The stress management plan for reducing anxiety in Mom’s and homemakers is a challenge due the amount of time our dearest Mom’s of society give SO much of their time and life to their children and the family unit. The challenge here is TIME and SPACE.

This is the toughest life situation to handle if you want to find reduce anxiety. Mothers are the only TRUE warriors of the world. Being a Mom is a quest and a mission from God. Society must learn to support and understand the Mother’s need more support. Everyday that you get through as a Mother is nothing less than God’s grace in action.

Without going into great lengths on the plight (and blessing) of being a Mom, let’s get into the reality of a true anxiety reduction plan and management system.

Clearing Time and Space and How To Make the Very Best of Free Time

Finding the time to read, listen to inspirational DVDs, go for a walk, meditate, do Yoga, Tia chi, etc., is difficult for a busy Mother and homemaker, but it can be done right NOW.

The trick is sleep. You must organize your day and nights around your sleep and alone time. If you are a single mother, and have children who are still at home and not in school, the challenge is the greatest. If you can find ANY help from friends, family members, or babysitters be sure to do it.

You will have learn to stop wasting time watching hours and hours of TV, or socializing at length. They key is getting to bed at an early hour so you can get up early before the sun comes up and your world gets noisy and busy again.

Get up at least 1-2 hours before your children wake up and get your invaluable alone time. In that alone time you are going read books, watch videos, listen to audio programs, and find your inner stillness again – in other words, find yourself again.

If you drop everything and get to bed early and do this you will create plan and routine whereby you are always connected to yourself throughout the day. The first thing to do is begin reading important works of literature that begin guiding you to enlightenment. I recommend Michael Bernard Beckwith’s “Spiritual Liberation”, Wayne Dyer’s “Power of Intention”, and Eckhart Tolle’s “A New Earth”. If you read these three books twice (or three times) each you will begin to see a strange and beautiful shift in your consciousness. I really didn’t notice a difference until I read these 3 books twice each, and listened to their audio CDs.

If you cannot find this time to commune with stillness of the morning sunset, then at least buy these audio programs for you car, and begin the journey. You will learn why you are stressed, and how to reduce your stress to a very low level.

The meditation, yoga, exercise, and/or Tia Chi will come after you are well on your spiritual journey of enlightenment, but first you need to reprogram yourself back to the perfect being you REALLY are. These teaching will guide you to yourself again – I guarantee it. (this is a non-profit site for anxiety reduction – we do not make any money from our recommendations)

You will be reunited with your TRUE essence which lies DEEP into the stillness of your body temple, and learn to turn off your worried mind and defuse your dramatic ego. You will learn to appreciate the most mundane tasks, and understand how lucky you really are, even amidst the most stress filled and anxious situations in daily life.

Until you make the time during the morning hours to commune with stillness, and turn OFF your minds busy thinking patterns, you will not reduce your anxiety enough to make a lasting difference. Yes, you can exercise all you want, and that will help with your anxiety, but it’s not going to fully bring you “out of your mind”.

I know it sounds a little strange but you want to go “out of your mind”. That is where the reality of peace, stillness, silence, and universal energy is noticed. This is when you can feel your true self.

Mothers Sometimes Have To Be Very Creative

So in the above I give a quick example on how to and where to find time for yourself, but that just might not work for you. I would suggest that if you don’t have time to read, be sure to listen to the audio books that I mentioned above. If you do it in the car, you are not losing a second of time, because you have to drive sometimes right.

Once you digest all this material you will start seeing a change in how you feel. You will have a big reduction in anxiety, and you will have your old self back.

If you want to see a considerable reduction in anxiety you have to find some sort of stress management system to practice. I don’t mean buying some kind of product, because everything you need to reduce extreme anxiety is on the Internet for free.

If you have ever experienced a full blown panic attack before you will be VERY motivated to find a way to reduce your stress significantly, and bring an End To Suffering as The Buddha called it.

In this new century we are seeing and large increase in the numbers of people suffering from stress and anxiety. It’s pretty well an epidemic, and there is a reason for it, but right now we just want to discuss the correct way to reduce your anxiety through a stress management plan. First let’s discuss how to create your OWN stress management plan.

Stress Management Plan for Anxiety Reduction

The problem with the current western medical profession is that there is very little in the way of providing a reduction in anxiety of people (not going to call anxiety sufferers patients because is suggested there is something wrong with you, where the is not) – except for anti-anxiety medication. Why? Because every person is different and every person has a different lifestyle, with different life experiences and a different personal view point. So how could anyone make a pill or medication that can fix EVERYONE like an antibiotic for a simple infection.

So you can create your own custom stress management plan based on your schedule, lifestyle, and “life situation”. Below is a list of lifestyle situations and I hope there is example that is very similar to yours.

• married mother and homemaker
• married fathers
• single woman living with or without roommates employee
• single man living with or without roommates employee
• teenager/young adult employee
• teenager/young adult unemployed
• business owner(s)
• retired man over the age of 50
• retired woman over the age of 50

We will discuss the different stress management plans best suited for the above basic life situation. Click the links for each example.

So many people that have extreme anxiety want to know how to stop a panic attack.

Unfortunately, when we are in the depths of a full blown panic attack is SEEMS like we are STUCK. The truth is you are not, but you need to take these steps to stop a full blown panic attack in it’s tracks.

Follow the following advice and you will learn to take back control of your life and start BEING yourself again. Yourself is not what you think is your fearful and anxious mind activity. This has nothing to do with you at all. This is your mind and it’s buddy the ego.

Now lets talk about the practical way to get rid of your anxiety in a step by step fashion.

Understanding and Awareness While In a Panic Attack

First thing you must learn to do is be aware of what has brought you to the panic attack you are experiencing. This is awareness. This may seem impossible to do because your mind and ego are VERY busy telling you that there is something wrong with you and that you need to be afraid of every sound, feeling, sensation, and event – but you can turn this all around. Read on.

