How Yoga Got me out of a Panic Attack

I have anxiety. 

I hate that terminology, but that’s how we talk about it these days. We are all anxious about something. I know there are varying levels of diagnosed anxiety (as with any diagnosis) and I also believe that everyone experiences anxious feelings at some point in their lives. So, the label of anxiety is broad.

However, over the past several years, my anxiety has increased and I have had several panic attacks. Again, there are varying levels of these as well. When I experience attacks, it feels just like that — an attack! I start to worry that something is going to happen based on a decision I made, and I panic. 

My heart beats faster. 

My chest feels tight and my breathing gets shallow. 

My stomach and jaw clench. 

I feel jittery, like I’m stuck in a cage and don’t know how to get out. 

I want to cry, but I can’t. 

This morning I started to have such an attack. Somehow my brain latched on to a scary thought and I couldn’t let it go. As I began to spiral, I paced from room to room for a minute, debating how I was going to get out of it. 

Go for a walk? 

Go back to bed? 

Call a friend? 

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. 

Yoga?

Yes. I’m going to try yoga. 

I had never tried yoga when in the midst of an attack, and I honestly doubted it would actually work, but I wanted to see what could happen. 

Just 15 Minutes

I pulled out my mat and settled into child’s pose. 

Breathe in. I am safe. Breathe out.  I am safe.  

After several breaths I was ready to add some movement. 

I walked my hands over to one side, getting a good side stretch. Then to the other. 

I moved into cobra, to sphynx, to wide cobra, back to child’s pose. 

I flowed through those gentle movements a few times. 

Then decided it was safe to find downward facing dog. 

For fifteen minutes I flowed through whatever pose felt comforting. I went into Warrior II and knew instantly that was not the pose I needed. It was so cool listening to my body and what it needed in order to move through the panic that was starting to encroach upon me. 

Three things that yoga practice did for me: 

1. Sitting on my mat and focusing on my breath while in a still position, naturally brought my prefrontal cortex back online. I still felt unsafe, but I could begin to think a little more rationally. 

2. Focusing on asana (movement and poses) brought me back to the present. As I moved through a very short sequence of safe poses, I could logically talk myself away from the ledge, so to speak. I could help my brain see a different story. 

3. By the end of the fifteen minutes of practice, clarity filled my mind and body. I saw and believed I was safe. I knew I could manage the situation later on in the day and not worry about fake problems of the future. Panic was no longer controlling my decisions. 

#1 Healer

When in panic state your prefrontal cortex goes offline. This is when your primitive brain takes over and puts you into fight, flight, freeze or fawn mode. When this happens, you cannot think clearly, logically, or rationally. Instantly, you feel like you are literally going to die, or at least not survive the wave of fear taking over your body. It’s so real and so awful! 

This is why I call yoga my #1 healing tool! There are so many benefits to practicing yoga than getting more flexible or stretching. There are physical benefits, for sure! But I am equally grateful for the emotional and mental strength I receive from yoga. 

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Yoga does not always cure stress. It neutralizes it through increasing awareness and by changing self-perception. — Debasish Mridha