Happy Friday!

I had planned to write about skin cancer today but the topic of stress and panic attacks keeps popping up so I’m going with that. I will write about my basal cell carcinoma experience next week. Again, I’m not worried about the BCC diagnosis AT ALL.

Sooooo…I get stressed. A lot. I come from a family of stressy people. Calm is not our nature. I have experienced panic attacks at particularly difficult times in my life and also randomly when I least expected it. While I still have a tendency to be stressed, I no longer have panic attacks. There are many tips and tricks to calm ourselves down naturally which I will share in this post. If you practice mindfulness and calming techniques as part of your daily routine, you will reduce your risk of having panic attacks and something even more serious down the road.

A panic attack can be mild – where you cannot catch your breath, or worse – you contemplate calling 911 because you feel you may be dying. Symptoms may include a racing heart, chocking sensation, shakiness, sweating, chills or hot flashes, tingling or numbness, chest discomfort, nausea, dizziness, feeling out of breath or an intense fear or apprehension. Seek medical treatment right away if you have any of these symptoms to rule out anything serious. However, if it has been determined that what you experience is a panic attack, then you are in luck. Your body has just given you some important information and with a few simple techniques, you can be rid of this annoying and often scary occurrence.

anxiety and panic attacks are common – you are not alone

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18% of the population. That’s a lot of Americans with anxiety. Panic disorders are quite prevalent as well.  “About 1.7 percent of the adult U.S. population ages 18 to 54 – approximately 2.4 million people – experience symptoms of panic disorder in a given year. Women are twice as likely as men to develop panic disorder, and it typically first occurs in young adulthood. Roughly half of all people who have panic disorder develop the condition before age 25,” states Dr. Andrew Weil in this article on panic attacks.

Think of a panic attack as your body’s way of telling you there is an imbalance that needs your attention. It’s better to have a panic attack than a heart attack, right? It may feel just as scary as a heart attack but fortunately, a panic attack is more of a warning sign – a gift – which gives you the opportunity to uncover the cause of the anxiety and address it.

Stress and how we deal with stress is at the root cause of almost every ailment

Stress is not going anywhere anytime soon. So what do we do? Pop a pill? Many doctors prescribe anti-anxiety and sleep medications so it’s understandable if you have gone that route. However, be mindful that these pills are merely covering up the symptoms which does nothing for the underlying problem. The use of anxiety medications is on the rise all over the world but are people getting healthier or calmer? The simple answer to that is hells no. I mentioned at the start of this post that I have suffered from panic attacks in the past. I have not had an attack in probably 10 years. Did I find the panacea to stress? Unfortunately not. However, I  began to live a more natural lifestyle about 15 years ago and while I still have tons of stressful events happening in my life, they are short and I bounce back to my happy self quite effortlessly. I did not get to where I am today by myself. I had a wonderful holistic wellness and life coach who turned me onto a path of healthy living- inside and out. I am an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach today because of her. My number one tip to dealing with anxiety and panic attacks is to surround oneself with positive, supportive people and seek the help of a professional if needed.

tips and tricks to manage stress, anxiety and panic attacks

• Remember you are not alone. Many people suffer from stress, anxiety and panic attacks and employ natural techniques with tremendous success.
• Tapping or Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) which involves tapping your fingertips on various energy meridian points in your body while speaking affirmations unique to your situation. This is a powerful technique for treating stress and anxiety and can be done anywhere, anytime. It may feel weird at first but Tapping works and is helping people around the world. It is an effective technique not just for anxiety but also headaches, self-doubt, sadness, body pains, feeling unworthy, etc. Think of it as self-acupuncture/acupressure. Click here for a how-to video on EFT from Dr. Mercola’s website.
• Live a more clean lifestyle. Getting adequate sleep, doing satisfying work, socializing and eating clean will reduce your level of stress and anxiety.
• Exercise is a natural stress reliever. A daily exercise routine is important for anxiety sufferers. Even a walk around the block when having a stressful moment will help to keep calm and carry on. Yoga, in particular, is a wonderful calming and centering exercise. I practice twice a week with the best yoga teacher on the planet – Fiona!
• Deep Breathing Techniques will calm you down and remind you that the feeling you have will pass. Click here to review a prior post on breath and the 4-7-8 yoga breathing technique.
• Allow yourself to relax. It’s not easy for many people to relax and practice self care. If you have trouble relaxing, take a mental health day and take yourself to a movie, schedule a massage, have lunch with a friend or all of the above. We are often conditioned to work, work, work which can lead to burn out. See if your company has a corporate wellness program and if not, suggest they implement one. Happy, healthy workers are productive workers. Contact me for corporate health coaching programs. Lavender essential oil (dilute with olive or coconut oil and rub on temples, bottoms of feet and under the nose) and Bach Rescue Remedy (drops or pastilles taken orally) are great items to keep in your healthy tool kit.
• Spend face-time with positive, happy people. Spring is upon us and it may be time to do some Spring cleaning in the relationships department. If you are constantly feeling stressed around certain people, limit your time with them and increase your time with people who make you smile and bring you joy and laughter. We are such a technological society these days and tend to connect via phone, text and the Internet. In person, face-to-face connections are crucial to over-all wellbeing.
• Let go. Whether you believe it or not, you choose to hold on to stress and anxiety not the other way around. Wayne Dyer who recently passed on left us with a great morning meditation that will help you to achieve your desires and let go of whatever is holding you back. Click here for the 20 minute morning meditation. I’ve done it more times than I can count and it always brings me back to a calm, centered, peaceful place. Thank you Wayne Dyer. You do so much for this world.

Stress will always be here but it’s the way we deal with it that counts. I remember my dad would come home from work at 6:30 pm everyday and have a drink. He was never a big drinker but he really looked forward to a beer or a cocktail at the end of the work day. I remember asking him, “Dad, why do you always have a drink when you get home?” He replied, “Susie, life is stressful and you will understand when you become an adult.” Well, I certainly can understand now. I truly look forward to a glass of wine at the end of a long day. Remember, the Harvard Health Study reports that one glass of wine daily for women and two for men over the age of 50 reduces the risk of a heart attack. I may not be in my 50s yet but I will still Cheers to that!

Now, have that glass of wine with some people who love you after a productive, satisfying day which included a little breath work and meditation, maybe some tapping, yoga or other form of exercise and plenty of organic fruits and vegetables and you will find yourself calm and carrying on like nobody’s business.

Have a great weekend. xo.

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