When you are in the middle of a full blown panic attack there had to have been a process of thoughts and egoic fears controlling your day. Your anxious mind and ego have full control when you have been;

• sleep deprived
• nutritionally deprived
• activity deprived
• unaware

This is when the mind and ego have their day, so if you are in the middle of a panic attack, you are likely very tired, under nourished, and physically static. You may be moving about with your job, raising kids, or driving around, but that is not the physical activity you need.

So in this state of panic you are presently in, it will take some time to recover. You can’t snap your fingers and become properly nourished and rested, so you must simply except your panic attack at the moment, but make plans to get your food and sleep. Let the panic attack run it’s course while you start preparing to turn things around. I know – that seems like it is impossible to do, but make these plans in little baby steps.

As your mind begins focusing on your goal to get some sleep, food, and mild exercise, you will notice a slight decrease in your panicky thinking – after all, your mind and ego are really dumb tools and they can’t do very many things at once.

The Practical Steps To Stopping a Panic Attack

Step One: Be Aware Of What A Panic Attack Is

Say to yourself, that you are aware that your ego and mind have hijacked your day, week, or month. Say these words in your mind,

“OK. I am aware that my mind and my ego have control right now, and the REAL ME is going to take back control.”

Tell yourself that you are going to let this panic attack simply be as a cloud in the sky, that is always moving, and will be moving through very soon, leaving the clear blue sky again. Visualize your panic attack as a cloud that is moving over head, and is only temporary. This is the TRUTH. All mind activity is temporary and not to be taken very seriously.

This kind of thinking is REALITY and your ego buddy the mind will be very angry even hearing these thoughts, but don’t worry, their minutes and days are numbered. They don’t have a pinch of power when they are up against your TRUE SELF (which is universal energy).

Except the panic attack and the current moment, but don’t judge it as bad. That is your ego that is judging your panic attack as bad. Your ego is fighting with the panic, but yet it actually likes the suffering, so it creates resistance to the present moment of panic, just like it resists ANYTHING that is in the NOW. The go hates the now.

As soon as you say that you are aware of the ego and mind working as they are fighting in you, and that you except this moment, the ego and mind will say,

“NO. This is hell and we MUST FIGHT”.

That is not the real you talking. The real connected to source YOU would say,

“There is no need to fight off this situation, because it is going to go by like a cloud in the sky or a tumble weed in the desert.”

Do keep telling yourself that you are not going to FIGHT anything. Let it go. That is the thought process you need to start with as you begin making plans. Oh, and what wonderful plans these are! Read on.

Step Two: Start Making Plans

Start making plans. This does many things. Start making plans to get some sleep, some good food, and some mild exercise. This takes your mind’s energy and focuses it elsewhere, instead of worrying (when it loves to hang out with the ego and do as much as possible). You will feel HUGE resistance from the mind and ego when you do this, but tell yourself that that is OK. You may feel “out of body”, numb, dizzy, distracted, and confused as you begin making your plans, but tell yourself that is OK. Keep going forward in your plans.

Plan 1: Light Healthy Nutrition Now!

Your mind has likely been telling you that it doesn’t want food, and the smell of food may even make you more anxious. Tell your mind that you know better. Your mind may be telling you that if you don’t eat food on a regular basis that you will die (it LOVES telling big dramatic and scary things like this).

Tell your mind that you know you are not going to die and that you don’t need a bunch of food in set intervals to survive. Tell your mind that the real you is going to have the day back and then go get yourself a cold glass of orange juice or apple juice. The high natural sugar content will boost your blood sugar and your body will love it. Then grab a piece of fruit or some vegetables and eat them. You don’t need allot – just a little bit will do. Our bodies don’t need nearly the amount of food we stuff into them. That is plan one.

Plan 2: Get Some Sleep – Real Sleep!

Your sleep is likely terrible if you are at the point of having a panic attack so this is plan two. Even when you are suffering from prolonged, and extreme anxiety, and you actually manage to fall asleep for 10 minutes you will notice a brief moment when you awake and feel much better. However, your mind can kick in with the ego at full speed trying to scare the hell out of you. It’s not often in a human beings life that the ego and mind have the opportunity to go hog wild and control your day, so they are really excited about it. The ego loves pain and suffering and the mind loves the activity. (They’re like to busy bodies in a small town who get together and bitch about all the things they hate, disapprove of, and relish in the fantasy that they know best.)

The reason you feel a small bit of relief after even 10 minutes or an hour of sleep, is because your body has gone back to it’s real self for brief moment and your mind and ego have been silenced. The mind and ego HATE this, so they will try to wake you up as much as possible so they can continue suffering.

NOW. This is easier said than done. I KNOW – I’ve been there my dear friend. you are not alone (don’t forget that OK) and you will overcome this. You are not going crazy OK. Just hold my hand here and I’ll take you back to your REAL and NORMAL self. Your real self will never leave you and it’s protecting you even in your most dire of days.

Get some sleep if you can. Don’t let your mind and ego tell you that there is “something wrong with you” because you are sleeping in the middle of the day, or sleeping too long. If your anxiety is extremely high it will sap your energy levels. There is nothing wrong with you – you are allowed to sleep. Your body needs it.

If you cannot get to sleep and have been trying for days without success, try using a light sleeping aid, put on a harmless old movie, take a couple of Aspirin or Advil and lay back. Don’t be upset or worried if this fails – you may need some help from the doctor.

If all attempts at getting to sleep fail, then make a doctor’s appointment and tell him your situation. Tell him all of the symptoms you’ve been having and that you are in need of something to help you get to sleep. This is just temporary OK. It won’t hurt you if you have some kind of temporary medication in your system.

With some medication (maybe Ativan or something to calm you down) you will eventually fall asleep. Make sure you are up front with anyone you are living with, and tell them how important it is for you to have a long sleep WITHOUT interruption. Go to a room or bed somewhere in the house that is the quietest. If your family or roommates wake you up then go to a different house or apartment to sleep. Find the people that support you – this is important.

Before you go to sleep, tell yourself that when you wake up you are going to begin continue with your plans. Your plans will continue as soon as you wake up. Don’t worry about anything. Tell yourself that when you wake up you are going to wake up with awareness. Put your mind and ego on notice that when you wake up you are WATCHING THEM. They are most likely going to be really pissed off that they losing control of you and they may even stoop to scary thoughts. This is what they do when they think their party might be over. They’ll try to scare you so bad you won’t be able to sleep or eat, but alas! You are on to them now!

