Think Less Smile More!

How you can Overcome Panic Attacks

And do the stuff you love to do again!
Hi I’m Trevor.

I’m guessing you’re here because you have trouble with Panic Attacks

And perhaps you have what I might call problem thinking and chronic Stress.

It Doesn’t matter how it manifests. Perhaps its lack of confidence, shying away
from activities

It could be medical or trauma, might stop you communicating and public

speaking but one things for certain it’s a problem for you right now. Well I
know how you feel it horrible isn’t it?

I had severe panic attacks for many years. I found it hard to even get out of the
house. Supermarkets were a living nightmare. My job suffered and so did my
relationships. Hobbies, forget it. TV and junk food were my only activities.
Well apart from crying and trying to sleep once I was exhausted.

So if you are suffering I know what you are going through.But there’s good
news…

It’s a learned behaviour so you can unlearn it.

Which brings me to?

Truth 1
Been doing it awhile haven’t you? In fact even if they have just started or been
with you for years

The practice is already well established. What are your symptoms?

Breathing difficulty, sweating, pulsing head feeling like it’s going to explode,
fainting, feeling sick, adrenaline spikes the list goes on. Tight chest, pains,
tingling, numbness. All these effects make panic attacks very real and
uncomfortable. It’s a well-coordinated ritual which makes us feel powerless
right?

Truth 2

What’s yours? Fill in the blanks

I am suffering from ……………

Often this label what we call ourselves has an accompanying story.

Our story is what we tell people. Often it’s hard to explain, so I ended up
panicking while telling people how bad it was. Not a pleasant experience. Lot’s
of drama and exaggeration. Blown out of all proportion.

In fact even calling it slight discomfort changes the experience massively.

But this isn’t about searching for cures and endless techniques. I did that and it
was exhausting!

Psychologists admit even the best technique lasts for about a month and then
the effectiveness wears off. What iI longed for was a long lasting feeling of
security and happiness.

What I found was a grounding a deeper understanding of who I really am and

what was really happening.

My growing understanding how the mind really works helped massively. Much
More on that later

Truth 3
Put another way your life isn’t much fun right now.

Well it could be better. Even though our greatest fear is it may get worse.

Okay I get it. I had panic attacks for years. I couldn’t speak. Behind closed doors
I worried so much about debt, relationships and work that I would pass out.
One minute I was standing the next my legs went like jelly and gave way. I
woke up with bruises and often found large lumps on the back of my head. The
most frightening experience ever.

I got used to it. Panic attacks became familiar. I got so good at spotting the
different stages. In the end I even commentated to myself oh here we go
again. Whoa this looks like a big one.

Goodnight Thump!

When I was panicking my head throbbed, I felt suicidal, the adrenaline flowed
uncontrollably. Every fibre in my body screamed go away. I want this to stop! I
was always confused why people couldn’t see my discomfort. Which was even
more frustrating.

Of course I didn’t realise this is largely invisible to other people. I told people
and they said I looked confident and they could not tell. What on earth was
going on? I’m freaking out here and you can’t even see it!

Life wasn’t much fun. Panic attacks can seriously ruin your good times. To calm
my thinking I would take neurofen painkillers. Then I got dependent on them.
After a while I used codeine and then that made the attacks worse. Okay when
I was medicated but sobre was another story.
One day I was with my sister chatting, well more like being talked to. I felt very
uneasy and then realised I was going into panic. I didn’t hear her words any
more I was in my own world

I just wanted to run away. Then I told her one day as we sat in my flat. I’m
having a panic attack!

What right now?

With me …?

She said with a sad face.

Yes I replied with embarrassment

And she left me to my panic well I think that’s how it went. Then I told her how
it felt

How it felt uncontrollable and was ruining my life. How I was compensating
with binge eating and gambling and felt totally out of control.

This conversation hit me as often deep insights do, very hard! I heard
something deeply. It was the way she said it in a sad way. I felt her sadness.
And I felt

I was her big brother I was supposed to be the brave one. I felt I let her down
and myself down.

A few minutes passed and then I began to question my thinking.

These words echoed quietly in my mind.

From then on I was more aware of my thoughts. They were often extreme and
not entirely true on closer examination.

