If Only I Could Stop My Panic Attacks?
These four steps will give you the foundation to stop panic attacks once and for all.
For those of us who have suffered from panic attacks, it is very important to know that the end is in sight and we are able to stop the attacks. When we are crying for relief and a reprieve from the torment of the experience of panic, we consider any and every possibility to stop the attack. Inside our minds and hearts we are screaming for the panic attack to halt, while on the outside we attempt to carry on as normal. Our silence is quite often enforced by a sense of low self-esteem and insecurity. Does the suppression of expression of what we are experiencing reduce the impact of the panic attack? Without giving voice to our experience we are often rendered powerless. When we find a voice for our pain and powerlessness, the constraints and stress we feel can be considerably lifted leaving us with a new lightness of being.
Four steps to STOP panic attacks:
1. Relaxation is the key:
Learn to relax and you can deal with most things. It needs to be deliberate, conscious effort to start with. The key is learning to breathe through your diaphragm. Quite often we can have a still mind by focussing on something outside our head, like in our bodies somewhere else. Your diaphragm is the center of gravity and your being. When we are anxious or feeling stress we breathe high in our chest in short, sharp breaths or worse hold our breath. Breathing through your diaphragm into and out of your stomach is relaxing and meditative. It gets you out of your head and back into your body creating a balance. Practice throughout the day. Even be deliberate scheduling it in with 10 deliberate deep slow breaths. Hum as you do it and you will find it very soothing.
2. Stopping negative thoughts:
The more we are able to monitor our thoughts and notice the tone of our thinking, the more we can regulate our negativity and re-direct our negative thoughts towards gratitude and appreciation for who we are and what we have. Our negative thoughts do not serve us well. They are not who we are and do not reflect accurately on our lives. Inside each of us is someone with a personal genius and beauty. A positive inner voice has a decided positive impact on our physiology and releases endorphins into our system which helps lift our energy and state of being.
3. Affirm who you want be:
We talk to ourselves affirming what we think of ourselves all the time. Why not shift the script, take that broken record and rewrite the script. Get some small cards and write on them the qualities and who you want to be on them as though it is true, right now, today. Each time you do your breathing, go straight into reading your cards out loud with conviction.
4. Accepting what we feel:
First; identify our dominating emotions at the time. What might surface could be fear, sadness, anger, terror, loneliness or a host of other emotions. Once the strongest emotion is identified… look it in the face. Then, and this is the important step… DO NOT FIGHT IT… find a way to accept the surfaced feeling. It is real for us, accept it. Believe it or not, this will reduce the incidence of panic.
So, remember to do each of these four steps each day. Practice each one so they become second nature. Breathe your way to relaxing from the diapragm. Focus on your gratitude. Speak who want to be now affirming being calm. And identify your feelings and accept them. This will give you a foundation to build on to stop panic attacks.
Learn more about panic attacks. Check out Allan Rudner’s website where you can find out all about how to stop panic attacks.