Have a good sleep (day or night) and when you arise, say these words,

“Thank you universe for this body and this moment, and this day”.

“I want to feel good. I want to feel good. I want to feel good”.

“The real me is watching and is aware. My mind and ego are on notice”

“I wonder what my mind is going to think of next”

“I wonder what my mind is going to think of next”

“I wonder what my mind is going to think of next”

Get up and go have small glass of orange juice or apple juice. Eat a piece of fruit, a piece of bread, and a bite or two of a vegetable. As you do this stay present and aware of what thoughts your mind is making. Good or bad does not matter. If your mind brings across a worrisome thought, LAUGH at it. Giggle at it.

Grin to yourself and say,

“You are not having this day. This is God’s (the real me of universal love and energy) day. I am not going to take you seriously and I’m not going to take your friend the ego seriously either. You can play your worrisome and childish fantasies out, but I will not be taking part in the games. I will not give you drama you so desperately crave”.

Your mind and ego will skulk around like little petulant children. They will keep trying to insert they’re worrisome thoughts of negativity, but don’t get hung up on any one thought.

If you all of sudden have thoughts like,

“I’m OK, I’m fine, what a beautiful sky, sun, tree, flower, field of grass, person, sunset, I’m perfect after all just as I am, no matter what happens with my job, my relationship, my money, my house, my car, my health, it’s not the end of anything, I am eternal, I am at peace, I am not my mind, I am not my ego, everything is OK”

That is NOT your ego or mind you are hearing my dear friend. That is REALITY. THAT is the truth. THAT is God. THAT is yourself coming through. THAT is your purpose. THAT is your destiny. THAT is heaven.

When you hear thoughts like these DWELL in them for as long as you can, because this is when the mind and ego have been completely silenced and only the pure light of the truth is present.

Plan 3: Start Moving With Gratitude

Now you have had some sleep and some light food and liquids, and you are present. You are aware and watching. You are not taking your mind and ego seriously, even though they are most likely sneaking some scary thoughts in once and awhile. Do not take it seriously because these bad thoughts or scary thoughts are not real. They are MAKE BELIEVE.

Now it’s time to move your body. Enjoy a warm shower or bath and focus on the feeling of the water on your skin and body. Try and turn off your mind completely if you can. Then get dressed, make your lunch for work, or start your daily routine, but be thankful for these simple movements as you are doing them.

Get in your car are begin walking to the bus or train, enjoy the very moment and feeling of walking, or waiting at a bus stop, or turning the steering and moving your foot from gas pedal to brake pedal. Take in all of the trees and other cars as they wiz by. Think of all the people in these cars, trains, and buses, and send them ALL a silent blessing of love.

Say to yourself well you are on the move;

“Thank you for this body, these eyes, this nose, these ears. Thank you for this flesh I have been given to enjoy this experience on earth as a human being.”

Let your body move throughout the day with ease, and don’t look at any so-called mundane activity (like laundry, dishes, taking out the garbage) as boring. Look at EVERY task of your day as a privilege.

Plan 4: Acceptance

Plan 4 is very important. Your ego and your mind are energy fields of their very own, and they are a result of life amongst egoic and mind-struck humans like your parents, family, friends, classmates, coworkers, neighbors, etc. You live in an ego dominated human race that is consumed in mind activity causing judgment of everything – good, bad, right, wrong, better, worse.

Always be aware of your ego and your mind as they will continue to try and take control of your day, but with your presence and awareness they will have less and less and less effect.

Tell your ego and mind that you love them and you are going to guide them. Tell them that they are loved and excepted, and you know why they came to be. Understand how and why they we’re created and most importantly; Understand why and how OTHER people have their egos and their minds. Forgive them for they know not what they do. (you may recognize part of that sentence from somewhere )

When you see other people throughout your day – in the street, in their cars, on the bus, on the train, at work, in the office, in the field, on the stairs, in their beds – and you witness them acting in an angry, frustrated, rude, mean, racist, sexist, or all around nasty way, be AWARE. See they’re ego and mind as it tries to control their day and everyone else’s day. Don’t let your own ego and mind join in the party. Forgive them INSTANTLY because it is not their real selves. You witnessing their egoic minds as they fall in to fear.

Send them a silent blessing, and remember that YOU are in a state of awareness. You are not better than any other human being – you are just aware of what is going on. You know that ALL human beings are REALLY a physical essence of universal love (or God as some call it) and they are suffering from their egos and minds.

When you see ALL other humans for their TRUE nature and know that their negative, hateful, envious, and spiteful actions are only their egos and minds at work, you can forgive them completely.

When you forgive them for their egos and minds you can forgive yourself for your ego and mind. You will forgive anything you have done or said in the past that hurt others, and you will forgive your own ego and mind in the future.

You May Need Medication To Help You Stop The Panic Attacks

If you are in a deep state of anxiety (prolonged) and had repeated panic attacks for weeks, you may need to get some medication from your doctor to bring things back under control. That is OK too. Don’t let your mind and ego tell you that that is bad, or that you are weak, or you will be addicted. Don’t let other egos and minds tell you all these bad thing either.

You can go on medication and go back off medication successfully and the side effects are not scary – just your mind will try and convince you that it’s scary. The actual side effects are usually mild to say the least. Perhaps you will experience mild brain swooshes which is harmless, and never forget that you can ween yourself off the the medication.

After you have taken the anti-anxiety medication and you start to feel better, come back and read this article again. Still practice the 4 step plan above, and let yourself walk into the light of life every day.

Keep being aware of your ego and mind when they pop up in times of anger, frustration, changes, etc. Let them feel welcome and tell them you understand their fear and how they came to be, but don’t scold them or call it bad.

When You Become Fully Aware You Have Found Enlightenment

As you become more and more aware of what is REAL you will no longer fear the changes of life as much. No longer will the thought of losing something frighten you.

