If you are reading this today, my guess is that the power is still on or you’ve found a way to connect to the internet. We will not have power for a few days, but all is well and there are lots of places open where I can plug in my computer and write to you. And we are making the best of the weather as our clients are enjoying candlelit sessions and being very flexible with the coolness of the office.
I hope that the last post with the tips for staying calm in during the weather alert was of help.
I do hope that you were able to put your mind to more uplifting and helpful thoughts as the winds of the storm were blowing. Because once you did everything in your power to prepare and protect your self, your home and your family for the possible upcoming storm, worry no longer served a helpful purpose.
I know I took my own advice last night, as the wind was howling outside of my own windows. And this morning, it was a new day, lots of tree limbs to pick up, but we were lucky and everything else was intact and no one in my area was hurt. Yes, it’s a bit cold inside, no lights and food is melting because we don’t have power but I’d still rather put my mind to positive thoughts. An although lots of very scary things did happen to people and sections of our country, no amount of worry would have changed this.
Therefore, I believe it is so much better to give yourself time to imagine possible positive outcomes even in the midst of chaotic events. And I’m curious, how did you handle the “crisis” ??
Panic Sufferers Do Well During Crisis
It has been my experience and that of my clients that in a crisis situation, people who have been suffering from panic and anxiety attacks, surprise themselves with the ability and strength that comes to the surface during real life events.
The reason for this is that most of the fears that panic attacks suffers have, start in the mind. The worries are typically about either future events that might happen, or past events that already have been handled. The problem is that as we create scary “what if” scenarios about the awful things that might happen, the body responds as if they are already happening. And a person feels the anxiety, that feels just as real as if they are actually in the situation. The heart pounds, stomach clenches with all the bodily symptoms of an anxiety attack. Thoughts of a possible future events, even ones that may never come to pass, stimulate the fear response. I’ve given a few more tips to deal with fear and anxiety.
Tips:
1. Ask yourself is there anything you can do to make the feared situation not occur?
2. If there is Something you can do, DO IT !
3. If you’ve done whatever you can then: do your best to re-focus your thoughts.
4. Stay in the “hear and now”. In the present moment you will handle whatever comes your way.
5. Put you focus on something else, other than the feared event.
6. Practice the “worry box” technique I’ve taught in our online coaching or private sessions.
7. And remind yourself you’ve dealt with things before.
8. Think about positive outcomes that might also possibly happen.
Looking forward to seeing you at our Q & A workshop in November. It looks like we’ll have to postpone it a bit until I have power and internet back up.