How You Can Stop An Anxiety Attack In One Minute

Anxiety. What is it and where did it come from? What are the symptoms of a Panic Attack? Anxiety can cause you to feel short of breath. Your stomach gets tight. Heart rate sky rockets. Hands get cold. Feeling dog tired. Diarrhea maybe? Tingling in your arms or legs. Suddenly you're filled with fear. You begin to wonder if you might be about to have a heart attack. Perhaps a stroke? There is an intense feeling of dread. It's not pleasant. Not pleasant at all.

This is anxiety. For many, it is a condition that strikes with out warning or mercy.

The reality is this most likely isn't a heart attack or stroke. There's also a really good chance that realistically at this moment, you have absolutely no clue what fired this off. To have a feeling of panic or fear of death as you're about to skydive for the first time is normal. To feel the same way while watching a Seinfeld re-run, not normal.

Essentially, your fight/flight mechanisms fired off inappropriately. This could be the result of chemical imbalances in the brain, personal history or a nice cocktail of the two.

"Shaken and stirred you are."

-Yoda to James Bond in The Lucas Broccoli Connection.

Clearly, laughter is the best medicine, but this is really no time for jokes. You don't feel right. You could be on a medication to help reduce anxiety and alleviate depression, but you're still having a panic attack right now and you have to get through this moment.

The beauty of your humanity is the ability to see yourself in the third person. You have enough self-perception to see yourself as if you were outside your body.

When a bear feels panic or fear they react without pause. You, the human being have some choices about what to do with your fear, anger, anxiety, sadness. You may not think you do, but you do.

I'll prove it to you. The next time some jerk cuts you off in traffic, you'll have a few choices. The simplest and easiest one is to flip the guy off. Next, you can catch up to him, pull up next to him and flip him off. You will also have the option at this point to use foul language to go with your sign language. From here you may also decide to run him off the road or even open fire with the handgun of your choosing. If you're really concerned that you won't be truly making your point, then I recommend grenades tossed into an open window or the sunroof if you're a good shot.

Most people in their right mind, meaning they have control over their response, simply mumble and fantasize but never take any action. You had, analyzed, and responded to a given stimulus and then chose your action. In this case, it was to do nothing which was the smart thing to do.

So what to do when you get a panic/anxiety attack?

Anyone of these 5 things can bring immediate relief in one minute or less.

• Breathe. Slow. Controlled. Deep Breaths. Take a moment, center yourself. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you inhale deeply, also make sure you are breathing in positive, radiant, loving energy. I'd like to recommend getting the arms involved. Move your arms in a way that replicates bringing positive energy in to you. Whatever movement that is to you. Do that as you inhale. With the exhale, release the tension, anxiety, negativity, and pain. Use your arms again to slowly, deliberately push it away from you. You don't need it. Continue breathing in peace and exhaling negativity.
• Anchor. Before your next panic attack, run through the memory banks of your life and bring to the forefront a powerful memory of safety, joy, peace, love, and tranquility. If you can't come up with a memory, make something up. Create a sensation or relive the memory fully. You want to feel so good about the memory or thought that your breath lightens and you feel like you might lift off and float around a bit. While that sensation peaks, touch your index finger to your thumb and hold it. Now when the panic fires up, touch thumb and index finger together and recall the peace, joy, love and security.
• "Spinning." Spinning is an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Technique that comes from the founder of NLP, Richard Bandler. This is a great technique which is highly effective at reducing and even eliminating an anxiety attack. When you feel it start to come on and it's building momentum, recognize the situation for what it is, a panic attack. Now, identify the direction it is going. For example, does it start in the pit of your stomach and then moves up into your chest and then circles back into your knees, through your groin and then back up to your stomach again? Does this feeling start to spin in one direction until you're overwhelmed? So can you see the circle? Now ask yourself what direction is it going? While you're at it, what color is it? Now all you need to do is reverse the direction of the spinning, adjust the speed to your preference and then change the color to something more pleasant, say Blue. Presto!
• "I want to feel good!" This one come by way of Wayne Dyer's book, The Power of Intention. Say this little mantra of magic words when the anxiety or fear fires up. "I want to feel good." Say it like you mean it and start generating the good feelings. If you want to take it a little further try, "I want to feel good. I intend to feel good and I refuse to allow any thoughts of dis-order or dis-ease in."
• Combo Time. When you need a double whammy or even triple whammy, try combining the breathing with the mantra. You can also combine the mantra with the Spinning. Breathing and the Anchor works well too. If you're having a Doosie, start with the breathing, transition into the Spinning and as that starts to take effect, fire off your anchor and begin your mantra.

Getting through this moment of anxiety is now a skill you can develop. Simplify it down to a moment. A moment that will pass and you know that it will. You also don't have to allow this moment to overwhelm you like a large wave. Even if it does, you have the power to change the image of that wave to a wave of peace and tranquility.

You have the power to change your mind at a moments notice. Why not give yourself permission to use it!