Anxiety/Panic attack help!
July 14, 2014
The mind is an amazing thing. It has all the power that you give it. And we can create some of the most amazing things when we focus on something. But in one area its power can be very traumatising and debilitating by the affects that it produces. We all have fears in so many different ways and how we deal with those fears come in many different forms, but the one common denominator in them all is the anxiety that they all produce. Even reaching a point of what are called panic or anxiety attacks when a fearful event becomes imminent or even for no reason which can be quite frightening because you think your having a heart attack, it is that pronounced.
Well, after having been through a time in my life many years ago, where I also went through a stage of ‘The Dark Night of the Soul’ and had panic/anxiety attacks all over the place, I found a small written piece about how to handle these attacks and with the current training for my Massage Therapy at the time (synchronicity is amazing), I was able to put two and two together and take control of my life again, and very quickly at that.
This is an important part for keeping your stress levels and health in a good place while you’re trying to find your way through a very trying time, and that is while the situation can be very emotionally and physically draining, you must keep your eating and sleeping in as good a balance as you can while you are dealing with everything. The emotional side of this takes longer to go through for obvious reasons but if you keep the physical side going well, it will support you while you are dealing with it all.
This next bit sounds like a biology class (but very brief), and it will help you to deal with what you are going through. While going through a stressful time you are teaching your adrenal gland to release adrenaline at a constant rate, and you will recognise it by a constant sick feeling in your stomach. It is the fright or flight response. Under constant stress it can begin to fire up at totally odd moments and unless you realise what it is, it can be quite scary. (Panic/anxiety attacks). And even if you have not reached this point, get into a habit of some exercise (walks or anything for at least 30 min) at the end of the day. It will burn up any in the system so that you can sleep. Any that is still there keeps you awake as its purpose is to get you ready to run, so it keeps you wide awake. Burn it off and this will also create hunger which you need to keep yourself strong physically. If your eating gets out of balance, so does your body, adding more stress to an already stressed situation. It may not seem much but you will be surprised in the difference a few weeks of this can make. Stay strong physically so you can support yourself emotionally going through this time.
This next bit is in how to cope with an anxiety attack.
Whenever you feel an attack starting to occur, totally relax your body down, take a seat, lay down or whatever position will relax you. (After a while you can actually relax your system down even while you are doing things…you will be surprised in what you can teach yourself to do 🙂 ). Begin by slowly relaxing your toes and focus on them relaxing for 20 seconds, then do the same for your feet, then lower legs, then upper legs, waist, chest, hands, arms, neck and head. While you are doing this, regulate your breathing to a slow intake and outflow of a medium size breath. Don’t breath like a bellows, that increases the oxygen and forces the adrenal to fire more and aggravates the attack. Force yourself to breath slowly and regular. As the attack subsides you will naturally reduce your breath rate to a small regular breath. If you focus on these things, you are in fact retraining the adrenal gland to stop firing and relax. You will regain control of your body and teach it to function at its proper level. IE: It will then only happen when you nearly tread on a snake…or your mother in law is coming over for dinner (I’m only kidding, mother in laws are beautiful 🙂 ).
Your body is only out of whack because of the stress that has slowly piled onto it and it loses its ability to respond under a normal circumstance. After you do this continuously whenever you feel an attack coming on, you will begin to notice the difference of how often the attack occurs as it will begin to get longer and longer between attacks, and the severity of them will be reduced. I began to feel the difference within 2 weeks and the realisation that you DO in fact have control of your body, and not the other way around, is such a huge relief that it gives you greater confidence and it begins to disappear faster.
And when you begin to take control physically, you then have the strength to support the emotional turmoil that you have been going through. It is now time to put something in place to enable you to deal with what has been the stress that has caused this to occur in the first place. First and foremost, dial a friend, even if for just support. They are worth their weight in gold. Secondly, don’t look at it as you have been, that has caused your predicament in the first place. Try something else, another direction, or even remove the stress if possible. But do not just ignore it, it is there for a reason. Your approach to it, even if it is coming from another person, needs to change because what you are doing is not working. You need to take control of your life, even if that means confronting something that scares you. Get support from a professional therapist to walk you through it first. Have the backup of friends.