Losing your job, your spouse, your children, your job, your house, your status, your money, will no longer frighten you as much. It’s you ego and mind that is afraid of loss. The REAL God essence which is you KNOW that it’s field of energy is eternal, and NEVER dies.

Your energy essence of universal love and perfection will ALWAYS live on, even when your flesh as died. The universe of galaxies and planets are not accidental my friend. Everything is an energy field and everything is an intelligent energy field. You are are that intelligence.

If you lost everything, your mind and ego (and the human society of ego and mind) thinks is so important, including your flesh body, your intelligent energy field still exists.

This is what heaven is. This is what the great teachers have gave to us. They tried to point the way to the truth, and the humans minds and egos created “religions” and made up their fantasies and stories, designed to control and dominate. Just exactly what the ego and mind do.

When you have begin living in the presence of the moment ONLY, with awareness of what is real (infinite love and well being) your mind and ego will begin to become very small, and eventually fade away as only small tiny voices that are heard rarely. You will never have a panic attack again, and the fear of loss (the ego and mind) that took over your life will be all but gone.

Let your ego die now, and be born into the light of life and love. Fear not, for fear is not real and only imagined. Enjoy being free to witness your physical incarnation and spend your days spreading help, love, and understanding to all other who are suffering blindly in their egos and minds.

Love them all, and when you have chance, remind them of their REAL selves. Remind them of their TRUE being.

Bless you my dear friend,

Jacob

I’ve never done this before. I’ve never taken part in the blogosphere and commented on other anxiety blogs, and I’ve never linked to other anxiety blogs. I suppose I’ve been missing out on what blogging is all about.

I’ve been happily writing about my own anxiety issues and my theories on how to overcome anxiety and general stress, but I’ve never really read other blogs on the same subject.

Well I did last night. I was blown away by the quality of these blogs and all of the insight they hold, I would like to provide some links to these sites here this morning.

• Shy and Quiet – this is great blog on social anxiety disorders and it has been around since 2005. Older than most blogs listed here. Well written and a seemingly endless amount of good content.
• Life Skills Approach – I really like this blog. Actually I think this fella is an excellent writer and his ideas are close to mine. Recent post at this time was titled, A Healthy Way to Be Sick Without Compromise.
• Anxiety No More – this WordPress blog is a UK based blog and is older than Saneadvice.com. It has been up since December 2007. I found many nuggets of wisdom on this blog.
• The Anxiety Blog – the anxiety blog is another good one. I wish I had found these sites when I was going through the worst bouts with my anxiety – would have helped SO much.
• Anxiety Insights – this is a very mature blog on all factors of anxiety, depression, phobias, and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder)
• ——————————————————————————————–
• Anxious No More – this is a Blogspot Blog which is hosted on the Google owned platform. This is a free blogging service. This anxiety blog has been around since May 2007. It may be that these two blogs are owned by the same person. Regardless – also a good read for anxiety sufferers.
• Panic Survivor - this is an online community based blog which is a great help as well. You can login to this network and join their cyber community as they overcome anxiety
• Social Anxiety Disorder Blog – this is an About.com blog and also contains valuable information for anxiety sufferers to read.
  

I will be reading these blogs in the future and maybe I’ll comment on them as well. I always felt so deeply alone that I never really reached out to other bloggers. This is all very peculiar when I think about it because I’ve mentioned so often here that we are truly one with all.

When I read these blogs I could see right away that there is no experience that I’ve had that these people have not had. All the same symptoms of anxiety being spoken of.

I Feared Joining The Blogosphere

I genuinely feared joining the blogosphere when it came to anxiety because I found that online communities, blogs, and forums tended to be breeding grounds for people to disagree with each other and the inevitable negative energy of ego and mind takes over, while the moderate and loving voices are drowned out.

This is why I have all comments on SaneaAdvice.com moderated before they are posted. I just can’t have commenters “going after each other” causing upset for any of my readers. This is another thing – I don’t know who my readers are, and I don’t send emails out.

I also feared that by joining online community I would lose the passion I have for writing and sharing ideas for overcoming anxiety.

Some of These Anxiety Blogs Are For Profit

I also noticed that some of these blogs are making a profit from the traffic they get. No problem with that, but I tried putting Google ads on Saneadvice.com before and I really didn’t like some of the advertisers what were being placed on my pages. Some of their solutions for anxiety were dangerous in my opinion, and some of the advertisers were simply trying to make a cash grab.

The whole idea of Saneadvice in the first place was to help other sufferers of anxiety. It still makes me feel very queasy when I think about making a profit from anxiety sufferers. It makes me even more queasy to think that someone suffering from extreme anxiety would click a link on Saneadvice and get taken advantage of by some company who simple wants to profit from the suffering of others.

Cyber Agoraphobia

As you can tell (and I can too) as the words of this post run out, I have a great deal of anxiety about stepping away from my own safe domain. Nothing more than a form of CYBER agoraphobia. I’m afraid of what people will say about my ideas. I’m afraid I won’t be excepted. I’m afraid that once again I will be told that I’m not good enough.

Even with all of the posts I’ve written about overcoming anxiety and dealing with our fears and negative thought patterns, you can see that I’m still over-sensitive and fearful – worried about some ego-based form of loss.

The ego is another subject all together. I’ve always noticed since I was a young kid that I had problems getting along with other kids. As an adult I always had a problem getting along with coworkers.

I was argumentative and confrontational to say the least, as my large ego tried to protect itself at all times from possible “bad treatment”. I’ll never quite know why I was so over-sensitive then, but I know that it still exists in me today.

I’ve been told by psychologists, anxiety counselors, friends, and family that I was over sensitive as child and seriously sheltered, which made me fearful of others, and lacking in social skills. On top of that I was born with disfigured hips and legs which gave me a first hand understanding of how cruel other humans can be to those who are different.

The combination of these factors is supposedly why I became an adult who had to deal with anxiety. Then to add to this, I despised feeling sorry for myself and put on a tough exterior (wearing leather jackets and playing in rock bands). I can see it all now clearly, but for 40 years I never understood my make up.

