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Invitations:
Releasing Anxiety & Fear Based Thoughts
 My
friend, every day you are gifted with the opportunity to begin anew. Every day
the thoughts you choose to support - color the day you will experience. The day
could be as sunny and cloudless as can be, yet you can surround yourself with
invisible clouds that muddy your every action. The day could also appear as
cloudy as can be, yet the light that shines within you can light the way - not
only for yourself but for many others.
The external world has no effect on you unless you allow it to affect you. It is
your internal world that colors and creates your external experience. And it is
the thoughts that you allow to exist within - that power your participation in
this world. This is free will, the right to choose one’s experience; this is
God’s gift to each of us.
Yet even when we surround ourselves with clouds, we know that the sun has not
disappeared. The sun is there behind the clouds simply waiting for us to get to
a place that allows us to feel and experience it. When you support thoughts of
judgment, stress, anger or worry - do not judge yourself for doing so, but ask
yourself this: "What am I doing to myself? Why am I continuing to support
thoughts that do nothing but bring me down?" Then invite God to be your guide
today. Say to yourself: “Today when the ego asks me to judge someone, or asks me
for an anger response, I will allow God to guide me and I will choose
forgiveness and love. Today when the ego asks me to stress or worry, I will give
my stress and worry over to God, and I will trust His plan for me.” Simply allow
the sunlight to shine on everything you do today. Free will allows this, to
truly choose your path, to truly choose the kind of day you want.
My friend, begin anew today. Allow this day to become a gift to you, and become
the light that so many of your brothers and sisters desire to feel on their own
souls. Like a ray of light shining through an overcast day, become the memory
that warms and awakens the possibility of hope, love, forgiveness, trust and
understanding within us all. Become who you were always meant to be.
Wishing you Peace, Health, Happiness, Love, Laughter and Light.
Your brother,
James Blanchard Cisneros
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Question & Response: Overcoming Anxiety & Panic Attacks
I have been suffering with debilitating panic attacks for 2 years. Crazy
medication and a life running downhill. I am out of work and absolutely
desperate for a higher understanding and release from this terrible affliction.
In gratitude,
- Juliet, Guildford, England
Response from James
Giving Up Attack Thoughts
Every thought you have makes up a segment of the
world you see. Thus, it is your thoughts that we will focus on. As your
thoughts change, your perception of the world also changes. The cause of
your suffering is your thoughts about the world, not the world itself.
There must come a time when you realize that you do not want the
thoughts that you are currently supporting. The world you see (the
effect) is not going to significantly change by itself, because it’s
simply a result of your thoughts (the cause). When you decide to
change the cause, you will immediately change the effect. When you
change your thoughts about the world, it is then that your world will
change.
 You
see this world that you have made, but you may not see yourself as its
image maker. When your external reality reflects thoughts like judgment,
desperation, anxiety, stress, anger, and any other negative emotion,
this is simply a picture of the attack thoughts you are allowing as real
within your mind. They are not real. All fear based attack thoughts are
illusions, but through free will you can give them a reality. Fear based
attack thoughts have been learned. They have been programmed into you.
They are a fantasy, a fairy tale taught to you long ago whose reality
you have been following. My friend, rejoice, for you are not trapped in
the world you see because the cause can be changed.
What God creates as perfect cannot be changed by your own mind, and
within this truth lies your escape from the anxiety that has been
challenging you. You have taught yourself to believe that you are not
what you truly are. You, who God created as perfect, cannot change what
He created, but you do have free will. Thus this gift can be masked by
illusions you have been taught to trust as more real than truth. Peace
of mind, love and joy are your inheritance, your true essence, the
unchangeable in you, but you must acknowledge and accept them to make
use of them and to experience their results.
When you are afraid of anything, you are giving it power to hurt you.
You believe in what you value, you value what you treasure, and you have
been taught to defend your treasure. Thus you will defend what you
believe regardless of how little help, sense or peace it’s providing to
your life. Fear is a result of treasuring your illusions over God’s
truth. And because of free will, you may do this as long as you wish.
Yet know this, your resistance to the pain that illusions offers may be
high, but your resistance to this pain and suffering is not without
limit. Eventually you will come to a point in your life when you must
say to yourself: "Enough is enough. There must be a better way." This
point then begins your journey from illusions into truth.
