"Honestly I thought it was something wrong with my brain at first"
"Dancing with the Stars" pro Sharna Burgess is opening up about a challenge she's faced as a new mom.
The professional dancer -- who welcomed son Zane with boyfriend Brian Austin Green in June -- took to Instagram to share that she gets "super dark" thoughts about her son, and worries about him constantly.
Burgess, 37, detailed her experience, while also getting candid about how she's been able to deal with the intrusive thoughts.
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View StoryThe Australian native posted a video of herself holding baby Zane, and the clip was set to the viral Cardi B TikTok sound, "Oh my God, what is that?" Burgess appeared to use the sound to portray how her thoughts suddenly pop into her head and stop her in her tracks.
"This is a real thing. Honestly I thought it was something wrong with my brain at first," Burgess began in the lengthy caption of the post. "These super dark thoughts of all the things that could go wrong. All the ways I or life could accidentally hurt my baby. Falling down stairs holding him, sickness, a car accident.. the list is long but I won't share it."
"If you know you know. 5 months in and I still get them but I have learned to tame them and understand them and most of all.. realized I am not alone," she continued. "That last one was a huge relief. I guess it makes sense too, we have this massive responsibility suddenly upon us when we leave that hospital… in a diaper.. sleep deprived, emotionally charged but also depleted, trying to piece ourselves back together and let's not forget .. in pain."
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The ballroom dancer added that the "new responsibility" of being a mother "is filled with so much love, wonder and awe but nobody warns you about the equal amount of fear that now lives within you. It's the most excruciating love you’ve ever felt and its overwhelming, at least for me it was."
Burgess said she has learned "tools" to help her navigate the thoughts, and shared a couple of them with her fellow mothers.
"1. 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," she wrote. "2. When I need a quicker fix I physically swipe my hand in front of my eyes and say 'no' and imagine that image being destroyed and gone. 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."
"These are just 2, and they help me tremendously so I hope that they help you too. I have more if you want me to share xx," Burgess added. "You're doing great mama, remember that 🤍."
Burgess and Green began dating in October 2020. The two announced they were expecting their first child together in February 2022, and Burgess gave birth to Zane in July.
Green shares three children with ex-wife Megan Fox -- Noah, 9, Bodhi, 8, and Journey, 5, -- as well as older son Kassius with ex Vanessa Marcil.