Overcome Anxiety & Panic Attacks

Directive audio from Hilary Heart that will assist anyone who experiences anxiety and/or panic attacks. Learn to reverse the symptoms of anxiety and experience the progressive release of tension whilst listening to the directive voice.
"Anxiety and tension cannot exist when you are calm.....Comfort moves in and tension moves out."

Transcript

So just find a comfortable chair to sit down.

Place your feet flat on the floor,

Arms resting in your lap and allow your eyelids to close.

Begin by bringing your attention to your feet.

Concentrate on the feelings in your toes and feet as they touch the ground beneath you.

Imagine roots growing out of your feet and moving down into the ground beneath,

Firmly anchoring you to the floor.

Experience now a gentle warmth coming up through the roots into the soles of your feet,

Just spreading through your toes and feet,

Softening the muscles there.

A gentle warmth moving up through the ankles and into the lower legs.

Just feel the calf muscles now begin to soften and loosen as you begin to relax and let go.

The gentle warmth moving upwards now through the knees into the thighs.

Muscles in your thighs beginning now to soften and loosen as you relax in the chair.

The chair supports you,

Holds you as the tension drains down,

Drains down away through the chair,

Perhaps noticing a sinking feeling as you sink down further into the comfort of the chair.

Relaxation is moving in,

Tension is moving out as the warmth continues and moves into the lower back,

Softening and loosening the muscles just there.

Allow that comfort to continue as it moves up through the body,

Softening and loosening the muscles of the back as it spreads.

It spreads along the spine,

Up across the back and towards the shoulders.

Comfort spreading across the shoulders,

Into the neck,

Up into the back of the head and along the top of the head.

Warm soothing comfort is moving in and the tension is moving out as the relaxation moves in,

Tension moves out.

Notice the warm comfort now moving into the forehead.

Feel the tension drain down through the face,

Down through the eyelids,

Down through the cheeks,

The jaw,

Draining down through the neck,

The shoulders.

Feel it flow down through the arms,

Arms,

Elbows,

Lower arms,

Hands,

Out through the fingers and the tension is draining down now through the chest and abdomen,

All the way down the spine,

Into the seat,

Through the chair and away from you,

Leaving the muscles of the body warm and relaxed,

Relaxed,

Free from tension,

Free to relax and let go.

Let yourself become deeper and deeper relaxed,

Deeper and deeper relaxed.

The deeper you go,

The better you feel and the better you feel,

The deeper you go.

In a relaxed state,

Your mind is able to take on board positive suggestions for your benefit.

These suggestions will become ingrained within your mind and help you overcome the difficulties that you've been experiencing.

And as you continue to relax,

I'd like you to visualize a place that you associate with calmness.

Maybe a beautiful view that you remember or create now,

Perhaps a beach or a garden,

But whatever it is,

See the picture moving,

Make the colors vibrant,

Imagine the smiles and imagine being there right now as you breathe in deeply and just enjoy the feelings this place gives to you.

So continue to relax as much as you are able to,

Just let yourself drift deeper into relaxation because when you are calm,

Anxiety and tension cannot exist.

When you are calm,

Everything feels easier.

Calmer you feel,

Better you feel.

The better you feel,

Calmer you feel.

By listening to this audio,

You are learning to cope with the feelings of anxiety,

Realizing they are not catastrophic and learning to stop your anxious thoughts.

You are now taking control and because of this,

You will feel calmer,

Relaxed and confident.

You know now that a panic attack is your body misinterpreting cues.

Your body is reacting as if it was about to be attacked,

Which in reality it is not.

In other words,

It is a false alarm.

You can now recognize the positives and all of this.

The wonderful thing is the part of your brain that alerts you to danger is working perfectly.

The downside is that it is misfiring,

Putting you into a state of panic in certain situations.

You can liken it to a faulty smoke detector that sets off when there is no smoke or fire.

The smoke alarm in your brain is called the amygdala.

It works hard to keep you safe.

It's been with you since the day you were born.

Its role is to sniff out any potential threats and alert you to them so that you can take action.

Your smoke alarm can be highly sensitive sometimes and is activated when the threat is not real.

It's an imagined threat and therefore requires no action despite your body telling you otherwise.

So for now,

With this knowledge,

You choose to do nothing.

You choose to stay calm.

You choose to stay relaxed.

You now recognize the physical symptoms,

The frightening feelings and the thoughts that come with panic attacks.

What you know now is that the symptoms are harmless and so you're becoming less and less afraid of them.

In the past you reacted to the feelings of anxiety and panic,

Thus colluding with the symptoms.

Just like adding paraffin to a fire,

Panic escalates when you react in accordance with its message.

From now on,

You are becoming an expert at observing your behavior when feeling anxious.

You recognize the physical sensations that cause you concern.

You understand they are your body's natural survival response and vital in the event of real danger and more.

You are noticing what happens to your breathing when you feel anxious.

Perhaps you hold your breath,

Cleanse your jaw or perhaps you find yourself shallow breathing.

Whatever you do,

Know that you can take control by triggering your body's natural relaxation response.

All you have to do is breathe deeply,

Taking in some long,

Slow,

Deep breaths.

Breathe in for the count of five,

Holding for two and then breathe out for nine.