And first and foremost, after you go through something like this, you begin to appreciate just who you are within. You see the journey you have been through, and see that you do have what it takes, you are a stronger person because of it, and you now realise you have what it takes to be that beautiful person within. You have gone over a hurdle that you have balked at for a long time. You are now YOU, and fully appreciate the love that you now give to yourself because of what you have been through. Take a bow my friend, for it is a journey to find that unconditional love that is within us all. I wish you well, and hope this information gives you strength to continue on your journey, as it did for me.
Namaste
Wow, Mark, I can relate to everything you said here. It is stunning how perfectly you described the stages of stress, how it is building up, and keeps your stomack in action while it also keeps you from sleeping. I can also relate very well to what brings relief. It is of no use to ignore it or try to think it away. It needs to be “worked-out” and literally doing it by working out or by talking about it, and releasing the blocking rock helps a lot.
Sorry Erika, I found you in the spam folder. How it suddenly decided you were a gremlin I’ll never know 😀
Stress is a sneaky process as we hold many things in and it builds and builds until we feel like we are going to explode. And we all do try to ignore it hoping it will go away. By the time it has reached its peak we are floating in a sea of misery and anxiety not knowing what to do.
I was so amazed when I followed this process that I began to beat this inner horror that I had thought taken over my life. And it only took a few weeks to see and feel that I was making progress. The relief and confidence as you realise you are taking back control of your life is priceless.
Thank you for sharing kind lady, may this help those in need 😀
I think that happens to all of us at times. Perhaps the system realized that I am a witch 😅
Yes, you totally hit the nail on the head as you are describing the process o the stress building up. That is the tricky thing about stress. Once you see you cannot handle it anymore … it aleady has you strongly in its grip.
I absolutely believe that this has helped people. You know what you are talking about and you have found a way out of it. Lately, I said to someone that it is not what or how much there is we do or need to do but how we think about what we do. And that again goes along with your stress relief technique.
Awesome!!
Lol. You never know with this system 😀
And yes it is a nasty place to be, and as you said, it is how we think about it. We don’t realise we are building and building it up not realising, or worse still, ignoring the danger signs until it explodes. And I must admit a lot of people don’t realise what is happening and their first comment is…none. They hold it in and not admit it to anyone through fear. That allows it to get a very firm grip until they finally cry out for help.
Meditation, stress relief and coping strategies should be a class in school, and I’m talking in the pre-school, never too early to obtain good coping skills.
Thank you kind lady, may your lovely posts keep our stress levels at bay…they do mine as they bring a smile, the best stress relief in the world 😀
I can completely confirm what you said here about hiding the stress from others. I think it is more that stupid pride which tells us that admitting is a sign of weakness. So stupid when I look at it from a distance but that is exactly what happened to me.
I am so glad that I took action and changed something which does give me more peace and room for stress relief and for writing posts which again charges the battery for the things which used to stress.
I thank you very much for this wonderful conversation and your honoring words, Mark. It means a lot to me. Yes, smile and laughter… definitely a stress eraser 🎆
It is good to hear your journey has brought you peace again Erika, to your heart and home. It is not a good journey, but it does do one thing magical. It finds you, in a more peaceful, beautiful and loving way ❤️
May Christmas be celebrated with that ‘you’ ❤️
That is exactly how I think about everything that pushes us to our limits. We (need to) find ways to overcome them. Thank you for being such a source of inspirstion, Mark😊💖
Thank you kind lady, as are you. Your words of a trailblazer, where the wisdom is born ❤️
🙏😊🙏
Thank you Mark! Inspiring post! I didn’t think about the adrenal gland and how it’s involved in anxiety/panic attacks. These are great reminders to eat healthy and exercise. Both of those things help me deal with anxiety. When I feel anxious, I remind myself to take deep breaths, and exhale slowly. That helps a lot. Being mindful is also beneficial to getting through anxiety. Thanks for the information. Jenny
My pleasure Jenny, it was such a relief for me when I realised the ‘adrenal glands’ action behind it. It allowed me a large control of what was happening instead of that feeling of being ‘out of control’.