The wild thing is that so many children growing into adulthood experience and perceive events in a purely negative slant setting themselves up for suffering as they grow older. All of the past negative perceptions accumulate and act as a “bad cycle” and they can find themselves being overly stressed and unhappy adults.

Some of these unhappy adults self medicate with alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, nicotine, etc. etc. Some fall into other addictions such as sex, work, gambling, or anything that may give them a thrill or a rush.

Some of the very lucky adults end up so stressed out that they suffer from extreme anxiety and end up making big changes in their lives to heal from a lifetime of negative perceptions.

For example, when I was in my first year of school at age 6 (no kindergarten) coming from a very protected and sheltered home, I was unprepared for all of the emotions I would feel. With the ugly leg braces, and metal bars around my waist, and funny dark brown boots, I quickly found myself the target of young angry egos. I had no way of processing the experiences such as daily ridicule and periodic beatings, so I perceived this to be “the world”. A perfect setup for anxiety and exaggerated self defense mechanisms.

If I understood the REALITY of the situation, I would have been aware enough to see that 95% of the children were kind and friendly – not able to take part in any kind of mean behavior. Even as a young adult a saw most people as foes to be wary of, and of course that was a false perception as well. This is why all sages of the past told us how the dwelling in the past and future was a sure way to block ourselves the REAL world of universal energy – love.

So many people experience events in childhood leave them defenseless against their loss of connection with universal source energy, and so many people had childhood experiences far worse than my own. There is no scale to this relativity – suffice to say that ALL children find themselves suffering in life at one point due to their perceptions as children growing up.

The only adults that finally find a sense of peace are the ones that educate themselves on the ways of the human mind and ego. The adults learn to let their negative or stressful thoughts flow by like a temporary cloud in the sky. They learn to dwell almost exclusively in the perfect now. The past is just a gaggle of stories and scripts we play back in or minds – usually completely inaccurate and false as false can be.

The future is even often dwelled upon with fear (or dread) of a possibility of a negative experience, or with exaggerated excitement regarding a possibly positive experience. The truth is never in the future or in the past. The truth is always in the NOW.

How can you be stressed out or anxious when you are not worried about the future and not consumed by the past? You can’t be. Even people in the most dire of circumstances can overcome a situation or condition if they don’t worry about future events – if they don’t carry the baggage of guilt, anger, and delusion from the past.

This what I have been learning to do undertand. Simple awareness of the truth in every moment.

So I will be spending some more time away from the “safety” of my own blog and joining other blogs in the form of commenting and taking part in the conversation.

For now,

Love Jacob

No!

OK. Question answered?

Well I guess I better explain why it’s not true that panic attack symptoms are the result of a brain disorder, or a brain disease. My answer will calm the nerves of anxiety sufferers, so if you are one of those people you will want to read on.

If your brain was not producing serotonin at the optimal level it could create a scenario by which you can suffer from panic attacks, but this not what is happening inside the anxiety prone person’s brain.

However, there is no real proof from the scientific community that some people have brains that are damaged or diseased causing a serotonin imbalance. The anxiety panic attack/serotonin equation (and question) comes down to “the chicken or the egg” argument.

There is more data on the books that points a different scenario, that goes like this;

“When a human being experiences stressful events, or “thinks” in a way that creates stressful events or stressful thoughts, they can begin to have a serotonin imbalance that brings on all of the symptoms of anxiety, such as IBS, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, depression, agoraphobia, weight loss, constant fear, etc. etc.”

This is why many of the symptoms of “shell shock” or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) are exactly the same as those who suffer from panic attacks and anxiety. Military personnel go into combat with perfectly normal serotonin levels in their brains, and a perfectly normal stress level and disposition, but after consistent high stress events they can experience a depletion of serotonin and all of the most common symptoms of an anxiety disorder. This backs up my argument highlighted in orange above.

As a fellow human being who has experienced prolong anxiety, including all of the symptoms imaginable – panic attack, constant anxiety, depression, IBS, agoraphobia, dramatic weight loss, etc – I believe this to absolutely the case.

Growing up I was a typical kid – maybe high strung a bit – but all in all, very typical. As a young adult I began to have problems with anxiety which led to a lifelong problem with the above symptoms, BUT – I never really crashed hard (so to speak) until there were prolonged events of a stressful nature, and multiple stress factors in my life seemingly coming from all directions. I can’t stress the word seemingly enough and I will get into that later in this post. Suffice to say that I never had a lower serotonin level then anyone else. I had a negative thought process which precipitated more stressful thoughts which became a severe snowball effect causing a cycle of panic attacks and depression. Luckily those days are long behind me now and I can now help others recover.

So with the two above examples (one being REAL and prolonged stressful events, and IMAGINED prolonged stressful thoughts) show how a perfectly normal person can find their serotonin levels depleted and in need of temporary medication (SSRI) and educational material to re-establish their bearings, both in thought, and in spirit.

You Do NOT Have a Brain Disorder!

So you see my friends. Anyone, or any human being, is capable of suffering from the symptoms of a so-called “anxiety disorder” if they are experiencing stress over and over and over again, whether it be real stress or imagined stress. It’s completely curable and something you will overcome with some education, some lifestyle changes, medical counsel, and/or temporary medication help to balance your serotonin levels while you make slow changes to your lifestyle and educate yourself.

I have wrote this article because I was concerned by the amount of traffic on the Internet from people concerned that they have some sort of life-long brain disease or brain disorder. This is NOT true, and this kind of misinformation can make your anxiety grow to even higher heights. If people online actually read these articles and start to believe that they have a brain disease/disorder then they will not only be terrified, they will fall victim to the perception that they are victims.

Thinking you are a victim is a problem, and must be dealt with. As long as you attach yourself to label as victim, your normal human ego will have trouble letting go of the mind created fantasy – similar to the negative fantasies people have everyday causing them stress, and sometimes runaway stress. Sometimes panic attacks.

Your True Essence and Destiny

Don’t let the sub-headline and picture fool you. This is not a religious web site (n fact religion is responsible for much of the stress humans suffer). The reality of your existence is all good. You may find that hard to believe if you have been suffering from years of negative mind activity and egoic delusion. (don’t worry, most of fit that description – me incuded)

The reason we humans suffer from anxiety is because we have forgotten the true gift of life. We have used our mind to think excessively in circles, and we have let ego become the ruler of our days – when the truth of our days is our connection to basic life on earth.

