Spirituality and Self Help » meditation

7 Creative Ways to Stop Panic Attacks

shimon — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 00:54:22 +0000

This is a guest post by Ryan Rivera. Thanks to modern and creative techniques of treating anxiety and panic disorders, Ryan Rivera is finally anxiety-free. Learn more about his anxiety struggles and survival techniques at www.calmclinic.com.

Did you know that 25 percent of the emergency room patients who complain of chest pain are actually experiencing panic?

Yes, panic attacks are common. In fact, about 20% of the adult population suffer from it.

Take the case of Anne. She was having second thoughts on whether or not to take the flight to Chicago. She always fears flying, even the thought of it.

She can’t seem to dismiss some crazy thought that something bad will happen the minute the plane takes off. She took it anyway.

As the plane was gearing to take off, Anne suddenly turned frantic, was out of breath, and dizzy. She was clearly overwrought. She was having a panic attack. But for Anne, the rest of the passengers and the airline crew, it would seem a heart attack. To make the story short, Anne was escorted off the plane and brought to the hospital.

Like Anne, panic attack sufferers fear the unknown. Their baseless reactions often cause them a pounding heart, nervousness, shortness of breath, discomfort, abdominal stress, dizziness etc. Classic symptoms of a heart attack…only it isn’t. It’s a case of a panic attack.

Yes, people have the right to worry. More so with all the bad and sad news we hear every day, but this goes beyond normal if it happens ever so often. In the case of Anne, it has been happening quite a lot. The airplane incident was just one of many.

Panic attack sufferers usually need professional help. Emotional support from their family and friends also helps. The psychologist will have to assess the underlying cause of the fear so that appropriate treatment may be given. The support system will provide the assurance that the patient is not alone and has support and understanding from the people who matter.

People who suffer from panic attacks should also know that the condition is highly treatable and preventable. In fact, there are creative ways to prevent it from occurring. Here are seven of them:

1Watch funny videos online. At the first sign of attack, turn on your computer and search for funny videos online. Watch a series. You’ll enjoy watching them and therefore lose focus on the negative thoughts. You will realize that laughter is really the best cure. Scientifically speaking, laughing helps decrease your blood pressure, slow down your heart rate and relax your muscles.

2Listen to your favorite tunes. Lie down on your couch and listen to your favorite songs playing on the background. Think about the beautiful lyrics that accompany them. Think of happy thoughts. Let the music take you to a place or time where you felt you were at your most peaceful and happiest.

3Leave your home. If you are home alone and suddenly feel alarmed for no reason at all, go out to change the atmosphere. Gardening is among the most recommended activities for relaxation. It takes your mind off the thing that agitates you.

Why not invite a neighbor over? Share a light snack and engage in small talk. You can also walk, jog, go to the mall and do some window shopping, go to a museum or an art gallery. These activities will help you forget your feelings of fear and worry.

4Write. As soon as you feel bad and negative thoughts are meddling with your mind, brush them off by writing. Either write about your feelings or scribble things that make you happy. Write about your goals and dreams in life. Writing therapy helps you express your feelings and thoughts in a gradual manner. This gradual process helps deal with or eases the pain caused by panic attacks.

5Perform a breathing exercise. Find a space where you can do a breathing exercise. Make sure it’s quiet. If darkening the room can help you focus more, do it. Close your eyes and keep your attention to your breathing. Inhale as if you are accepting all the things that are running through your mind. Exhale as if you are blowing them all away. Do it at least 5 times or until you feel relaxed.

6Do a general cleaning. Find an area in your home that you seldom clean, like the attic or the garage. Remove all the dust and throw away what you no longer need. Sweep and wipe the walls and floors with a wet cloth. You may find yourself dirty and sweating all over but it doesn’t matter. You’ve forgotten about the thing that threatened you earlier.

7Participate in charity works. Sometimes one needs to see the suffer of others to realize how lucky he is. Check within your community if you can participate in charity works. Later on, you will realize that you are not only helping others, You are also helping yourself. Your focus is redirected to things that are far more important and actually exist.