Five,

Nine breathing.

Practice this each day to retrain your breathing.

You are taking control and you are in charge.

You are beginning to understand yourself more.

You are learning to accept the uncomfortable feelings,

Understanding they are your body's natural survival response and vital in the event of real danger.

You breathe deeply,

You are safe.

You breathe in calmness and breathe out tension.

You breathe deeply,

You are safe.

There is nothing to fear.

You can begin to live fully once again as you learn to accept the uncomfortable feelings of anxiety and learn to stay calm.

You have a wonderful ability to relax and stay calm.

You are learning to reverse the symptoms of anxiety so there is no need to panic.

With practice you will see improvements happening in your ability to reverse the process.

Anxiety cannot exist where there is calmness.

You breathe in calmness,

Breathe out tension.

You will discover new ways of being,

Feeling calm,

Relaxed and confident in your ability to reverse the feelings of anxiety.

Imagine now in your mind's eye a situation where you used to feel anxious and see yourself dealing with that situation calmly and comfortably.

You breathe deeply,

You are in control.

Your thoughts are clear and rational and you are calm and relaxed.

This mental rehearsal increases your confidence to cope well with any situation where you used to feel anxious.

Just like an athlete prepares for a race,

You will find that mental rehearsal of a future event lessens any anxiety.

See yourself dealing with the situation successfully.

See yourself as a winner.

Whenever you feel anxious you will breathe long,

Slow,

Deep breaths regulating your breathing,

Regulating the oxygen and the carbon dioxide.

You breathe out longer than you breathe in.

You breathe in for five,

Hold for two and out for nine.

You can relax whenever your body feels tension.

You can reverse the process.

Long,

Slow,

Deep breaths and then you will notice your body relaxing.

You are in charge.

You now have the coping mechanisms to let go of anxiety and fear.

Now take a moment to imagine your anxiety as a train approaching the platform on which you are standing.

The train is approaching and it stops in front of you.

The doors open and you can see and sense the panic and the turmoil inside.

You choose to stay on the platform whilst observing the train and its open doors.

You choose to stay calm,

Stay firm on the platform and continue to breathe deeply.

The doors close as the train moves off,

Slowly disappearing into the distance.

This train is like your anxiety.

You sense it approaching though you refuse to climb on board.

You know it will soon disappear if you refuse to collude with it.

Just observe it,

Breathe deeply and it will be gone.

Your anxiety passes like the train out of sight,

Out of mind.

You know now that you can withstand these anxious feelings in your body.

You know they will pass just like the train.

You refuse to step onto the train because you know these feelings will pass.

You just observe them,

Breathe deeply and soon they will be gone.

Feelings are transient and cannot harm you.

These anxious feelings will pass when you stop your anxious thoughts and breathe deeply.

You now replace those catastrophic thoughts and inaccurate predictions with thoughts that serve you and keep you calm.

Take a moment now to repeat in your mind these thoughts.

I can do this.

I can cope.

I am in control.

This is a false alarm and I am safe.

These feelings cannot harm me.

I am medically safe.

I breathe in calmness.

I breathe out tension.

There is no grizzly bear here.

I choose to stay calm.

From now on you choose not to collude with the feelings knowing they will pass.

Just like the train,

The anxiety passes when you choose not to react.

And of course there will be times when you do feel anxious because it's just part of being human.

Excitement produces the same physical response in our body so it's important to remember the possibility of the feeling being excitement rather than fear.

Take a moment now to remember a time when you felt excited to be going somewhere or meeting someone and you managed those feelings very well.

Perhaps you felt the bubbles of adrenaline,

The energy running through you,

The anticipation of something good to come.

All was okay.

Now take yourself into the future a few weeks from now and you have been practicing this audio,

Practicing your deep breathing,

Putting yourself in situations which would normally make you anxious.

See yourself in the future calm,

Relaxed and smiling.

See yourself coping well,

Coping more confidently too.

You are proud of yourself for pushing through this stage in your life and you're feeling so much more in control.

You now have coping mechanisms,

Ways of dealing with any stress or anxiety.

Each day you grow stronger,

More confident,

Less afraid.

You have put in place your techniques and know how to deal with any symptoms.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Once again I'd like you to take yourself to a place in your mind,

A place of calmness.

Notice your surroundings,

Absorb the colours,

Hear the noises and immerse yourself in this calm place within your mind.

Know that calmness is growing within you and each time you think of this place in your mind you feel like you do right now.

You feel calm,

Relaxed and in control.

Remember you can visit this place of calmness wherever you are and whenever you want to and you can enjoy all the good feelings this place provides for you.

Calmness is growing within you.

Take this calmness with you when you're ready.

Just come back to the here and now,

Opening your eyes,

Feeling good.

Reviews

Hello Hilary, your skilful guidance and expertise were very helpful in the early hours. Your pace, words, the interventions along the way, and the length of the track were excellent. Your presence every step of the way was strongly felt. Thank you. Your reassuring words were a comfort. I was deeply relieved to reach a place of calm. Thank you for sharing your compassion and skills, Blessings to you, Jackie🙏

Honestly. That was amazing. Thank you so much. I will listen again and again. 🩵🌻