It isn’t a pleasant experience, and anything to reduce it has to be a saving grace.
Thank you for sharing, and may it help your journey to be a less ‘anxious’ one 🙂
You hit the exact right note. Panic attacks are my daily companion.
Hi thewingedwoman! I hope it does help. For me it was the unknown that really threw me. Once I understood it was the stress that was putting my Adrenal Gland into a negative loop, and I realized I could change it, it made it so much easier. Initially you think ‘nothings happening’, but within a couple of weeks of doing that quick meditation (3 or 4 min is all it took each time an attack happened), it all changed because I realised I had control of my body again. And you realize the attacks are happening less and less so that confidence in yourself then makes a world of difference. Good luck…and believe in yourself…namaste.
Great post! I’ve known people who get panic attacks and they can be quite distressing. Relaxing is good advice for sure.
Thank you Jackie. When they finally see that it is only their body responding to the stress, and they are not going crazy, it becomes so much more manageable. It’s the not knowing that escalates it. The relaxing is reteaching the adrenal gland to stop firing and stop that constant state of anxiety (the fight or flight response), that is under normal circumstances there for giving you extra energy to run away from danger. The constant stress just aggravates it. Plus when we feel we have control back it gives our confidence a great boost. Namaste
Still so incredibly relaxed after my hoilday I can’t work up any noise. Might be quiet for a wee while yet. 😉
Excellent advice here, Mark. You sound so focused. Enlightened words here and in those I had missed. (Trying to catch up!)
I hope you’re all settled now in your new home and recovered from your injury.x
Hello my un-stressed friend! You sound like you’ve found your nirvana 🙂 Maybe it’s a good idea to not get back up to ‘noise’ speed 🙂 You’ll have to have another holiday then…can’t have that, can we! Yes, I’ve recuperated from my injury fairly well. It occasionally says hello if I get carried away. But beyond that I have settled nicely and I think that has contributed to a more balanced outlook and I’m feeling things so much calmer. Maybe I think I found my Nirvana as well. Each day with these views, and the energy is very much a bliss and a blessing. Mind you, I got a head cold then a chest infection that I’m only just now getting past. I think their may have been a serious detoxing required within and without that went hand in hand with the move. A sort of crab (well I am a cancer with a cancer rising 🙂 ), fitting into a new shell. Looking forward to your gentle easing back into this world. Maybe there is a new scottishmomus as well 🙂 Welcome home my friend! 🙂 xo
I always think when you take these kind of infections that your body is reacting to overload. I hardly ever succumb if I’m in a ‘good place’ but stress floors the body every time, eats in at the immune system till you’re left with no reserves. You’ve had a lot of changes and major upheavals. Even though you’re sure of where you’re at it still takes its toll. Especially with the injury.
Now that you’re all detoxed and settled you’ll be as fit as a fiddle, no doubt and ready for loads of new challenges. This is the place where you’re setting up the healing venue, yes? Book in hand. Views to admire and keep your spirit at optimum levels.
I’m definitely still on a …not a high…a kind of mellow place. Really ‘zoned out and tuned in’. Isn’t that what the old hippies used to say? lol. But, it’s a lovely place to be. So, I’ll take your advice for retaining it and making it work for me.
Let’s see what’s in store. 🙂
You are absolutely correct, run the body down and the immune system goes with it. Or in my case, an autoimmune disease that keeps me at a low level so I actually need to keep myself in top shape or I will succumb to every bug going around. And as you said, the injury puts more pressure on the body and keeps it at a low level. So I am being a good boy and topping my system up with a few herbs, some exercise and being in a good place within…without is fine…the views go on forever, and just to make a point, I put a pic of today’s sunset in the gallery. Well, someone had to do it 🙂
And yes, this is my healing place. Lots of good energy and very calming. Thank you for dropping in and reminding me of that ‘bottled’ place, I also must keep balance and make sure I stop, smell the roses and give from that lovely space as well 🙂 Good to see you in a lovely detoxed set of mind, the kids will love it when you start back up after the break. And me too, some of your verses are very relaxed and exuding a lovely freshness as well 🙂 Mark
Thank´s Mark for your good advices and explainings, your sharings and carings:-) I have never had an panic/anxiety attack but now I know little more if I get one ( hope not). You are a really good teacher:-)
But my feelings have been turning in and out sometimes and was highly stressed for a while..have been using Medical Yoga, an easy form of yoga, with meditation for the Heart..
