One of the most common requests I receive from my hypnotherapy clients is help in dealing with anxiety, panic attacks, and other highly emotional states of being. While each person's experience of anxiety or panic attacks may be unique, a common theme is a feeling of being out of control. The experience of feeling out of control often brings on a panic attack, and when we’re in the throes of one, we fear we’ll never gain control, which only serves to add fuel to the anxiety flames.

What can we do - in the moment - to stop this endless spiral?

And that phrase - in the moment - is the key to the answer. When we’re experiencing anxiety, we are not living in the moment. We’re either mourning the past… we might be holding feelings of shame, regret, or remorse. Another possibility is that we might be fearing what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or next year. It could be a planned upcoming stressful event or the possibility of one… it doesn’t matter, the point is that when we’re anxious we are not living in the present.

Actually, we want to flee the present moment by any means necessary, because in the moment, we’re spiraling down a panic vortex. 

Which reminds me of an analogy… imagine you’re swimming in the ocean and you’re caught in a riptide and being carried out to sea. Swimmers are taught to do the opposite of what feels instinctive - which is to swim directly towards the shore, and this might be - by the way - against the current. Instead, we all know to swim parallel to the shore and allow the current to gently push you back to the shore, while you also swim in a lateral direction. In this particular case, surrendering is both a courageous and a wise act because it is what saves you.

So does that mean I’m suggesting that you surrender to anxiety and panic?

No. Not at all. Because surrendering to anxiety and panic means to remain anxious, maintaining the status quo, and allowing it to rule your life. What I’m proposing instead... is to surrender to the fight against ‘that which is’. Explicitly, that which exists now. When we’re panicking, we are fighting against that which is. We are denying what is happening right now, we are trying to escape it by focusing on the past, or by worrying about the future. The panic is a primal instinct that is kicking in based on our ‘fight or flight’ / adrenal glands. 

We can surrender the fight against what is by simply focusing on the present moment, and every characteristic that you’re aware of. You can do this in a variety of ways:

1. Focus on your breath. You can even say silently to yourself, 'Now I am breathing in, and now, I am breathing out'. A simple focus on breathing is a proven method to bring on a state of relaxation and calm. 
2. Focus on your surroundings. Count the number of objects around you. For example, if you’re outside, count how many trees you can see, or how many cracks there are in the sidewalk. Just like breathing, counting can help ground you and take your active mind off of your emotional state. If you’re inside, counting the objects that you see on a nearby table, or even tracing the pattern you see on a couch or pillow can cultivate a sense of well-being. 
3. Reinforce your experience. Once you feel your heartbeat start to decelerate, and your breathing return to normal, focus your attention on this fact. Use it as a reminder to yourself that you have the power to relax yourself, and you know how to do it, because you literally just did that… and you are in control of your emotions despite the fact that - at certain times - it feels as if they’re controlling you. 
4. Create an anchor for calm. Once you’ve calmed down, and feel fully relaxed, create an anchor for this feeling. An anchor is similar to a mnemonic device, it gives you a cue to remember something - in this case, it gives your body and your subconscious a cue for how to feel at certain moments. It could be a gesture (e.g. hand on your heart, or head), or an image (e.g. your happy place), or a mantra or song. It’s not important what it is, but rather that it works for you in moments where you feel the possibility of becoming anxious. And you ‘charge’ it by cultivating the feeling you want, amplifying it, and then setting the anchor in place. After that, it’s a good idea to test it to experience if it's really working for you (before any anxiety starts).

Hypnotherapy can offer dramatic results for a variety of emotional, mental and physical issues. The challenge is that there are many cultural myths and stereotypes to overcome in order to be open to trying hypnosis as a therapeutic modality.
Here are a few of them you may have heard or may have had, and how you an overcome them for greater healing and self-awareness:
1. You'll embarrass yourself. Let's face it. Humiliation is often part of a why an audience finds a stage hypnotists show so entertaining. We're laughing at the person who's "under a spell".
Why this is a false belief. The difference between hypnosis and a stage hypnotist's act lies in intent and consent. The ethical hypnotherapist has an intention of serving her client with full integrity and confidentiality, obtaining a client's consent and reminding them that they have full control of their experience. Hypnotherapists are therapeutic guides whereas stage hypnotists are entertainers.

2. You won’t remember anything. Your hypnotherapist will ask you what your goals for your session are, and among them will be that you will bring back all you discovered and learned during your session. She'll reinforce these by using post-hypnotic suggestions.
Emotional, mental, physical and spiritual integration is a core benefit of hypnotherapy. I would imagine you'd want to remember all you can discover about yourself during a guided meditation or trance session. Much of the value of this healing modality lies in our ability to quickly get to the root cause of our imbalances or sense of unease. This relies on remembering the key details and  "take-aways" of each experience. (Anchors are a great tool for this, look for a blog article on this soon).

​3. You’ll be triggered at some distant point in the future. To be honest, the discoveries you make during your sessions may continue to unfold over the coming days and weeks. That said, you'll have more tools and support systems to rely on to help you during these moments.
EFT is one of the best tools for integrating new emotional and spiritual discoveries into your energetic system and consciousness. This transformative process involves tapping on your energetic meridians while acknowledging and accepting what is. Additionally, while tapping, you also express your desired outcomes (e.g. affirmations). This clears any lingering blocks and "takes the edge of" lingering emotional triggers or physical manifestations of pain and anxiety.​

4. You’ll disclose secrets without your consent. 
​See number #1 above where we talk about the importance of ethics, integrity, consent and confidentiality. Despite the fact that the state of CA does not license hypnotherapists, you can still do your own homework to validate your hypnotherapist has your best interests in mind. Before meeting with them, have a call or email exchange to determine what their stance is with respect to the core values of consent and confidentiality. During your face-to-face interview, at the start of the session, if you still have concerns in this area, ask your hypnotherapist to record your session so you listen back to what their specific words are, how directive they are in their communications, an​d in general, how they hold the space for you. Remember that you are always in control, which brings us to the last myth to debunk.
5. You'll lose control. All hypnosis is self-hypnosis which means in essence - you are always in control. Without your active consent, it's not actually possible to be hypnotized. And, the more resistant or tense someone is to hypnosis, the more time it may take for them to relax enough to be hypnotized. So as long as your hypnotherapist holds a space of self-empowered and non-directive healing, you'll be grounded and aware of your place in this experience as well as have the courage to let go for deep healing and transformation.

When it comes to hypnotherapy, the more empowered you feel during the experience, the more transformative the experience. Feel free to ask your hypnotherapist for what you need to feel whole, grounded, and complete before, during, and after your session.

Stay tuned and good luck on your road to self-healing. After all, you're always in the driver's seat.