subject: How to Live without Fear and Anxiety - An Easy Way to Start Today [print this page] How to Live without Fear and Anxiety - An Easy Way to Start Today
Have you ever felt at times that fear or anxiety takes over your life? If you have then you will know what a vicious cycle that can be. By changing your mindset you can learn to become the master of fear, rid yourself of negative self-talk and thus live a life of joy.
Yet it can be a problem if you find yourself in a situation where fear is out of control or you are in an anxious state or even suffering from panic attacks. Changing your mindset then isn't so simple. Yet there is an easy way to help shift your energy so you can change your mindset. By the end of this report you will know exactly what that is.
But first...
In the movie, National Treasure, the heroes found themselves in a situation where the "villians" had the upper hand. If they tried to take on the "enemy" at that point, it would have been futile, even making the situation worse. Instead the heroes do what they can until they have the upper hand. (If you haven't seen National Treasure I am sure you know of a movie with a similar synopsis.)
In the same way, before taking action, it is often best to wait until you are in a "better" frame of mind. Wait until you have the upper hand.
One of the first steps to mastering fear is not to be frightened of it; which sounds silly in a way. Although many people do in fact fear it. By simply allowing yourself to feel it, fear will pass through you quickly. Perhaps even quicker than you realise.
Here is a visualisation technique to help you achieve that. Actually you can use this for any "negative" emotion.
Get yourself as comfortable as possible and close your eyes. It doesn't matter whether you are sitting up or lying down. Simply choose which is best for you. Imagine yourself standing in front of a dark pool. The pool represents the fear you are experiencing. Count to 3 and jump in. Yes you are going to immerse yourself in it. (If it helps, you can imagine someone who is willing to take the jump with you, holding your hand.)
As you swim toward the bottom of the pool allow yourself to experience the fear in its fullness. Don't be too hard on yourself, simply allow yourself to experience it as best as you can. Of course the more you allow yourself to experience it, the quicker it passes. At first there may be resistance, but that's OK. Allow whatever you are experiencing to be all right. Swim deeper and deeper into the feeling.
Then see a bright light at the bottom of the pool. Swim towards it. As you do, you feel yourself getting lighter and lighter. When you reach the bright light, you will see that the pool of fear you were swimming through was nothing more than an illusion. You will feel better and better and the fear will have gone. (If for some reason it hasn't gone fully go through the visualisation again. It is probably because you weren't allowing yourself to experience the feeling fully.)
But what happens when fear has moved onto anxiety or panic attacks. I wouldn't recommend doing the visualisation in a heightened state. The grip of fear will be extremely strong and the "fight or flight" will have kicked in. It could be overwhelming. So is there anything you can do?
Yes absolutely! Unlike the scenario above, it is more of a get out of there fast situation. The following technique alone is not enough to rid yourself of anxiety. However it will bring the anxiety down. By bringing the anxiety down you are then in a position to use the technique above or one of the various other cognitive re-training tools.
From professional and personal experience, this tool works a treat!
The part of the brain that triggers panic attacks is also the side of the brain that is used for working out complex maths problems. Don't worry I'm not suggesting you start doing calculus!
It is really an easy thing to remember and even children can use it. All you do is count by 17's. Yes that is it. But the trick is to do it in your mind. No pen and paper or calculators. If the anxiety is extremely high it may be a while before you get past 17! But keep going until you feel calmer.
How long does it take? It depends on the person and the situation, but so far I haven't met anyone (including myself) who needed to go much higher than the 200's.
Speaking from personal experience whenever I used this tool, I could actually feel myself "coming down" from the heightened state of anxiety. It is when you have regained control of the anxiety that you can start shifting your mindset.
This simple tool is incredible and can be used to help break any unwanted cycle.
The mind is powerful and by mastering fears we truly can live a life of joy.
