Wondering what does a panic attack feel like? Sometimes it feels like you will die. Sometimes it feels like you will lose control and your entire world will come crashing down on you.
Most people describe symptoms such as chest pain (tight, sometimes heavy) as well as elevated heart rate and some difficulty breathing. In the context of a panic attack, these symptoms tend to wash over in a big wave and pass fairly quickly.
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Needless to say, it isn’t a pleasant feeling, but if you know what a panic attack feels like, then you can ride the wave of panic and it will settle for you.
Related: Panic Self Help Meditation
Today, I want to speak to you about what having a panic attack actually feels like.
Now, I just want to start this blog by saying that if you think that you might be having a panic attack, you probably are.
You know deep down within yourself what’s going on in your body and even though it might feel like your body is out of control, you can’t control your breathing, you feel like you’re going dizzy, you feel like you might pass out, if at the very bottom of it, you’re wondering if perhaps this is a panic attack, then that’s your clue right there.
You always know deep down within yourself what does a panic attack feel like, so trust your intuition.
Step 1: If you think might be having a panic attack, it’s highly, highly likely that you are.
If you think you’re having a panic attack, it’s probable that you are having a panic attack and that is one step closer to knowing and understanding what a panic attack feels like.
If you’re going through it even though you might feel separate from it, some people feel like they’re going out of body, even though you might be wondering if you’re having a heart attack or an asthma attack instead of a panic attack, if you’re looking at, “Am I having a panic attack,” it’s likely that you are.
Step 2: Awareness of, what does a panic attack feel like, is what breaks the spell.
Understanding and accepting that you’re having a panic attack is really what brings the emotional intelligence into play that helps you separate the logic and the knowledge from the fact that you’re having a panic attack, from the emotion.
And I think you’ll agree that having a panic attack is a highly emotional experience.
It’s a physical experience. But really, it’s the emotion that’s driving the physical in a panic attack.
And being able to separate the emotion from the logic of what’s actually going on is so, so, so powerful.
Being able to get in there in the heat of the moment and in the middle of it all and being able to say to yourself, “I’m having a panic attack right now,” and being able to separate the emotion of having that panic attack from the logic of the panic attack is really going to be what helps free you from the grip of panic attacks when they get to you.
Step 3: Drop the resistance to the panic attack
This is a difficult one to start with but you will get better with it over time.
You will know what does a panic attack feel like when you are able to really drop your resistance to the panic, to relax every muscle in your body, across your thyroid, down your shoulders, down into your arms, in your tummy…anywhere that you hold tension, really focus on dropping that tension, dropping that stress in the moment of the panic attack.
If you can find yourself in the eye of the storm, separate the emotion from it.
Once you’ve done that, really focus on your physical body and relaxing every part of your physical body.
That also helps break the panic attack’s vice-like grip on you. It’s so important to be able to get in there as it’s happening and I can’t stress enough how you will improve with this over time.
This isn’t a skill that you’re born with, obviously.
If you’re struggling with panic attacks, then it’s this skill that you need to learn.
However, it is a skill that is very learnable. That’s the good news.
Panic attacks are something that are absolutely possible to heal and get the better of.
And knowing what does a panic attack feel like is an important part of that.
I see it happen every day in my work. I witness miracles of healing from panic attacks. People that have had panic attacks for years, suddenly being able to catch themselves in the eye of the storm and dropping all resistance to it and being able to trust that the panic doesn’t have the power, that you have the power, that I have the power, that we have the power within our own bodies and that panic attacks are no more than a bluff that our nervous systems sometimes plays on us when we’re feeling overly stressed and overly tired.
What does a panic attack feel like? The secret is:
Anxiety attacks, with their headaches and the ‘band around the head’ feeling and the feeling that you might pass out, the rapid breathing, the rapid heart rate, that our of body experience, the dizziness and the swirling – all of that is nothing but smoke and mirrors unfortunately played on you by your body’s resistance system.
So if you drop the resistance, if you stop trying to fight it, if you stop trying to push it away, then the panic attack is not able to swallow you. It cannot happen.
I have got a free Panic Self-Help Meditation which is designed for you to listen to during a panic attack.
So, the way that I’ve set this up is if you have a panic attack, you put the mp3 on and you listen to it in the moment of the panic attack and this will help you to recognize that you’re having a panic attack and what the symptoms are but it will also guide you through a process where you count down from 20 down to 1 and you actually bring yourself out of the panic attack through this free meditation.
It’s super empowering and it’s a really excellent way to overcome each and every panic attack as it happens. Believe me, over time, as you get the better of your panic attacks as they become less scary to you, definitely experience less of them and less of them and less of them until one day, you don’t experience panic attacks anymore.
Knowing what does a panic attack feel like is important. But being able to heal panic attacks will absolutely change your life.
So, download my Panic Self-Help Meditation. It’s completely free and it will help you find your way out of a panic attack as you’re having one.
Love + light
Eva xo