Fear is a natural human instinct. There are situations that can really trigger panic, But to constantly fear the unknown is detrimental to your growth. Always take control of the situation. Be in command. Don’t submit yourself to fears. Submission means you’re depriving yourself with the chance to live a normal and happy life.

If however, you’re already suffering from panic attacks, seek help. The earlier, the better. You can then use these creative ways as supplements to whatever your therapist recommends.

15 Ways To Be Happier

shimon — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:47:45 +0000

This is a guset post by Arina Nikitina. Arina is a blogger who shares practical goal setting, motivation, and productivity tips at www.arinanikitina.com

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it. — Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx isn’t really my favorite person in history. But whenever I am in a foul mood, his wisdom about happiness would revamp me to a brighter place. That’s pretty much why I have designed my own 15 ways to be happier in life.

How true that we’re never in control of what goes around us. Yet many people seem to cling to events, other people, societal codes and shallow, fleeting trends. It makes them happy, so they say. But soon enough, they find themselves in depression, stress and misery because of the changes happening around them.

But let’s not talk about others, shall we? Let’s get on to my ideas to be happier with this simple life. It could be yours, too, if you want.

15 Ways To Be Happier

1 Express love and gratitude often. What you say could intensify what you feel. So when you say “I love you” often, it becomes a reaffirmation as much as it is just words. The same with saying “thank you” makes you happy. Speaking the words open that door of realization why you’re grateful, and then increase your appreciation for the kind or generous act toward you. At the same time, saying “thank you” or “I love you” paves way for better communication. That would make you happy.

2 Step up from the problems with solutions. Got a problem at work? A frustration over planning your wedding? These situations and a hundred more other problems could come at any time. But you can lift yourself up and not allow them to cause you unhappiness. Instead of endlessly question why it happened, step up and spend time looking for solutions. You don’t just get the problems solved, you become happier with finding challenges, new things to do and seeing hope at the end of the process.

3 Always have a “me” moment every day. Happy people are those who love themselves. Happier ones know how to get a daily treat, mostly a few minutes of doing things they love most. Like a hobby, watching a show or listening to their favorite music. While yoga and walking are my daily treats, I always feel pampered when I could have my late night tea, watch the stars or just sit outside doing nothing. The routine is both a relaxing treat and a room for creative thinking or humming to myself. Most of the time though, it’s just enjoying the tea. Yet, it makes me happy.

4 Be around happy people. – This would be my favorite because it involves the people dear to me. I have a circle of friends whose outlook in life strongly resembles mine. Besides, their humor and aspirations are infectious. Thus, there’s no need to carry the weight of sad, problematic and distressed people.

5 Make your career be a source of joy. By this, it means making your work meaningful, fun and always interesting. Routines often lead to de-motivation and dissatisfaction. When this happens, you become grumpy and unhappy. But if you could create new methods to do things every now and then, work becomes interesting. Try to re-write boring correspondences, rearrange your work area and put positive pictures and objects around you. I personally don’t just get in touch with existing contacts, whether virtually or for real; instead, my work becomes more meaningful because I reach out to more people within and outside of my niche. This way, I get satisfaction, new things to pursue and increased interest in my rather usual routines.

6 Be realistic with goals. Often, it’s unrealistic aspirations that dampen our spirits. We tend to aim too high and realize our goals are beyond our reach. For others, it’s setting goals not really among their code desires. Some would even have a hundred of things to do at the thought it would all help them achieve their goals. But if it’s realistic, it’s easier to achieve. So make sure the goals are well-defined and well-designed. The road towards it will see you in a happier pursuit.

7 Find fun in everything that usually isn’t. So many times we come across really annoying circumstances, like being stuck in traffic for too long, irate clients and friends or a hairstyle that causes too much trouble. These situations would likely test your bearing. But don’t let it. There’s always something laughable in any testy circumstance. Look for it instead of dwelling on the annoyance.

