Step 1 of NLP tips for panic attacks: To make things easier it’s best to write down a list of all your causes of stress, worry and anxiety including the associated negative feelings you experience during those situations. Include your experiences and feelings associated with your anxiety.
Then write another list, but this time make it your happy list by writing all those times you have felt appreciation, happy, overjoyed, confident and a sense of well being, including the associated feelings. This time include a time where you have had success in stopping panic attacks and you felt empowered.
Think of a place, a funny moment, a person, it could be a time when you passed an exam and you felt ecstatic, write it all down. Write down all the feelings, sights, sounds and smells etc. If you can’t think of anything, make it up, but make it as vivid as possible.
Step 2: Begin by sitting down in a quiet place and go back in your life, remember all the negative experiences and associated feelings. You can imagine that you are in a movie theatre and you are watching those experiences play over on the movie screen (if this helps).
Concentrate on each experience and at the same time squeeze your index finger and thumb on your left hand, let those experiences play over in your head for a minute or so whilst anchoring those feelings on your left index finger and thumb. When you are done release your index finger and thumb.
Step 3: Now go back in your life and remember all the positive experiences in your life and the associated feelings. It could be a holiday, a happy moment, a beautiful place, a time you felt good, I want you to relive those positive experiences, go through all those feelings, let it intensify and build up, make it larger, bigger, more colorful and better than it was. Really build those feelings up until you think you’re going to burst whilst squeezing your index finger and thumb, but this time on your right hand.
Step 4: Release your index finger and thumb on your right hand, relax for a little and then squeeze them again, the positive feelings and experiences should return.
Step 5: Squeeze your left index finger and thumb and return to your negative experiences and let those feelings and emotions return for a moment or two. Now concentrate on your positive experiences, let those feelings intensify and build up. Start overlapping the positive experiences on top of your negative experiences by making the positive experiences and feelings stronger (remembering to squeeze your left index finger and thumb). Now, relax for a moment or two.
Step 6: Squeezing your right index finger and thumb again, move forward in time and imagine yourself encountering situations where you would normally experience negative feelings and emotions, but instead, see yourself calm, confident and dealing with those situations with ease and without stress. See yourself as you want to be and take those good feelings and imagine yourself at work, home or in public etc. Finish off by relaxing and slow deep breathing.
By practicing this exercise at least 2-3 times a week, you can begin to feel a positive change in your emotional behavior patterns and general mood. By building up and reliving those positive feelings and experiences, and anchoring them on your right hand index finger and thumb regularly, you will be able to use it as a tool to enhance your mood during the day when you feel slumps.
Simply squeeze your right index finger and thumb when you begin to feel low, stress, anxiety or worry and those feelings will come flooding back countering your negative ones. Happy emotions and thoughts can trigger the release of endorphins through the pituitary glands, which can result in a sense of euphoria. Think of it as a well deserved mini holiday or break for the mind! The state of euphoria during the release of endorphins also occurs during sex and laughter, which explains why both acts make you feel good!
