It felt like the room was closing in on me. My legs shook and I bit my fingernails uncontrollably. I struggled to take a breath. The only thing I wanted to do was crawl into a  corner and rock myself until it went away. I grasped for air and cried. This is basically how all of my anxiety attacks went before I had any control over them. Sometimes they were worse and accompanied by migraines. They usually appeared when I was stressed out or in a place in a situation where I was extremely uncomfortable.  I never thought to get a professional’s help because I never considered it a real thing until I read of other people who suffered from this same thing.

I learned that there was medication for people who suffer from severe panic and anxiety but I wanted to go deeper with my symptoms. I wanted to have more control. I began to take proactive and retroactive steps to help me prevent and remedy my anxiety episodes. I quickly realized that symptoms like high blood pressure, fever or high cholesterol were essentially a person’s body’s way of communicating that something was wrong and these panic and anxiety attacks were also communication to me. It was only when I decided to listen and take action that I noticed real change.

My priority was now taking care of my body from the inside out by making sure I consumed healthy foods with  phytonutrients and drank plenty of water. I noticed that every time I had a weekend out with friends that involved heavy drinking and junk foods my body wouldn’t respond as well to my daily stressors. I would feel exhausted and low on energy. The things that I would otherwise handle well caused me anxiety and would trigger a domino effect of negative feelings that would ultimately lead to a panic attack. Fueling my body with the right things became necessary in my road to panic free living.

I also began to realize that in order to have a more healthy and stress free lifestyle free from anxiety, I needed to become one with my thought process. I no longer wanted to float through life passively. I wanted to live and be in each moment.  I started to do daily affirmations and meditation to help me slow down a bit in life. Eventually I realized that these intentional meditation sessions led to less panic attacks. I began to pair my meditation practice with exercise, water, and heat to help me get through each panic episode.

It was my way of refocusing my mind and, for me, it worked miracles. I’ve been able to control each panic attack by doing at least one or all of the following things during an anxiety or panic attack. 

Use Heat to Control Anxiety and Stress

1. Take a hot shower and allow the hot water to fall on the back of your head while breathing deeply.  Fill up your lungs as you inhale with the water freely flowing on the back of your neck. Rotate your head clockwise while you do this a few times then switch to counterclockwise as you continue conscious breathing.   I usually sit down on the floor of the shower  and state aloud “Relax and let this go”
2.  Use a warm cloth folded lengthwise and place it over your eyes allowing the steam to enter your eyes as you  breathe deeply in, filling up your lungs. This time I exhale in short quick breaths until that breath is fully released and I repeat this over and over while saying “Kimberly, you are in control”
3. Sit in a sauna and practice the same breathing exercises as mentioned above. While in the sauna, do light stretches and imagine each drop of sweat leaving your body as a problem or issue that is burdening you. Release it. Let it go.

Obviously, I am no doctor. These are the things that really help me in the midst of a panic attack. I am able to channel my thought process and get through them. I do recommend getting medical help in addition to doing these things but I am a strong believer that we can take immediate action to feel better in addition to the doctor’s recommendations if we just become more aware.

How do you handle panic and anxiety attacks? Do you have any home wellness solutions that have helped?