My sister taught me a fabulous word. The one word that can stop a panic
attack fast. But more than that highlights the truth of a situation instead of the
fear of the situation.
She says it sarcastically sometimes but I’ve come to understand it at a deeper
level.

So I might think...

I’ve messed my life up

I’m a chicken. Then I would respond

And yeah I said this to someone at work and I’ll get fired

Really?

Well I’m scared I won’t find another job

Really?

It was like couldn’t justify any of my excuses.

And with without excuses there are only reasons.

Then I would sit quietly and question my own thinking

Is that true or just and illusion or a good story?

In fact the created gap just slowed my thinking down enough to have an
insight or even just relax and feel better.

I realised I had learned a repeated pattern of behaviours.

I call this the panic cycle. In traditional psychotherapy this involves

intervention with a technique.
Doing something to stop or modify the behaviours

This is the Panic cycle I show to my clients

Then I began to test out the validity of my thoughts

I have no friends

So I made list of my friends

Hmm that’s not true

I suck at everything

Nope got a degree. I’ve created and run 3 businesses and I’m still alive so that’s
not true either.

It was like my brain worked in absolutes I realised

I began to face my fears and they weren’t so bad. I always wanted to act so I
joined the local amateur dramatics club. Sure I cowered in the corner and said
very little for months but gradually I became a bit more comfortable. I ended
up doing 2 full musical shows on a 14 day run.

Gradually I realised I was making up a lot of my fears through my imagination.

Along the way I have had many insights. Little and big wise glimpses into clarity
and confidence.

These insights are powerful because they are tailor made for me.

And you have them also it’s just that your thinking is so loud, muddy and
cluttered that you can’t hear them

But they are their under the surface waiting to inform you. It’s your default
nature clarity peace, wisdom, confidence all the qualities you think you lack.
Just your thoughts get in the way and stop the flow.

Which I why I don’t teach technique. You have your own answers I teach
people the understanding that allows them to access their inner resources.

When you’re thinking slows down you get your own fully loaded customised
fresh insights that point you to the answers you seek. They guide you to the
best action in that moment. An always on satnav to guide you. Eventually. They
maynot come on demand but knowing that they will arrive and being open to
new thought is enough to loosen the tension.

This type of insightful coaching where the answers come from you sticks it
works it’s fun and incredibly effective. I call it inside out coaching or IO
coaching’

IO coaching seems a good name as there is no dependence or transference.

Ultimately I teach you to access your wisdom so you can coach yourself.

You see the techniques I used such as acting may not work for you. So if I said
to join an acting class

and you went but hated it and got no benefit well that’s a waste of time for
you and me.
However If you reached a quiet space with a good state of mind and calmly
saw your world differently you might say wow I’d love to take a photography
class. And that would fit. For you every time. How cool is that? The idea the
insight the solution has to come from you.

I can help you to quieten down slow down your thinking as you can hear and
see your situation differently.

Then almost magically your thinking will lose its intensity and your problem will
disappear.

As our understanding of where our experience comes from moment to

moment we can now operate in a wellbeing. Which looks like this. I call it the
wisdom cycle.
The definition of Luck is happiness. Good fortune, advantage, big break,
blessing, health, occasion, opportunity.

People who are in flow are often perceived as lucky. You know when things
work out just right.

In our society we say people have BAD luck

And GOOD Luck

I like to think of Bad luck as a

Below

Average

Day

And it usually focuses on negativity moaning complaining fear paranoia and

disease

Verbally or non-verbally we think

BAD thinking is cycle of thought and reactions that manifest undesired results.

Good thinking is a cycle of thought and reactions that manifest positive

results.

Here’s the truth about thinking

 There is only really one secret to life

To be grateful for the highs

And grateful for the lows

What do you really think about when you panic?

It’s thought a bunch of energy perhaps memories that feel real.

I am just feeling my thinking

That’s great news because you can always have a new thought

In essence you are only ever one thought away from freedom.

When you see the illusion for what it really is

You can make a different choice

At first I may just seem clearer

Even just reading these words and hearing a deep truth about your psychology

Is enough to bring about change?

