is not alone. She called motherhood “the most excruciating love you’ve ever felt.”
Several commenters said they could relate, including Good Morning America meteorologist and former DWTS celebrity Ginger Zee, who wrote that she wouldn’t let anyone carry her baby down the stairs while wearing socks. She added that meditation helped her.
SEE ALSO: SHARNA BURGESS SHARES U.S. CITIZENSHIP IN EMOTIONAL POST
Burgess Shares Advice for Fellow Mothers
In her post, Burgess shared some tips for other moms who might also be struggling. First, she wrote, “Deep cleansing breaths taking in as much air as you can and hold as you say ‘I release all thoughts that do not serve me’ then control that breathe out imagining those words and the feeling they bring leaving you. Repeat repeat.”
Another thing she does is swipe her hand in front of her eyes and saying “no,” then “imagine that image being destroyed and gone.” She added, “I shake it off and call in a memory that I can’t wait to make with Zane. All of the firsts that he has coming.”
She shared that these things “help me tremendously.” However, one commenter disagreed with the second approach, explaining that “saying no gives the thought attention and alarms your brain to give you more.” Instead, they wrote that it can help to “let the thought just be there and let it pass.”
Burgess gave birth to Zane in June of this year with her partner Brian Austin Green. The couple has been together since 2020, and they danced together in Season 30 of Dancing with the Stars.