8 Stand up for your beliefs. I’ve been taunted a few times about being Vegan, doing yoga instead of the gym and being patient with people. Nothing got me to give up or hide what I believe in. Standing by my way of life doesn’t make me less happy. But I know I’d be miserable if I let go of my reasons for these pursuits; more miserable if I let other peoples’ beliefs and choices replaced my thinking for theirs. Stand up for what you truly believe in to be happier about yourself, to be happier with your life.

9 Smile to people. Then start a conversation with them, if they are into it. You’d be surprised how happier you will become when you put on a happy face. Not all people would take your smile positively, but there are plenty who would. Smiles are the only infection humanity is safe to contract. Smiling to people is like lighting up a room. Don’t care for too much about those who’d rather be in the dark. Think of how well you feel about putting on a happy face and sharing that light with others. This always works, even if your mood isn’t that bright.

10 Have a purpose and know it, too. A man without direction wouldn’t know what makes him happy. So it’s understandable that a life without purpose is a sad one. Once you have understood the meaning of your existence, you become happier in the pursuits you take. Knowing your reasons for being in the world sure makes you love being alive – and be happy about it.

11 Laugh. Just laugh. It’s the best medicine, it chases blues away, it strengthens bonds between people who share the laughter. You could find situations to laugh about, even if it’s usually irritating. You could even laugh at yourself for the mistakes you’ve made learning how to edit pictures online. There’s really a lot to laugh about as there are some more that could annoy you. It’s a matter of perspective. If you didn’t know this before, laugh out loud for the discovery!

12Put a positive premise to every act. Our every action must be done because it’s good and because it is hoped to give good results. Never do something just to disprove others or because you’re angry, envious or want to beat others on a race. When you have a positive thought that’s translated to a positive action, you are never in fear of what it will get back to you. But if it’s the other way around, you’re sadly always watching your back.

13 Be yourself and live in all honesty. There’s no price to living a life of integrity. It means you need not remember lies you told or fear for that instance that a dishonest act will be revealed. Being so, you’re carefree and happy. It’s important for every person not just to be honest at all times, but to live according to how they want themselves to be.

14 Live the moment, not the later. Savor what’s going on around you right now, instead of looking a few hours or days ahead. You miss a lot today with always watching out for tomorrow. Just enjoy your cup of coffee or the afternoon chat with your mom; don’t wonder if you’d be up all night when the caffeine kicks or if the drive back home from your mom’s house. If you enjoy what you’re doing, just enjoy it fully while you can. Let later take what’s in it.

15 Meditate. Or pray. Meditation has so many benefits, and it’s not only attainment of physical calm. Like praying, meditation allows you to look deeper into your soul and your life. That means finding many good things about yourself, and be happier about who you are. It’s a way also erase all ill-thoughts. The same with prayers, you could express gratitude and discover as well what areas in your life you need to become better.

Now let’s say Groucho Marx isn’t perfectly wise at being happy. But still, I happen to find his wisdom on the issue perfect for elaboration. How I got this completed based on Marx’ perspective made me happy. That’s basically why I am.

How To Focus In The Face Of Distractions

shimon — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:55:55 +0000

This is a guest post by Colleen Ludgate. Colleen is the editor of fun advice
As a child, I was mesmerized with the extraordinary ability my mother had to simply “tune things out”.

As she sat, nose in book, with the telephone resonating it’s urgent message, demanding to be picked up, and the dog barking through the window at the cat across the street,

I often wondered if her quiet mastery was somehow related to a hearing problem. It wasn’t.

I spent my years in quiet frustration as a student, trying to study with the distraction of my two sisters arguing, and the washing machine spinning, secretly envious of my mother’s special power and wishing I had inherited it.

I would eventually learn that the art of tuning out was a skill, long years in development with the requirement of specialized equipment – namely, children. I have three children. Noisy, argumentative distractions that have a keen sense of the perfect moment to hit me up for some money or ask for a privilege that would have normally been denied.

As I sit, typing away at my latest epiphany of a novel, I hear them asking me…something. Eager to finish my thoughts on the screen, I’m all too happy to give them whatever their heart desires, often to my own demise.

