You’ve been there, right? You’re moving along and everything is going smoothly, then all of a sudden, boom! Disaster strikes! Oh no! And you think, ‘Why me? Why have the gods forsaken me? It’s all over!’ I know from first-hand experience that we have a better option. The best way to handle these situations is to first, above all, calm down and get back in control of our runaway erratic emotions.
Your out of control emotions are doing you absolutely no good, whatsoever. They are harsh, fearful and irrational. When you are in this upset state, you are responding from your most basic survival mechanism, your ‘fight or flight’ response. Every aspect of your being is geared to your survival; your rational mind is put in the background and not heard. Because of this, you are likely to make very poor, and in some cases, harmful choices for yourself. You’re unable to make decisions from a sound mind.
During the midst of a panic attack, the best solution is to get back in control of your emotions and calm down, so that you can assess your situation and make the most beneficial decisions in order to have your best outcome. Try the following suggestions and see if they help.
Calm down and take back control. Take a break and take three deep, slow, calming breaths. Hold for a moment on the inhale, then slowly exhale and imagine your problems just floating away.
Do something completely different, something fun or relaxing; in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) this is referred to as a Pattern Interrupt.
Momentarily detach yourself, see your emotions as a gauge in your mind that you can turn down, then imagine yourself as the observer of your problem and all powerful. Ask yourself, If I could resolve this, how would I do it? Wait for the ideas to come!
Namaste, Abby