 The
body is a communication tool / a learning device for the mind. The body
simply reacts to the mind’s instructions. If you experience fear, this
results not from the body’s reaction to the external environment, but
from the mind’s instruction to the body. There is nothing wrong with
your body. The body’s reaction to fear is simply the result of the
mind’s misperception of the external environment. Only the mind can
interpret, thus correction belongs at the level of thought. Every single
time you are afraid you have allowed your mind to misperceive, and have
refused God to guide it. There is a very important point in the previous
sentence, and it is this: you have allowed your mind to misperceive.
This means that you are more than your mind, that you have overriding
powers over your mind, that you can correct and retrain your mind. You
are more than your mind, you are who God created as perfect, and it is
this perfect part of you that you can learn to go to for advice and
assistance. You can relearn to react the way you wish to react - to the
way that will bring you peace of mind, love and joy.
Fear arises from a lack of love. The remedy for a lack of love is to
respond to everything with love. When everything you process is love
based, there is no longer a place within the mind for fear to fester.
Being afraid seems to now be involuntary, beyond your control. You may
now feel that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what you
think. But it is only at the level of thought where you can truly
exercise choice. You were not born having panic attacks. Panic attacks
are a learned behavioral response. The good news is that you can unlearn
what you have learned. As much as you now may experience them as a
"natural" reaction, debilitating panic attacks are not your natural
state! This is a behavior you have learned through time. You could try
to trace a line, and start understanding that judgment of your brother
and sister resulted in condemnation instead of compassion, which turned
into regret, and regret became hurt, and hurt became confusion, and
confusion became chaos, chaos became panic attacks, and panic attacks
became debilitating panic attacks. And all this took many years,
decades, possibly even many decades of reinforcement to get to this
point. And even if the panic attacks began shortly after a dramatic
event, the base for your reaction to that event was already in place
long before such a traumatic event occurred.
The solution is a lifestyle change where little by little you begin to
stop supporting unhealthy reactionary behaviors, your fear based attack
thoughts and patterns. Currently, your behavior lifestyle likely
consists of patterns where instead of forgiveness you choose judgment,
instead of compassion you choose condemnation, instead of love you
choose fear, and instead of trust you choose worry. All along creating
and reinforcing negative pathways within the brain that have made what
once felt unnatural, now feel natural or second nature. Now you likely
barely even question these pathways and the decisions you make that end
up hurting you. These pathways, your reacting with fear, hate, judgment,
stress, pain, anger, panic, etc. were once untraveled rocky mountain
trails that made no sense to the mind, but with more and more of this
same reactionary behavior, these dirt paths became paved roadways, that
have now with continuous repetition and support become fully serviced
highways within the mind. But my friend, know this, not even the most
advanced highway systems in the world can remain serviceable unless they
are constantly maintained. Judgment, fear, anger and stress currently
maintain and service your highways. Let them go, and you will start to
see your highways returning to that same dust from which they were first
created.
Before we get into more detailed helpful hints, I invite you to read
this section from "You Have Chosen to Remember" where I discuss my own
history with panic attacks, and how I overcame them:
www.chosentoremember.com/book_excerpts/c3_my_mind_powerful.htm.
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are a result of fear based attack thoughts. Once you’ve
had a panic attack you start worrying about them, which sensitizes you
even more to them, sensitizes you to the surge of adrenaline, and you
come to even fear that first trickle of adrenaline. These sensations
create fear, which creates more sensations, which creates more fear, and
thus your sensation of running downhill, of desperation.
-
 To
have peace, teach yourself peace.
Peace of mind is an internal matter. It must begin within your own
thoughts and extend outward into the world. It is through a peaceful
mind that a peaceful perception of the world will arise in you. With
every interaction you have with yourself and others - you are
teaching yourself what and who you are. When chaotic thoughts are
experienced, you are teaching yourself, reinforcing within yourself
that this is who you are. Equally so, when peaceful thoughts are
experienced, you are teaching yourself that you have every right to
experience them, and the more you do this, the more natural it will
feel. What you teach on a daily basis, you will strengthen in
yourself. But it is your choice what you will strengthen, and
gradually you will become what you strengthen. Thus teach only peace
and love for that is what you truly are and desire to consciously
become.
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Understanding the power that exists within the moment.
When you feel emotional discomfort in any way, say to yourself: “I
could see peace instead of this.” Repeat this idea until a sense of
relief is felt. You can retrain yourself to replace feelings of
depression, anxiety and worry with peace. Any and every time the
thought of fear arises, choose peace and make a declaration of
independence in the name of your own freedom.
In the moment, whenever a fear based attack thought enters your
mind, know that you are simply believing and teaching yourself that
illusions are real. Instead say to yourself: “Enough is enough. I
have played this losing game far too long. God, I now choose to
return the moment back to you. Please help me see this differently.”
