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Pesty Panic Attacks...

4/30/2019

Panic attacks are what they are - your body is saying "No!", and sending you a message that deep spiritual work that needs to happen. This is part of what drives your spirit to signal through your sub-conscious mind and your body, that a deep listening needs to occur.

Sometimes our lives are such, that time doesn't permit this to happen, or we use movies, booze, sex, drugs to numb out, and when that temporary fix wears off we are back where we started, anxious and without the skills to be able to look at what is really going on for us. First up, lets look at what do if you are feeling anxious right now, and then what you can do when you have brought your anxiety down a notch or two and you are no longer in panic mode.

What to do when you feel anxious...
IF YOU ARE HAVING A PANIC ATTACK:
If you find you are anxious to the point of panic, here is what you can do:

1. Use distraction - find your feet in your shoes - go there with your attention. Right Now. Feel yourself in the here and now, by finding and feeling your body parts to reassure yourself that you are safe and in your body, even though your body doesn't feel like a safe place right now.
2. Tell yourself - that it will only last for a few minutes until your adrenalin has been released into your blood.
3. You will survive this - there is no proven evidence of anyone dying of a panic attack.
4. Use your largest muscles to dispel the adrenalin in your blood - that means - walk or run - whatever you are able to do within your environment. If you are on a plane, train or lift, simply squeeze your butt and thigh muscles as tight as you can, then release. Exercise is great for panic and anxiety.
5. Find a distraction e.g. Tetris or Soduku on your phone. Why? Let's face it - its impossible to panic and be distracted by a game that takes your emotional attention away to your logical focus. This is a temporary fix for the immediate term but know that there is work to be done.
6. If you can locate your breath easily, try to extend the out breath by one extra heartbeat. It may take 9 to 10 out breaths, but you will be able to regulate your system to the point of feeling more relaxed.

Keep a log of your anxiety attacks on your smartphone.

How often.
When did it happen.
How intense was it when it happened on a scale from 0-10.
What you were feeling before it happened.
What happened.
If you follow all the steps in this blog post and you still experience anxiety, its time to book an appointment with your counsellor.

When you are over the panic attack, here is what you need to do:
When you are feeling fine again, and your anxiety has dropped a notch, start to consider lifestyle changes - food, sleep, diet, alcohol, exercise, work patterns, stress management.

If you find that taking these steps don't help reduce symptoms, then it is time to see your counsellor. That's me!
Sometimes anxiety has deeper roots in your family system, your physiology, your thinking patterns, your life situation or past development or event trauma. That's when you come and see me. Together we can explore this area as I meet you where you are at, shine a light in the dark places so you can discover what is true and doable for you. I work with you, using a range of tools and techniques, in a respectful, non-judgmental and supportive environment, to build your confidence back up again, until you realise, you don't need to see me anymore because you are doing just fine.

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Anxiety is the first signal...

4/30/2019

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Anxiety and panic are a call to do a deep listening of ourselves to get our body and mind to talk to each other, to see what need is not being met. What is it you need when you feel anxious or panicked? If the body and mind can't hear each other, despite doing alot of 'signaling' or 'recurring thoughts', they just send louder and louder signals to each other until you really feel it physically.

What I have learned is that anxiety is usually the first signal that something in our life is not right or balanced. This is usually when your body, the most intelligent part of you, is sending out warning signals. If you are surprised, so you should be - popular belief is that it is the mind that is to blame for all this malarky, but in reality, the neuroscience (Besel Van Der Kolk, author of The Body Knows the Score), now shows it is the body that has the smarts on what is reaaallly going on for you! That said, the way I approach anxiety, it is that both mind and body are contained in the same biochemical suit (thanks, Einstein). When one signals the other and vice versa, it means something that may be beyond your awareness, is causing a life imbalance or an upset is going down in your system. By system, I mean your body system, your family system, your workplace system, your country system etc - all the systems, you as a human being are connected to.

Why should we care? When anxiety is not addressed, things just can get worse over time. There is no need to worry though as much can be done before getting to that point.

When you feel anxious...
Start to consider lifestyle changes - food, sleep, diet, alcohol, exercise, work patterns, stress management to set yourself up for a calm, harmonious lifestyle. A lifestyle, that some say, calls the body to go into the 'rest and digest' mode, as opposed to the fight, flight or freeze mode.

If you find that taking these steps don't help reduce symptoms, then it is time to see your counsellor. That's me!
Sometimes chronic anxiety has deeper roots in your family system, your physiology, your thinking patterns, your life situation or past development or event trauma. That's when you come and see me. Together we can explore this area, as I meet you where you are at, and as we become fellow travellers, I will be able shine a light in the dark places so you can discover what is true for you.

I work with you, using a range of tools and techniques, in a respectful, non-judgmental and supportive environment, within the limits of what is doable for you learn new ways of being, locate the entanglements of your systems, and to build your confidence back up again, until you realise, you don't need to see me anymore because you are doing just fine. That is when my job is well and truly done!

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Pesty Panic Attacks...

Anxiety is the first signal...

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