IMY- Institute for Medical Yogas founder is Göran Boll, Stockholm, Sweden and he had trained instructors around the world. This Yoga focus much on the breathing, where you breath in with your nose, mouth closed, deep slow breath start from the stummic, goes up to your chest/ribbons and end with the collar bone, then breath out slowly down same way, breath this way a few minutes then you start relaxing, the way you described so good above, the toes, foot, lower legs and so on. After that some good movements for the body, ended with short meditation..Researches has been done on different diseases, for ex on cardiac patients using this yoga as rehab with very good results. High bloodpressure falls and other good things for body and mind happens
Wish you all the best
It does sound similar. I suppose there must be many different varieties of techniques but all trying to achieve that one thing of removing stress, healing the body and bringing some peace into our lives. Sorry to hear you have been going through a difficult time, but as you have been practicing that yoga, you would have found that it is a great technique to bring our minds back to a balance and remove that everyday stress that seems to creep up in our minds. I found that if i did it on an everyday basis it would keep me in a good space so that if anything around me was pressuring me in any way, I was able to handle it much easier and not allow it to ‘gain control’ of me. It is great to see that it is helping in medical situations as well to assist in the healing. Heal the mind, heal the body. I will look up the ‘Medical Yoga’ and check it out. They all can connect us to ourselves and each will draw us to whichever suits us. The more the merrier 🙂 Thank you Elaine for this information, and I hope it keeps you in a great place within as well. Namaste
Many thanks Mark – for one of the posts I have just managed to get to read after an age it must be synchronicity – I wish it could be that simple, but then nothing worthwhile is ever truly simple, is it? Sleeping – what’s that? – just a brief absebce of light or thought but little rest, and a good diet – heavens, the thought of food makes me feel ill let alone eating much…. (nervous energy I guess). As for calling a friend …. I’m afraid I had to release that one many years ago and I seem to have lost the knack. I have a few online friends (thank you Mark 🙂 ) but people I can call? Hmmm – another strange one. Yes, I should relax and I do practise, but for some reason I seem to be continually interrupted… if I were a spring I would be rocket loaded and whizzing all over the place!
Enough with the sad sack – hmmm? I will print it out and try very hard to do this…. or am I approaching this wrong if I have to try too hard?
Just let this headache ease so rational thought wouldn’t fel so alien….
