Sunday, February 21, 2016

Letting Go of Panic By Taking Hold of Mindful Peace


READING an email several years ago, and suddenly panic gripped me like a vice.  The same thing has happened when the realisation takes hold of an important interaction I’ve had no time to prepare for.
Times like these fear propels us into panic, and if the passage of dread isn’t arrested a full-blown attack isn’t far away.
Arresting a full-blown panic attack depends on the person, and for many people it’s not, and can never be as simple as being, addressed in such an article as this.  I can only report what has helped me; one who has had panic attacks, and who’s had to develop resources for getting through tremulous moments.  You, too, may have developed your own God-guided work-throughs.
It starts with this:
When panic takes hold don’t forget WHO holds you: God.
God helps us when we let go of things we were never supposed to hold onto.
Having such knowledge at the forefront of our awareness means we have a sliver of a chance to correct our thinking that our feelings have heavily influenced.
The mind is a strong thing.  With the mind we can believe.
When we believe that this, too, shall pass, and we sit in the panicked moment without one iota’s demand, as if believing we’re at peace, just using our mindful thoughts, we can begin to gently settle.
The mental slide gets worse with pressure, but as soon as we mindfully relax, by jettisoning all demand, cognitive function gets better.
With head space comes heart space, and where panic took hold, the brakes are released, and the freed mind works to unbind the heart.
© 2016 Steve Wickham.

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