One day soon you may find yourself noticing

Hey I’m not scared anymore

And then guess what you’ll be rewarded by life

Like a prize for spotting the illusion

And taking a risk again

What’s really happening is you want to be safe and so stop taking risks?

You develop a fear of the unknown instead of an excitement about what’s

coming.

This may sound farfetched but there is really nothing to do

No techniques required
Just relax and listen to your wisdom

L.is for Listening

Listen is the first step. Learn to listen differently like you listen to music. Often
we listen to cpmpare to what we already know. So if you try to understand
with the intellect the limitless state of mind

We cannot because we are trying to compare the unkown. The unknown is

where the solutions lie.

Listen as if you don’t care I guess casually then that stops you analysing and
comparing and expecting before life even happens. To put it blunt I thought I
knew it all. I still catch myself analysing and I guess figuring out everything. But
that is tiring eventually I just let go.

I had an insight the other day I don’t need to understand everything and figure
evryhting out. Mystery is okay and Im part of life anyway and its happening. So
I can relax and enjoy as much of my experience as possible.

I call it floating through experience.

The best thing I have learned is that there is always a deeper level of noticing
when listening with very little on my mind helped me see my situation
differently.

This varies with people but everyone recognises truth because it has a feeling.

So if your thoughts slow down and you feel nice that’s cool!

U. is for Understanding
Insecurity come from the innocent misunderstanding of thought. Thought
creates an experience and then we believe its true. If we buy into the drama
we become caught in our own imagaination.

In traditional therapy this would be the time do a technique to make things

better.
In my experience learning about the 3 principles as shared by Sydney banks has
helped massively.

Thought is neutral until we give it life.

We bring our thinking to life with consciousness

Thought comes from the limitless energy of the universe

We are intrinsically connected to the formless energy of the universe which

can give us

Simply put

Mind + Consciousness + Thought = Reality

New fresh illuminating wisdom. Weird thing is because this energy life force
wisdom is beyond words most people feel it. Often in gaps of silence. When
people do nothing and have lesson their mind and slow down they have
insights which guide them to the next step.

The reason why this works for everyone unlike a technique is beacasue we all
have this pyscholgical wellbeing in our makeup . It is our default setting.

In a panic situation you are confused and don’t know what’s going on

It’s scary and confusing and ultimately that lack of understanding completely
innocently I may add

Leads you to poor decisions

When people are stressed they make rash decisions.

Calm is your ally. Calm can be followed by clarity and then wisdom.

As our thinking is so fast and stressful there is no space to notice our wisdom
which is always available to us. Lets call it common sense.

I call it the obvious and is often like an aha moment or a oh yes or an ooh
that’s a good idea.

It sort of feels gentle and right.

So for example I was feeling a bit panicky in the park, barking dogs, bikes, and
lots going on.

A lady came up to me and asked me to join a bike challenge

A little voice said run away. But I heard the fear in it and recognised it as
untrue

You see knowing that at any time I’m just feeling my thinking

My thinking didn’t feel good so I didn’t trust it. I didn’t take it so seriously

I didn’t do a technique or breath or anything

Then the next bit of wisdom said come on she looks desperate to talk to
someone friendly

Let’s give her 5 minutes

Anyway long story short I signed up cycled round the park. Then I saw a
colleague who hadn’t ridden for years and convinced him to have a go too! He
had the biggest smile on his face as he told me as an adult he hadn’t cycled for
ages and actually loved it!

So who knows what magical events will happen when you see life differently

Your world will open up in so many ways as did mine. But the beauty is most of
your growth will be surprise and unexpected and profound. Like I say I’ve
never seen a better way to coach someone through change than via their own
insights.

So imagine if you had a clearer guidance system

Relatively panic free you can start to do stuff in your life again

But let’s take it further

Imagine if your insecurity was a thing of the past if you knew what you were
capable of and who you truly are. Imagine if you smiled so much more because
you realised it’s all just thought and thought can’t hurt you and do you know
why?
Because you are made of energy the same stuff as the rest of the universe

You come from a formless energy spirit god use your own words but let’s
admit it between me and you even in the lows haven’t you felt some moments
of clarity and peace and connection. That’s the real you underneath. When we
are exhausted sick or just plain give up our soul pipes up to bail us out. Now
there are some big powerful words here but you know somewhere deep inside
this is truth.