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Let go of judgment.
Changing how you look at other people can significantly reduce your
inner anxiety. Often when people are experiencing anxiety, they are
looking at other people through the lens of their inner critic.
Considering the suffering you described, you are likely using your
ears, but not to truly hear. Every time the ego calls on you to
judge a brother or sister, disregard it's request, for what has such
an action ever brought you? Has it ever brought you true peace of
mind and joy? No, instead remember this, every time the ego calls
for judgment, the Godself, your true self, is asking you to offer
help and healing. What you offer, you will receive.
Whenever your brother behaves in any way where in the past you would
have used judgment, instead now choose mercy, choose compassion
instead of condemnation. These actions will bring you into closer
alignment with what you have always truly desired to experience in
your life: peace of mind and joy. You and your brother are one, and
when you condemn a brother (like most people in our society have
been trained to do), you are unconsciously judging yourself as
guilty without knowing so. This produces confusion and once enough
confusion is experienced, chaos results. Find someone to confide in.
This will allow you to release any excess emotions in a safe
environment, thus assisting you in staying balanced during your day.
Imagine a day free from your judgment of others, how much lighter
and relaxing would such a day be?
-
 Seeing
Christ in all of your brothers.
You are using your eyes, but not to truly see. For, if you were
truly seeing, you would experience God’s creations as innocent, and
you would experience a perfection that comes not from what they do
or say but from who they are. They are God’s perfect creations, and
regardless of what they believe they need to add or subtract to His
creation, their essence in none the less perfect, and this is all
God asks you to look upon to experience - His, your and their
perfection. Imagine a day where instead of judging what people say
or do, you simply love the truth in them. How much more personally
rewarding would such a day be?
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Experiencing and expressing gratitude.
When God created you, He made you part of Him. Currently you are
using your heart, but not for love. Be what God is, and love and
trust will fill those moments that are now filled with fear and
worry. When you stand in front of God, He does not see your past or
future, he sees only the present that you are, He only sees His
perfect creation. Let go of your brothers' and sisters' past, set
them free and you will experience freedom.
Your brother and sister are here to remind you of your truth. When
you experience stress because of having judged a brother or
situation, your brother and the situation become available to you so
that you may learn to experience this same type of event with less
stress. Thus your brother, in every moment, is offering you the
opportunity for growth, the opportunity to see where through your
own thoughts and reactions you are taking yourself. Would gratitude
not be the rational response to a brother or situation that is
assisting you in developing into a less judgmental and more
compassionate being? Little by little, you will begin to realize
that gratitude is the one and only sane response to any and every
interaction you have with a brother or sister. Offer gratitude for
your brother’s participation in your lesson plan, and understanding
and gratitude will begin to fill your days.
-
 Trusting
God’s plan instead of yours.
You are using your mind, but likely not for forgiveness. Offer what
you desire to experience, this is God’s simple request. If you
desire forgiveness, forgive. Forgive and your mind will be set free
from the weight of judgment, pain and regret. Become free from the
burden of guilt, free from nights of tossing and turning because of
the overbearing weight of thoughts that were never yours to keep.
Forgive, and trust that His will is being done, that His plan is
being carried out in the best way your brothers and sisters
currently know how.
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Don’t fight your panic attack.
This will only increase the adrenaline. Instead accept the feelings,
allow the feelings to come and go, and slowly move toward
rebalancing yourself. Try focusing outside of yourself, maybe listen
to some peaceful or uplifting music, or do some pleasurable task.
During an attack, keep reinforcing within yourself that what you are
feeling is simply an oversensitive nervous system, that it is
temporary and not medically dangerous.
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Medication.
You take medications, a sort of diet to the mind, when one becomes
ineffective you try another. And when they become ineffective you
try another diet to try to lessen that mental weight you are
carrying. Yet my friend, somewhere deep inside you understand that
diets are not the final answer, you require a lifestyle change to
truly return to a naturally balanced state. The good news is that
this is possible. The good news is that, as alone as you think you
may be, many have been in your shoes, many have travelled these same
roads, and many have returned to balance, returning to their true
selves, returning to a life filled with peace and joy.
There is nothing wrong with medication, especially when an issue is
described as “debilitating.” Medication can be a useful short to
mid-term solution. With your doctor’s assistance, your goal should
always be to strengthen your inner self enough to get to a point
where medication is no longer needed. Look to slowly get off
medications. Look to slowly reduce their dosage. Under your doctor's
supervision, do some experimenting with different medications to see
which ones work best with your internal system. Never quit your
medications cold turkey.