Blessings for your wonderful heart,
Susan x
Hey stranger! I thought you may have missed your journeys to Egypt or somewhere and packed your bags and run away to relive the wonders of the world again 🙂 You do though, sound like you’ve been through a little wobble. The whole purpose of my post IS to slow everything down, remove that zoom, zoom of the mind and body (mind you, I do know you have been moving house etc, and that CAN be very testing to say the least. I also just moved house (views from the balcony in my gallery), and I swear when you think you’ve finished one box, another five bob up :). No such thing as trying too hard, it just says you wish to do it. Play some music that you enjoy, that automatically releases your body, then slowly relax your body and breathing from there. Music IS a meditation in itself. It gives a very pleasurable focus and we release all those (million 🙂 ), other thoughts that go around in our heads every second. And supposed to be great for headaches as well. Have you checked any of the herbal approaches to the headaches…are they physical, emotional, both! Worth going in that direction, nothing worse than trying to live with something that would try the patience of a saint 🙂 Well, I’m a friend, and Tammy, (by the way, right now she should have had another feeding tube inserted yesterday (her Friday), she seems to be having a lot of trouble eating I think), so she may be away for a bit. Feel free to fire an email at me from my contact page if the desire takes you. And remember, it only takes that one person to say or tell you something that can rearrange your whole life forever. The meaning of life….easy….you! When we really, truly love and accept ourselves for exactly who we are, release all those ‘what if’s’, then and only then do we truly love ourselves. It is in the process of letting go that we are saying, ‘I no longer wish to hurt myself with these fears…I release them with the understanding of what they were teaching me, and accept myself for who I have now become’. And then you are free, within and without. And no, it doesn’t take two minutes or else we would learn the entire universe in a week and a half 🙂 But when we do begin to understand this journey for what it is, a story about love, we slowly realise that wonderful person inside IS already a beautiful, loving, wonderful person…we’ve just tacked on some bits that need to be understood and released. So my friend, meditate on that lovely person inside and gently, slowly ponder your feelings about you, and then begin the change that you require…which is loving yourself by doing so. Take care Susan and breeeeeathe, you will be surprised when you practice the technique for a while, it becomes second nature, even when your doing other things, and thank YOU for saying hello, I missed that cheery smile, safari’s in the desert, and the interactions from here. Mark 🙂
Very good information. This is exactly what I do and you are right, it really does work. It does take some patience and a lot of practice, but if you just stick with it, it WILL happen, as I am a witness. It’s an awesome place to be.:)
Well done my friend. Do that before you go to sleep tonight and again in the morning…and when you get a little used to doing it, you can do it even while you are doing things 🙂 Not recommended when you are driving though, until you reach pro status anyway 🙂 Good energy coming at you, relax and go with the flow. Tomorrow will come and go so fast because you are relaxed, that you’ll wonder where it went 🙂 Sleep well my friend, we’ll be chatting again soon. Namaste
Yes, sir…………………. I may not get any sleep tonight, but I am going to try just as soon as I can wind down a little. I’m pretty good at it, it did take me awhile to learn how to do it and actually reap the benefits from it. It’s such a good place to be and definitely clears the mind, clears it so well, you reach a point of total relaxation, a place where NO thoughts exist. It’s so awesome and I’m so glad I didn’t give up on it, because I did almost give up on it when it wasn’t happening as quickly as I had hoped it would. I used my patience, can you believe that? Wild Thang does actually have patience? I do sometimes forget that. Everyone should be taught meditation at a very early age and this place would be a much better and peaceful place for all of us. I don’t think I’ll ever try it while I’m driving. I have that damn ADHD, so when it comes to driving I need to focus 100% on my driving. Thanks again for all the good energy you’re shooting over my way. I can feel that little tickle in my heart. LOL 🙂 Yes, yes, we will be talking again, soon. Uh, I believe it’s daytime where you are, over their in Australia, so peace out and have a great day, my dear friend.
Peace, hugs, love, light, and all that jazz,
Wild Thang 🙂
You too 🙂
🙂
If you do not mind, I would love to print this out to refer to (often). This was written so well and just for me (yup!). Thank you, Dear Mark!
I do not mind at all. It is the one thing that saved my sanity during a time that I thought I had really lost the plot. It may sound simple, but that is its great strength, it shows you a truth, a candle in the dark as it were, and removes the fear and craziness at a time in one’s life when we think we are lost. I still use it to this day for the simple reason it is a great relaxation and meditation tool. And as you become accustomed to it, you can even begin to do it, even though you are still working or doing any number of things. The mind is a powerful thing, we can do, and be, anything we wish. If it brings up your lovely smile Skye, it has achieved its task 🙂 Namaste
Wonder information, Mark. Thank you so much for positing this, I know it will help a lot of people.