As soon as your mind is no longer consumed with some fear of loss (loss of life, loss of job, loss of respect, loss of money, loss of friends, loss of family, loss of control) you will understand that there is not a thing in your future to worry about, and nothing in your past to feel pain, anger, or guilt over. Once again, some may think this kind of talk is absurd, but it’s not. What’s absurd is worrying about a negative future that is not there yet, and replaying your past in the most negative light possible. You can see people around you that do this all their lives. You can choose to get off the anxiety train now.

If you are suffering from extreme anxiety you will VERY likely not be able to believe any of this “better” news. In fact, this kind of talk about a stress free life (and even bliss) may cause you to be angry and scoff at such a “fantasy” (the reality of this universe dictates that negativity and fear based thoughts and emotions IS the fantasy). But come back another day when you are not suffering with anxiety and read these words again. You will begin to realize that this is the truth. All humans understand that this message IS the truth, but our minds and egos want control so they can cling to identities and suffering.

Handling the Practical End to Anxiety Now – The Order of Priority in Recovery

All of the above segment is fine and well, BUT if you are currently suffering from extreme anxiety you will have to take some action to overcome your current extreme condition and bring an end to no sleep, no appetite, and no life.

You will have time to tackle your negative thought processes and read inspirational materials, but in a deep state of anxiety it is almost impossible to make that leap. First you need some help. You need drag yourself to the doctor and tell them your situation in detail. They may prescribe some form of medication to help you regain your balance and give you the chance to feel better – then you can make lifestyle changes, and start educating yourself on the REALITY of your precious life gift, and not dwell in your mind and ego that sees the world as a hopeless void. So this is the order if you suffer from a SEVERE SEVERE anxiety.

1. see a doctor and except the temporary medication

2. follow the med(s) directions EXACTLY and always consult a doctor and pharmacist regarding your progress and well being

3. educate yourself in ways of the mind and ego

4. make the lifestyle and thought process changes required

5. wean yourself off your anti-anxiety medication VERY slowly

If you only suffer from anxiety that causes some loss of sleep, some loss of appetite, some loss of energy, SOME TIMES, but find times of relaxation and peace periodically, you likely DO NOT NEED MEDICATION. This does not mean you don’t have to adjust your lifestyle and thought processes – I encourage you to do so – it just means you don’t need to be taking medication that you have buy and wean yourself off some day.

When You Have Come Through The Other End and Recovered You Will See Your Extreme Anxiety Was a Gift

After extreme anxiety sufferers completely recover they will tell you that they are grateful for the gift of their disorder. Hard to believe if you are still in a state of anxiety, but when you recover you will agree as well.

If you never experienced your anxiety you would never get to the point of reevaluating your thought processes, your lifestyle, and your surroundings. If you only suffered to the point of feeling down and “grumpy” the rest of your life, you may NEVER have made that leap to adjust your way of thinking and your way of living.

There is so much more to say, and so much more to learn. We will go into more detail on thought processing and ego dominated material later. MUCH more, but for now you must KNOW THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE A BRAIN DISORDER OR DISEASE.

When we wake up from a night’s sleep,  a nap, or small doze-off, our brain is very active of course, and we don’t have complete presence to keep our subconscious thoughts under control. This is why we have nightmares and dreams and such. We can wake up stirring and full of anxiety – this is where the phrase, “woke up on the wrong side of the bed”, came from.

For someone who suffers from anxiety the morning jitters can be much more severe and frightening. So when we wake up in the morning and notice right away that we are filled with anxiety we have to shake it off. I’ve mentioned literally shaking off anxiety before, but here I am talking about waking up, becoming present in the moment enough to “turn off your mind” and the let the REAL, PRESENT, AND FULLY CONSCIOUS YOU take over.

When you’re sleeping your subconscious gets to run wild, and fearful, and anxious thoughts can come over in a dream state. You don’t have the advantage of being conscious and present when you are dreaming, and this can cause you to wake up seemingly defenseless against negative thoughts that are pure fantasy. We need to disregard these anxious morning thoughts completely and take them with a grain of salt.

I’ve also mentioned before that when we have a good thought that gives us hope and a feeling of well being, that is a sense of reality coming to the forefront of your present moment. This is true. The universe only understands “good”, and “feeling good”. If you could speak to a tree or a cloud trying to explain what feeling bad is or felt like, they would be quite amused and confused by the idea of anything being bad. They know (the universe knows) that there is ONLY GOOD, and the idea of BAD is nothing but a human invention and ego disease. I know to some who are not familiar with new age material this sounds insane, but in reality human minds and egos are the only thing insane (unreal) on this beautiful earth. After all, the grass, the trees, the clouds, a raindrop, the sun, the planets, and galaxies don’t worry about who has more property, attention, money, or status.

So when you wake up in the morning and feel like you are deep in a negative “funk” there is an exercise that works well to restart your framing of reality. That is to turn off you mind. This is why most people who meditate do it first thing in the morning, when they have the most energy – so they can get the bearing with universal reality and turn off their minds.

When you wake up filled with anxiety you need realize that your brain and ego has attempted to control the moment. Remind yourself that your ego and mind are not really you. Your thoughts can’t be taken seriously if the thoughts are anxious or negative.

What Do You Do When You Don’t Know Why You Are Anxious and Filled With a Negative Energy

There are those times (and the morning is one of the most common times) when you feel anxious and filled with negative energy and you don’t know why. You can sit there or lie there wondering why you are filled with sadness (or anxiety). This is very frustrating for sure, and when a friend or family member notices your melancholy mood, body language, or tone of voice, and they ask you, “what’s wrong” – you don’t have an answer.

Now you do have an answer. Tell them that your unconscious mind and ego have snuck up on you and tried to hijack your moment.