You were born a baby without these troubling thoughts smiley and content
and just learned these fears.

Unfortunately in school you were taught a model of the world which doesn’t
help much.

We were taught that things and people make us feel a certain way.

In fact we have a thought that arises from the universe the formless before
physical world and then we are made aware of the thinking by our
consciousness and then we experience it. So the world is actually inside out.
Our thoughts form within generate our moment to moment experience of life.

Do you realise how amazing this is? It means whatever you panic about is not
controlling you

In fact you are producing the thinking form within you. And when you do
nothing fresh thinking can arise and change your entire perspective. I used to
hate birds the noise drove me crazy

So noisy and loud

Then one day I noticed a deeper level of harmony and music in the noise. From
then on I found it relaxing.

I was introduced to the principles by Jamie Smart thanks Jamie

I was at a high level mastermind group and was freaking out. It had got to the
point
Where I wanted out suicide was a predominant thought. My thought swinga
were so wild and actually caused me great physical pain. As I was so tense.
Jamie said in the ,middle of full spat something about your are formless
nothing can hurt you its just your thinking. Well I heard something deeply like
its okay your okay. I calmed down and decided to deepen my understanding as
it felt nice.

Put simply like my teacher Mark Howard says

Were all part of something bigger than ourselves when we slow down

and get a glimmer of our true nature. We all have this pyschological wellbeing
default setting.

We return to our innate nature and if we leave it alone it will reset to clarity
and peace and wisdom.

In essence we are perfect beings and there is nothing to fix. Whatever the
label.

Crazy huh?

I want you to try something

Just open your mind to the possibility that when you are feely crappy thinking

Perhaps your thinking isn’t entirely trustworthy in that moment

You don’t have to take every thought seriously anymore

Which means you don’t have to act on every thought?

So what if next time you panic you realise it’s just thought and not to be taken
seriously

It’s just a bunch of thinking, energy, that looks scary and real but it’s not.

In fact it’s more like movie that plays over and over until you realise it’s just a
movie with special effect

Yes you can get lost in the experience but equally your wisdom may lead you
to a different behaviour and sooner than you think.
C. is for Creating
I tell my clients suppression equals depression. Chances are your panic attacks
have made you withdraw. That’s natural as your brain has been limiting
options to get hurt or freaked out. So naturally you do less. Hobbies are given
up. Social life is curtailed. In my case I couldn’t work and my girlfriend didn’t
stick around for long.

Not sure how many years it’s been let’s say a few but that’s enough time to
lose confidence and feel a bit disillusioned.

You have goals things you like to achieve but more than that a deep burning
inside of you to create. Now I don’t know what that is but you’ve had these
deepest desires since you were a kid

And just because you’re an adult now it’s no different. Those creative projects
get shelved and all focus and energy gets drained by panicky thinking.
Exhausting isn’t it. You may van have trouble sleeping as I did. It all adds up to
not enough energy to create anything except maybe your breakfast every
morning.

So I ask you one question

If you didn’t have to believe your panicky thoughts anymore

What would you love to create?

And another question if it didn’t even matter whether you succeeded or not
what would you like to create for the fun of it?

K.is for Knowing

There knows and there’s knowing.

So before I thought I knew everything. I didn’t

In fact even the things I was fairly sure about didn’t feel very good

I used to change my mind at a drop of a hat and have great difficulty making
decisions

No wonder it takes a lot of energy to panic all day

Doesn’t it?

Add worry regret remorse and generally beating me up its no wonder I didn’t
understand

What thoughts were good ones and which were unhelpful

So a helpful barometer of our thinking is does it feel good

Worry feels anxious ridden slightly less than panic but closely related

For example opts time to upgrade my phone

I worry for months work out all the angles

And feel awful!

Then I decide to call up Vodafone and speak to this woman. At first I’m a bit
panicky oh god 24 months what if a choose the wrong phone.

Maybe I should wait. Finally I choose the upgrade model after having endlessly
analysed the options

But then she ask me it comes in black or white which do you want

so I start to go into a spin then I verbalise to her my worries and she’s like well
it’s your choice there’s silence on the phone while I try to make up my mind
I’m just about to put the phone down because it’s too much stress. Then a
thought comes into my head gently peacefully and it has the feeling of ah yes
that’s it. White looks cool like and apple mac that would be nice.

