Okay,
If you're here because you're panicking,
Hi.
I've been there.
My first panic attack happened when I was 4 years old.
Which feels like a fairly young age to discover that your nervous system has a flair for the dramatic.
By five,
I was on SSRIs.
And it took me about 40 years to finally get off of them.
But you're not here for my medical history.
What I can tell you is what I eventually learned.
And it's something I wish that I learned much earlier.
I didn't have to spend my life trying to completely eliminate panic.
I can learn to live alongside of it.
So that's what we're going to practice.
Not forcing yourself to calm down.
Just learning that you can experience panic.
Without letting it run the entire show.
So get as comfortable as you can.
You don't have to sit perfectly.
You don't have to close your eyes.
And you definitely don't have to pretend you're having a beautiful spiritual experience.
If you're terrified right now,
You're allowed to be terrified.
Let's start with something simple.
Feel your feet.
If they're touching the floor,
Notice the floor.
Feel the pressure underneath you.
Notice where your body is feeling support.
You're here,
Right here.
Right now,
Not five minutes from now.
Not tomorrow.
Right now.
Look around the room.
Find something ordinary.
Allah.
A chair.
I'm looking at a lamp.
A table.
Something boring.
Boring is excellent.
We like boring.
Boring means nothing particularly interesting is happening.
Look at another thing.
And another.
You're reminding your nervous system,
This is where I am.
Because panic is very interesting sometimes.
Is very interested in being somewhere else.
Somewhere terrible,
Somewhere terrible.
Hypothetical.
Somewhere your brain has already visited 17 times even though you've never actually been there.
We're not going to go there.
We're here.
Now listen.
Find one sound,
Whatever it is.
A fan may be going,
A car,
A dog.
Refrigerator.
Your neighbor apparently.
Your neighbor apparently conducting an extremely important construction project.
Just listen.
You don't have to make the sound stop.
You don't have to decide whether you like it.
It's just sound.
And you can hear it.
Now notice your breathing.
Don't force a giant deep breath.
You don't need to breathe perfectly.
Let the next breath just happen.
And now.
And again.
I know that I'm breathing in.
Out.
I know that I'm breathing out.
Your body knows how to breathe.
You've been doing it your entire life.
It doesn't need a committee meeting.
Now notice what's happening in your body.
Maybe your heart is racing.
Or your chest feels tight,
Maybe you're shaky.
Those are all common.
Heart.
Cold.
Dizzy.
Maybe your stomach's decided it would also like to participate.
Fine.
We're not gonna immediately turn.
Every sensation into a mystery that needs to be solved.
That's just one of Panic's favorite hobbies.
You feel something?
And your brain says,
What does that mean?
Then what if it means something bad?
What if something happened?
And now we're somehow planning for an imaginary disaster that has not happened.
Now,
Come back.
Feel your feet.
Notice the room.
Notice the sounds.
Hear the sound.
Feel the next breath.
That's real.
Right now.
Now try something instead of saying.
.
.
Make the star.
Say,
There is panic here.
Can identify.
That's all.
There is panic here.
You don't have to like it.
You don't have to approve of it.
You don't have to make friends with it.
You just acknowledge what's happening.
And here's the important part.
You can be panicking and still be here.
You can feel afraid and still be here.
You can have a racing heart.
And still be here.
You don't have to feel calm before you're allowed to continue.
That's something that took me a long time to understand.
For years,
I thought the goal was.
.
.
Get rid of the panic.
Eventually I realized.
Eventually outlarned.
I can't have panic and still live my life.
That's a very different thing.
So we're not fighting it.
We're letting it ride in the backseat.
It can complain.
It can combine.
It can make suggestions.
It can submit a strongly worded memo.
But it doesn't get to drive.
Now feel your fate again.
Look around.
Take one ordinary breath.
Notice that you're still here.
Another breath,
Still here.
Another moment,
Still here.
You don't have to get through the rest of your life right now.
You don't even have to get through the rest of the day.
Just this moment.
And then the next.
If your mind starts to predict catastrophe.
Notice that.
You don't have to argue with it.
You don't have to prove it wrong.
Just say,
That's a thought.
And then come back.
Feet.
Room.
Sound.
Now.
Take one more slow breath.
And And remember,
Panic can feel incredibly convincing.
But a feeling.
Is not a prophecy.
A racing heart is not a prophecy.
A scary thought is not a prophecy.
A strange sensation is not a prophecy.
It is an experience.
And experiences change.
They rise.
They peak.
They shift.
They pass.
You don't have to control every part of the process.
You just have to stay with yourself.
While it's happening.
So feel your feet.
Look around.
Take a breath.
You've got this.
Let your nervous system be as dramatic as it wants to be.
You don't have to join in.
You've got this.
Not because you'll never have a panic again.
But because you've learned something better.
You can panic.
And still be okay.
You took time for yourself,
And that means a lot.
Good job.
Take care of yourself.
And take the next moment as it comes.
You
