BUT WHAT IF?...I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS!.., HOW CAN I FIX IT?...WHO WILL HELP ME?...I AM LOST, IF FEEL SO ALONE, WHAT SHOULD I DO? So it goes on, the cycle of destructive anxiety and the pain, panic, depression and fear that result if we let it take over. Each one of us has been there to some degree, but you can stop this destructive process in its tracks. TAKE A FEW LONG, SLOW, DEEP BREATHS NOW. That is the first weapon in your arsenal, and combined with affirmation, you can stop the anxiety spiraling. These are emergency measures, followed up of course, with a healthy life style. But at those moments when such feelings attack, these do help.

The breathing is easy to learn. and the technique is well documented as having immediate beneficial effects. When those situations, thoughts and events occur that trigger anxiety, we are prone to taking shallow breaths. But focus instead on taking three or four slow, deep breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Simply by concentrating on getting this going, the anxious thoughts are pushed to one side. What is also happening physically, is that as the blood becomes oxygenated. the muscles and brain are supplied with that oxygen. The blood pressure lowers and the heart beats slower. This helps in reducing tension and allows for clearer, more rational thinking to take place. Anxiety makes us tense up, we have stomach cramps and produce too much adrenalin; all part of our race memories of 'fight or flight' when confronted by danger. The danger here is not a tyrannosaurus Rex, but our own worries and fears. So each person has the power to vanquish them.

The affirmations, while breathing are the next weapon, just a few simple words that give us back that power and control, from deep inside.
"I am alive, I can let go, I can win."
Find the words that suit you best, but always, always use the positive, definite, strengthening statements such as: "I choose to be in charge, I will come through, just as I always do". Practice saying these affirmations, internalize them, and use them, together with the breathing technique, when worry and anxiety grab at you.

Because you have physiologically helped your thought processes, and psychologically reassured yourself, you can now look at what you are feeling anxious about. Put it in perspective, in fact. See this as a challenge, not a threat, something you have the power to overcome, not an insurmountable problem. The secret lies is relaxing

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