Thanks Michele. A lovely friend of mine said that it should be somewhere to be found when needed. So I thought here could at least reach a few more people. While people are going through these times in their lives they are reaching out for some help or guidance for their journey and this can take some of the craziness out of those times. I should maybe elaborate a little more on it, create a pdf document out of it, and have a download button on my page so that it can put onto anyone’s computer and passed on if needed. Have a great day. Namaste
That would be a great idea, Mark. Doctor Judith Orloff is also a good read for panic attacks. But I really like how you have explained all of it, and I think there would be a lot of people going to that pdf download button. Namaste to you too 🙂
I’ll put the thinking cap on, see what I can come up with. Thanks Michele 🙂
This is great…anxiety is certainly a scary thing-I had never experienced it at the heightened levels I did when I left my abuser. I was blessed to have a skilled therapist through the domestic violence center who must have explained to me on a weekly basis about the biology of panic attacks…it took a lot of hard work over a full year, but the symptoms finally subsided and became manageable.
It is a very testing time to go through, and I know a lot of people really begin to think they have lost the plot as it creates an even bigger fear than the thing that causes it to escalate into what it is. But when you see the biology of just how your body is reacting, it takes away that ‘unknown’ so that you can see it for what it really is. Having that understanding gives you control back and gives a great boost to your confidence. I’m glad you have come through that time. I even found that BECAUSE I had come through that, I gradually had changed who I was within, and as time went by I realised that I no longer allow situations to reach that peak. If I feel it is something that I need to look at within, I now face it before it comes to the point of stressing myself back into that place before. Yes, they can be hard to face, but in doing so I am now much stronger (and I don’t mean ‘in your face’ stronger), just a strength to know myself and realise ‘hey, I’m uncomfortable in this space’, and then look into it for my own benefit and not hide from it or tuck it away hoping it will go away, that will gradually bring back that place you no longer wish to be. Thank you Army of Angels for sharing your journey. Namaste
I could have used this little tidbit of information eons ago….hahaha….boy I was stressed out all the time!!! ohhh don’t get me wrong I still have my mini bouts of anxiety but I’ve learned overtime how to get a handle on it. Next time when I find myself overloaded and stressed out I will follow your techniques!
Go for it Jolene, it is so simple I thought they were mad, but when I put them together I finally understood. It removed that ‘aaah, I’m going crazy’ out of the equation because there IS a rational explanation to why it was happening. It is such a relief to just understand the process AND have something so simple to counteract it. Take care. Mark.
P.S. There is a side affect to this….you keep falling asleep because your so exhausted from what you’ve been going through…and it is greeeeeeat! 🙂
Feel like this was written just for me Mark – know it wasn’t but incredibly relevant to where I am at right now. Extraordinarily helpful – thank you. Veronica. x 🙂
My pleasure seanghirl. After being through it myself, and it was such a horrible time, I needed to put it somewhere so that it can be used by others. I seemed too simple but I was so amazed by how quickly it worked for me. When I realised it was just my body reacting to the stress I was putting it under, I took control of my body back, my life began to readjust and function as it should. That gave me so much confidence that I could then deal with all the stresses around me from a much better place. I know it can give you back the peace and sanity that your heart desires. The first couple of times you keep asking yourself…is it working, is it working… and get yourself all anxious again. DON’T!. Just keep doing the relaxing and gentle breathing and soon you will feel the difference. It just takes a little while to retrain that poor adrenal gland, that we have spent months or years giving a hiding with our stress, to come back to a proper function. It only took me two weeks to see the difference…and the relief was beautiful. Go for it, trust me, it works. And as a side issue, it was such a beautiful meditation to do, that I kept doing it after it was all over because it was a lovely experience. Relaxed my body, mind and life to such an incredible space that I kept it. It is a life saver in more ways than one. xo 🙂 Namaste
Thanks Mark – always found meditation very difficult in the past but I am definitely going to give this a go as if I don’t I may well spontaneously combust! Relaxing isn’t something I do very well, but I desperately need to do so as I am far from functioning properly right now. My 3 kids are going on a little errand shortly so I will take the precious time I have on my own to try the relaxing and gentle breathing. Time for mum to give herself a break. Have a good day – best wishes from Glasgow. Missing Momus already and she’s only been gone since yesterday morning! x 🙂
Good luck, you can do it! And yes, it has gone quite eh! 🙂 (Don’t tell her I said that 🙂 )x
🙂 x