When you are in this state of negativity just remind yourself that your mind can’t be trusted, and the real you is all that matters. That the current morning moment is not a time for allot of mind activity. All your mind needs to do is help you get up, have a shower, get dressed, do some exercise, or eat breakfast – it does not need to worry about the future or rerun fantasies about the past.

Remind yourself how grateful you are to be alive to experience the new day. Remind yourself to except the moments of day for what they are, and not let your mind or ego judge everything you see or experience. Remind yourself that you are changing rapidly as a human being – for the better.

When I wake up in the morning filled with anxiety I say these words, “I’m awake now and the real me is taking back control of the new day, and I want to feel good”. Sounds nutty I know, but this is the reality of the human anxiety disease. We have let our minds and ego have TOO many of our days. For those of us who let our overactive minds steal our days, we need to reaffirm the truth of our existence sometimes.

How To Stop Your Anxious Morning Mind In It’s Tracks

In the morning you may need to STOP your anxious mind activity in it’s tracks, or you could continue on in a miserable and unconscious state.

Concentrate on your breathing and try to imagine a great stillness within your chest. Then imagine that stillness radiating into the rest of your body – right out to your finger tips and toe tips. When you succeed (and you will) remember that that stillness you feel is the essence of the universe and reality. When you feel “that stillness” this means your mind and ego are not dominant for that brief time.

Try to block out thoughts about the past, other people, or the future. Just concentrate on your current moment and the room you are in NOW. Anytime you find yourself “thinking” about what is going on at work, stop yourself and be aware of your thoughts. Once you are aware you will start to notice your anxiety levels decrease.

To Stop Morning Anxiety Get Enough Sleep and Get Up Earlier

The majority of people don’t get up early enough experience the peace and quiet of the morning. They get up when the world is in full swing, or close to full swing. There is more noise, and the sun has been up for awhile already. Try going to bed earlier, and waking up earlier.

If you have to go to a job this is the best thing you can do. Give yourself some quiet, cool morning time to wake up slower, and get your still “center” back. Exercise is a great way to ease your morning stress, but it’s often not enough – you need to control your mind. You need to laugh at your anxious morning mind. Seriously. If you feel anxious you can try just grinning at your minds anxious and negative thoughts. If you can’t identify what negative thoughts you’ve had or are having to make you feel so listless and filled with a sinking sad feeling, then grin at the negative feeling altogether.

It really is worth laughing at. Any time your mind and ego has taken control, or hijacked your thoughts with negativity it’s human insanity, absurdity, and it’s yes……laughable. This may sound sick to someone who is in the depths of depression or anxiety. I understand that.

This is why so-called “crazy people” who are in the depths of mental illness sometimes laugh loudly and uncontrollably. It’s literally a (still existing) SMALL window of their real natural selves bursting out through their mind created thick shell of anxiety. When these so-called “mental patients” (actually mind and ego patients) go on one of their insane laughing fits, they feel a small bit better in that moment because reality is present for a brief moment. Soon after they fall back into a shell that is hard to penetrate – their minds have taken over again. Paranoid mentally ill patients are nothing more than human beings that have become almost completely self absorbed into their mind and it’s cyclic thought patterns. These patients have usually suffered from a painful experience that most other humans have not. Therefore their minds have an extreme movie (more like a nightmare) from their past to keep replaying in their minds. Because their minds have had total control for a long time, they have managed to attach themselves to their pain. They fear the future complete, and they have amplified their past trauma to the level insanity. This is just an extreme case of what ALL humans do to themselves every day of their lives.

So like the so-called “mad mental patient” give yourself a break and LAUGH at your fear, your worry of the future, and your “bad stories” from your past. It’s all unreal and untrue.

Look down at your breathing body and be amazed at the wondrous organism your energy field is inhabiting for your brief time on earth. When you see the true magic of your physical existence then you will be filled such gratitude you will find it impossible to complain. You won’t complain about a fantasy future you are imagining, a bad past you have amplified, or a bad present moment that so many of us choose to imagine sometimes.

Even if your body is old, broken, wounded, sick, or diseased, it’s still a miracle of our universe. It’s still miraculous because it has breathing lungs, a heart beating, and blood moving.

Humans that read this who are filled with anxiety and negative thought patterns will find these statements to be impossible and fantasy, when in reality their negative thoughts are the unreal and unnatural. The reality is that every day is perfect. Every morning is perfect. Every second is perfect, and your existence is perfect. A soon as you turn off your mind and your ego you will understand this perfection – you will understand bliss. You will understand God (universal energy).

So recognize your mornings for what they truly are – another gift experiencing physical form. How much money is in your bank account, how “happy” or “unhappy” you are, how old or young you are, how “important” you are, “how powerful you are”, have nothing to do with the gift of your new day.

That street urchin you see lying in downtown doorway, sleeping in dirty, urine soaked cloths, has the exact same gift you have. They have been given a human body to learn what being really is. They are truly no different than you in the laws of universal energy. Their life experience and current circumstances are VERY different than yours, but ask yourself this question:

When a bowery bum wakes up in the back doorway of a downtown alley to the sun in their eyes, do you think they have less morning anxiety than you? or do you think they have more morning anxiety than you? Just think about it.

The poor man who has never fretted the collection of things, money, and status, will often be more connected to the NOW and be less anxious that your average middle class person with a family and a so-called “good job”. I’m not saying you should give away all your material wealth, and quit your job – I’m suggesting that you don’t need to worry about LOSS so much.

Wake up each day THANKFUL. Make sure you FEEL thankful and don’t just let your mind fake it’s way by saying, “Gee – thanks for this day”. Try closing your eyes, quieting your mind, and feeling gratitude. You will begin to understand that what’s causing stress in your mornings, your days, and your life, is fear of loss. You have enough, and if you become truly grateful you will have more – MUCH more. Let the morning unfold without forcing it. Don’t try and control your morning and day. Let the universe unfold naturally. Let the people around you, with their unconscious egos, take part in the drama and the trauma of the human runaway mind disease. Don’t judge them or scold them in your mind, and leave your ego in the dirty tool shed at home.

Don’t hate others or even dislike others. Don’t judge a moment as bad either. There is a natural order to things and happenings. Be a witness to the miracle of life.