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Doctors and therapists.
If your doctor is simply putting you on more and more medications
and is not asking you to see a therapist about your panic attacks,
then he or she is the wrong doctor for you. Equally so, if your
therapist is just constantly putting you on more and more
medications, then start consulting other therapists. The idea of
therapy is to assist your inner self in getting stronger and less
dependent on medications; if your therapist is not producing
positive results then it is time to look for someone else.
Your therapy may last one or two years, or maybe more. Do not hurry
your growth, do not put even more pressure on yourself, but do have
short, medium and long term goals. You need to feel that you’re
gradually experiencing more peace of mind and joy in your daily
life.
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Plan ahead.
Make a list of what you are afraid might happen and then below each
item on the list write specific things you can say to yourself to
calm yourself down during such a reaction. For example, if at the
onset of a panic attack your heart races, now you are prepared to
tell yourself: “I have studied breathing and meditation exercises
that can help me breathe deeper and slower. I can reduce my heart
rate.” Then place your focus on those exercises and execute them. A
panic attack will both quicken your breath and make it shallower.
Tell yourself: "I understand what is starting to happen. There is
nothing to fear. I am in no danger." Then slow your heart rate and
deepen your breath with the meditation exercises you have practiced.
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Become aware of what the beginning of a panic attack feels like.
By now you know your symptoms, the thoughts, emotions and reactions
you have at the start and during a panic attack. When the individual
has no clue about how to calm herself down, when an individual has
no clue that she has that power within her mind, a panic attack can
simply get stronger and stronger until medical attention is
required. When an individual starts to learn that she does have
control over the panic attack, it can be like a roller coaster ride,
with the panic attack getting worse, then her calming herself down,
then it starting back up again. This is actually a great step
forward. For if during your panic attack there comes a time in it
where you can calm yourself down, be it for a few seconds or
minutes, then the possibility exists that you can fully calm down
and thus eliminate the attack.
The most effective way to stop a panic attack is to catch it early.
Thus, it is very important to watch and understand how your panic
attack starts. What are the emotions and feelings you are
experiencing? How does your physical and mental state change at the
beginning of an attack? Even when you experience a panic attack that
you feel you have no control over, do your best to try to watch it,
study it, understand it, and write your experience down and
learn from it. This in and of itself can be a great gift and step
forward in reclaiming your peace of mind and joy.
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You will not die from a panic attack.
The worst case scenario in panic attacks,
which is extremely rare, is that you will pass out. And passing out
is just the body's self defense mechanism to give your brain time to
re-boot. If you learn and read the research that supports this, this
simple step will ease your mind. Knowing that you won’t die will
give you at least a little peace of mind. This becomes a big deal
since most people who at first experience such attacks believe they
are about to die or are having a heart attack. A panic attack will
not stop your heart, nor stop your breathing, nor will it drive you
crazy.
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Learn your personal triggers that start your
panic attacks. For example, if
going to a public place where there are a lot of people can trigger
such an attack and you have to go to a public place, visualize and
talk yourself through what could happen. See yourself going to that
place and being at peace. Mentally walk yourself through what you
believe you will be experiencing. Reinforce within your mind that
all is going to be okay, that you are safe and protected.
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Learn breathing / meditation techniques to
calm yourself down.
Those who experience panic attacks understand
that breath plays a key part of any attack. In an attack the breath
shortens, becomes more shallow and rapid, your chest tightens, you
start feeling lightheaded, blood starts flowing out of your
extremities to assist the heart. The hands, arms, feet and legs
begin to tingle because of this. All this has breath as a core
issue. Thus practice taking full breaths. Breathe out – breathe out
all the air in your lungs, this allows you to take a deeper breath
in. Then when you breathe in, first fill your lower stomach, then
your upper stomach, then your whole chest. This exercise will help
calm you down. You may also breathe into a brown paper bag or your
cupped hands, this exercise will help your oxygen levels return to
normal. Finally a body relaxing technique where you focus on a body
part like the scalp and you relax it, then move to your forehead and
relax it, and repeat this process all the way down to your feet -
can also be useful.
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Understand the effect that food and drinks have on your nervous
system.
Remove all caffeine from your diet. If you’re a coffee or tea
aficionado - end it, for even decaf coffee has caffeine.
