The problem of course with anxiety or panic is that you can’t control your thoughts. They are often the problem. Our greatest fears rise to the top levels of our consciousness and they feel real. So very frighteningly real.
If you find yourself in the middle of an anxiety or panic attack, you need to become aware of what you are thinking.
By repeating affirmations, mantras or calming thoughts, very often these thoughts then start to “shout louder” than the panic thoughts – but only if you focus on them.
I AM
Two of the most powerful words, for what you put after them shapes your reality.
I use a variation of the following affirmations when my anxiety levels start to spike:
I am healthy.
This is not real.
The feelings I am experiencing are exaggerated right now.
I am inhaling strength and exhaling fear.
I am in control of the situation, the situation is not in control of me.
If I am sitting at my desk at work, or in a meeting when panic strikes then I start to write these affirmations in my notebook, the bonus, of course, is that it makes it look like I’m taking notes during the meeting.
You don’t need a notebook and you don’t need to write them down. Read them in your head as though you were telling yourself a story. Hear your voice, hear the emphasis on the words that make you feel safer.
What affirmations or mantras do you use and do you feel could help someone else step out of their panic?