My mother had balance. That is what I was missing. She knew when to ignore, and when to really listen – an adroitness I failed to pick up. I spent hours in silent meditation, looking for the difference between perfect solitude and a general lack of reasonable thought process.

Meditation worked wonders for my inner sanctity and is still an important part of my every day life, but I still failed to find harmony in my chaotic life.

I recently spent some time studying my cat – the master of oblivion – only to realize that his little ear-jerks meant that he heard everything. It came to me then. I called my cat’s name and it went unheeded, until I shook the little pouch containing his favorite treat and he was at my feet within seconds.

The art of tuning out doesn’t mean that you hear nothing – you hear everything, and allow your mind to subconsciously decide what is important. All this time, I’ve been practicing the act of ignorance – the desire to be alone forces one to react in a negative way.

I have since detached myself of my desire for quiet (nearly), and have found that some things are better heard. My children are happier with a mother who takes the time to listen, no matter what daunting tasks build up before her, and I find myself a more patient person.

Accepting that life has it’s distracting moments has made me less agitated as I feel the gentle tap on my shoulder, accompanied by my husband’s voice in my ear, “Honey? Didn’t you hear the children fighting?”.

Six Ways Spirituality Can Boost Wellness

shimon — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:02:14 +0000

This guest post is contributed by Karen Anderson, who writes on the topic of online bible colleges . Karen welcomes your comments at her email : karen.anderson441@gmail.com
It’s a diverse world we live in, one that is filled with a number of religions and Gods.

Some religions like Buddhism are a way of life, others like Christianity and Islam believe in the teachings of one God, while others like Hinduism have a pantheon of Gods and rituals.

On the other hand there are the atheists and agnostics, the ones who believe that there is no God or spiritual being who is responsible for our destiny.

Spirituality however is something that is innate in each of us; it is godly and goes beyond the belief in God because even non-believers are spiritual. To define it in a nutshell, spirituality is the voice of your conscience, that tiny nudge from inside that tells you if you’re doing right or wrong.

So here is how you can use spirituality to boost your wellness quotient, the instant feeling when you wake up in the morning that tells you all is well with your world:

1Listen to your conscience: In short, don’t do anything that makes you feel guilty after it’s done. If you knowingly do something wrong, your conscience is going to prick you continuously until you apologize for your mistake or seek amends in an alternative way.

2Do unto others as you would have them do unto you: This sounds like something from the Bible, but it applies to practical life very well. If you don’t like being lied to or cheated, don’t do the same to other people. If you want respect and admiration, be prepared to offer them yourself. In general, people respond to the way you treat them, and treat you accordingly.

3Expect very little: I always teach my children that expectation is the root cause of disappointment. When you expect other people to make you happy or relieve your sadness, you’re only building a dependence that could become addictive and unhealthy. Instead, trust your own mind and heart and find constructive ways to build your self-esteem and confidence.

4Give in to your loved ones: No man is an island, and the relationships we form as we go through life say a lot about us. When you value your loved ones and treat them well, you forge deeper and more emotional bonds with them. And you’re not going to lose anything when you give in to them once in a while instead of getting your way all the time. Relationships are all about tolerance and understanding, not who’s right or wrong.

5Let go of everything that’s unhealthy and stressful: It may be a relationship that is going nowhere; it could be the food that you gorge on; or it could be a lifestyle that is hedonistic – whatever it is, it’s best you give it up for your own good. It may be difficult at first, but when you strive hard and hold on to your willpower and self-control, you’ll be very satisfied that you beat a personal demon.

6Set a side a few minutes every day for some quite time. A time you dedicate for breathing and nothing else. If you suddenly realize you’re worrying about something just say to yourself: this is my quiet time, if I’ll need to I’ll dedicate a few minutes to worrying later. This act will replenish your energy and help you cope with everyday life.

Getting to know your spiritual side and becoming more in tune with it helps you become a better person, someone with fewer base emotions and more good ones.

Spirituality and Self Help » meditation

7 Creative Ways to Stop Panic Attacks

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