(Non-caffeinated herbal tea is okay.) Once you have your panic
attacks under control, and if you still desire it, you may again
have decaf coffee or tea. Chocolate also has too much caffeine,
eliminate it if possible. If not, don’t have more than 10 grams a
day and always make it dark chocolate, at least 70% cocoa. Reduce
your intake of sugar and processed foods, for such products shoot
your energy levels up and down creating an unbalanced state where
panic attacks have an easier time developing. Drink lots and lots of
water. Water transports hormones, chemical messengers and nutrients
to vital organs of the body. If a body is not well hydrated it may
react by sending stress signals to the brain, which in turn can
raise your level of anxiety and produce a panic attack.
Your body needs to be functioning at its best to reduce the toxins
from it. Food such as sugar, salt and processed foods lower your
body’s resistance, whereby food like fruits and vegetables raise
your resistance. Fruits and vegetables should comprise 60% - 80% of
your diet, and whole grains, nuts, protein and dairy the remaining
20% - 40%.
-
 Exercise
– include exercise like yoga in your daily routine.
Yoga is an exercise that asks you to focus on your breath.
Regardless of the pose you are practicing, the key is the breath and
your continuous focus on it. By doing so, you bring your focus back
to the moment. The present moment is free from the past and from
future imaginings. Within the present moment lies the gift of peace.
You cannot have a panic attack and be in the present moment - for a
panic attack deals with learned behaviors, and all learned behaviors
are past related.
Also focus on exercise that burns adrenaline. This means exercises
that really tire you out. Exercise is a great tension burner,
loosening up your body and activating endorphins that make you feel
great. Any serious aerobics class should do the trick. Physically
active people have lower rates of anxiety and depression than
sedentary people. Exercising will have a tremendously positive
benefit on your mental, emotional, and physical health. Your energy
levels will soar and your resistance to stress will increase,
therefore reducing the general feeling of anxiety. Be kind to
yourself, take it slow to begin with and be determined. If you can
incorporate regular exercise into your life, the benefits will be
profound.
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Using distractions as a calming tool.
The goal here would be to reduce your strong fearful emotion to an
anxious thought. Try thinking of Donald Duck or Goofy delivering to
you the anxious thought you are having. Visualize them tripping as
they deliver the idea, then thank them and move on to whatever else
you were doing.
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Join a self-help group.
In the UK, you can find details through the No Panic charity free
phone helpline at 0808 8080545. Also check the Mind charity website
-
www.mind.org.uk for further help. Also
visit
www.phobics-society.org.uk for more
information on anxiety disorders.
When you join a group of people dealing with the same basic issues
you are working on, it becomes a blessing to all involved. For in
other people's stories, you will remember your own, and as they heal
so too does a small part of you heal. And as you tell your story and
struggles, you heal. And as you do, so too does a small part of them
heal. God uses all things for good, and as the group slowly awakens
from their illusions, you will realize the great gift you are to
your group and the great gift that your group is to you.
-
Practice behavioral modification therapies to
deal with your fears.
Although many of the above points are examples
of behavioral modification therapy, there are also numerous well
studied, researched and detailed psychological behavioral
modification exercises that a professional therapist can guide you
through. These should be part of your personal daily therapy and
experience. If your therapist is not providing some of these types
of therapies as daily and weekly homework assignments, then it is
time to find someone who does work with more applicable, detailed
and well researched tools.
Conclusion
You do want peace and are ready to teach peace to learn it, for why else
would you have offered this opportunity, the participation in the
creation of this question and response for yourself and others to read
and rediscover. My friend, the night is over and the light has come.
Become conscious of the difference between sleeping and waking so that
you can understand that you do not need to be afraid of the dreams you
made. Now when bad dreams / fear based attack thoughts come, you will
simply remember the above reminders and call on this light to disperse
them. Gradually, you will begin to experience the change and this in
turn will strengthen your motivation for further change.
Your Source has established your identity. Your essence is awake and
whole, fully capable of a life filled with peace of mind, love and joy.
You have a wonderful life ahead of you. Simply decide to peel off the
layers of illusions that you have placed upon your truth. My friend, it
is not as hard to do as your ego may say, to peel off that which you do
not truly want, to peel off that which you have no use for. It is so
much harder to keep doing what you are doing, and deep down, as hard as
your ego might fight it, you know it’s true. Implement the points above,
and every small victory will be a step in the right direction, in the
direction your soul is calling you from. For the day is simply made of
moments, and every moment you now decide to join your true self - will
become a moment where instead of choosing fear you choose faith, where
instead of condemnation you choose compassion, and where instead of
desperation you will now be choosing deliverance.
Peace, Health, Happiness, Love, Laughter and Light.
In Service,
James Blanchard Cisneros
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