You can be happy right now at this very moment.

For those who are still suffering from stress and anxiety, I want you to understand WHY. When you understand why you suffer, your suffering is coming to a close.

It’s rare that any of us human beings ever stop our “constant thinking”. This is the problem of ALL our human ailments, dysfunction, and suffering. There are some humans that truly experience enlightenment, as the Buddha defined it, and they experience “the end of suffering”.

When my own personal anxiety was out of control, or when I’ve been miserable, I was “suffering”. I was suffering because my constant thinking and ego-based self was extremely busy making up stories and fantasies that played in my mind like a lousy movie.

I am still using a small dose of Paxil (10mg daily) and I have been quite stress free lately – as in the last 6 months, and I know why. Because I have been listening and reading material that is breaking apart and destroying my old mind patterns, fantasies, and stories. For those who end up using medication to balance their life, they should start reading as much as possible. There is so much to learn about how your mind works and why you ended up being overly stressed, depressed, or anxious. There is only ONE reason we suffer as humans – our minds and egos.

We live in a human society that is completely wrapped up in the “mind”. We as humans need to learn how our minds and our egos work, if we ever hope to find peace and see the end of suffering on a global level (and a personal level).

Your Mind Can’t Be Trusted

Your mind is simply a tool that you can use to function as a human being. It can help make decisions, add and subtract, read and write, take a bath, take clothes on and off, speak to one another, etc. – but it can’t be trusted for much more than the every day functions.

Your mind is a great collector of junk. It collects junk in the form of memories of the past (good or bad perceptions – it does not matter). If you have a bad memory then you replay what happened (usually what you THINK happened) over and over and over. This keeps you suffering.

If you have a “good” memory, you end up longing for a moment when you can feel that way again, regardless that the good memory was just a perception you had at the time, and likely had nothing to do with your situation or location at the time. This can leave people living in the past, or looking to a future time when they can MAYBE feel good again.

Your mind hates the NOW. It wants to live in the future and in the past. It fears living in the present moment, and will use ever trick it has to keep you from relaxing this very second. This is the only reason some people meditate – so they can get in touch with the present moment and rejoice in it. It gives their human mind a small (very small) break from it’s constant fantasies, and inaccurate stories.

If you truly want to start turning around your life experience on this earth, you need to stop listening to your mind’s old news reels and your ego’s stories. Your mind cannot be trusted. One of the most important aspects while meditating is the practice of letting ALL thoughts of the mind float by and not stop and take hold of your current moment. Our minds want to grab a thought, a story, an idea, and hold on to it. So-called GOOD or so-called bad – it does not matter to the mind. It wants to hold on to an old story or move on to a new story. Try to picture your thoughts as clouds in a blue sky moving quickly by. Don’t let any of them nestle in for the day or even for the minute. Let them float by as a natural process that does not have much bearing on anything at all. Don’t take your thinking very seriously.

Your Ego and Your Mind

Your mind has a close friend that it runs off and gets in trouble with every day. Even the so-called gurus of the new-age movement let their minds and egos run away with them on a daily basis. If any human being claims they live in a state of pure enlightenment all the time and every day – they’re obviously not. It is not possible for a human in the flesh to truly be in an enlightened state at ALL times. There are some rare people that are USUALLY in an enlightened state. Jesus the Christ and the Buddha were good examples of these kinds of enlightened human beings.

Most all human beings have an active mind that is hanging out with it’s buddy the ego. The mind has all it’s constant activity adding and subtracting what it perceives to be good and what it perceives to bad, and the ego looks for ways to set itself apart from every other human, and every other living being on the planet. The ego spends it’s time finding enemies, and it REALLY likes to judge.

Yes. The ego sees itself as the almighty powerful judge wearing long black robes and holding the gavel in judgment of every person, every experience, and every “happening” it comes across. The ego is a fantasy character created by the human mind.

Whenever you feel you need to defend yourself, judge someone, prove yourself, set someone straight, have more than the next person, etc., etc, that is your ego at work with it’s buddy “the mind”.

The End of Suffering Comes With Awareness

At first, you may “think” that there is no way you can stop thinking the way you do, and there is no way you can live an enlightened existence as your flesh incarnation during your visit on earth as a human being. I am happy to report that you CAN be conscious and enlightened. It’s VERY simple. Be AWARE.

Try this simple exercise. Ask yourself this question right now,

“I wonder what my mind is going to think about next?”

Then simply be aware of what you are thinking and wait for it. Be aware of every thought that comes through your mind. Don’t judge these thoughts as good or bad – just see them. When you see the thoughts coming through your mind let them simply float by like a cloud in a windy sky. At first this will feel strange because your mind, and it’s friend the ego, will want to stop those moving clouds, bring them down, and sit on them for awhile. The mind and the ego love suffering. They love the drama.

As you keep asking yourself, “What is my mind going to think of next”, you may find that you feel a great sense of peace. You may find that you feel a brief moment of peace – this is your mind stopping some of it’s noise for a brief moment. When you learn to shut down your mind and ego these pauses of peace will get longer. Eventually you have an underlying peace dominating your life, even when there is some stressful happenings going on in your day.

When you start to become aware of your mind and ego prancing around like the children they are, you will notice how stubborn they are. They’re usually feeling guilty about something, resisting something, avoiding something, looking for something. This doesn’t mean you need to punish your ego and mind. They just need your guidance. Let them run around the playground once and awhile and don’t punish them for running a muck with the other children (other egos and minds), because when you blame yourself or think badly of yourself it’s just more mind and ego. The real you loves you and loves everything and everyone – the real you is pure consciousness.

I will have to move along for today, but what I’m getting at is simple. When you become aware of your thoughts (your mind) and your ego, you will start to feel much better. If you can ever learn to completely get rid of your ego then your mind will only be used as a tool. You don’t have to accomplish that to be a very happy and relaxed human being. Just a little bit of awareness will take you there. However, once you have tasted this kind of peace, you will want to learn more. You will slowly being unraveling your anxiety.

More on this later….

Have a relaxing day, and don’t worry. Life IS good, and there nothing to worry about.