I know in that moment this choice feels right

And here it is on my desk looking so cool

Nice and white and slightly elegant. Bingo nice choice.

How do you know it feels good there’s no edginess it feels true.

So let’s take it a step further

When you know panic attacks can’t hurt you anymore that give a tremendous
sense of security

But even more than that if one does come along it has no intensity anymore

And you know what to do

Do nothing

So if I’m flustered worrying about to grow into panic

I don’t take my thinking seriously anymore

And listen to some music or eat something or do some gardening

And then when I’m calm I know the answers will come as an insight form my
wisdom within.

It’s like when you lose your keys and then when relaxed the image just oppose
in in yes they are in the dogs bowl

And that’s when you have a homer moment do!

It’s important to realise any panic attacks due to actions you may have taken
or accidents, shocks you may have had were done in innocence. When you
know this is true there is no need to beat yourself up or keep telling your story
it sort of disappears or becomes a springboard for your message of hope to
others.

Once you forgive yourself because you aware just doing the best you could
with the resources you had you feel again and naturally connect with people
and life.

As Jack Pransky says

Life just gets easier for no good reason

And one day soon like me you’ll look say to yourself things like wow I don’t do
that anymore
Today I feel great and you will feel gratitude which is an awesome feeling. Hard
to put into words but you know how it feels it’s great right?

So when I work with clients I don’t dwell on the story

My CBT therapist used to say to me we will delve into your past and dig up
some painful stuff are you ready to face that. I said no way! Why not just
remind me to be happy now whatever happens isn’t that more powerful?

In fact the biggest insight I had about my life was to drop my victim story.

My friend Dicken Bettinger a psychologist and 3 principles practitioner once

taught me

You don’t have to take every thought seriously. You will never be perfect but if
you spend less time

Caught up in your thinking your innate wellbeing will arrive faster because it
always there just under the surface waiting to guide you . Its okay to have a
thought knowing its not as real as I once believed.

But knowing and having faith that fresh thought is always available to us is
incredibly useful.

This means I recover from a mood in minutes not days or weeks.

In fact today I was in a tricky situation at work. 3 people were having a go at

me and the humour got a bit personal. I felt a bit miffed but afterwards
thought calmly in the old days I would have panicked and run!
It’s funny but that’s the effect when you deepen your understanding of the
power of thought and creating moment to moment experience. I just sort of
acknowledged oh yes I don’t have to do that anymore.

Afterwards a friend remarked wow that’s amazing how do you keep so calm.
You never seem to lose it or get stressed with people. I hadn’t even noticed.

Dicken says our extraordinary experience is actually ordinary. It happens

everyday easily if we let it.

You only have to look around to see people worse off than you. I saw money
homeless addicted handicapped and lost. My troubles didn’t even seem like
mentioning anymore

Yeah I have a bit of tinnitus I nearly went bonkers and onto medication and
thought about suicide big deal.

It’s what I feel in the moment that’s counts

So I teach my clients to understand how life and their experience really works

So I point them towards their amazing, spiritual, limitless, nature and the
inbuilt capacity for wisdom, compassion, clarity and confidence despite any
condition they may have suffered.

You have been guided by wisdom and insight all your life

In fact

If this resonated then sign up for the training in your welcome email.

I would live for you to experience some of the good feeling and calm that can
be yours and is only ever one thought away.
I’ll explain the understanding some more and amasser any questions you may
have

When you register just ask your biggest question and ill cover it in the training.

Your panic will melt away and you may just discover the greatest helpful
understanding in your life.

Looking forward to meeting you on the call.

At the end of the call I will invite you to gain a deeper understanding with the
ultimate aim of removing your panic attacks and creating the life you want and
gaining the happiness you seek

Within my 30 day coaching program.

My friend if you have panic attacks please take this opportunity to learn this
understanding and start to do the stuff you love in life again. My goal for you is
to Think less and smile more and be Panic Free!

Blessings

To your increasing peace confidence and happiness

Trevor Aird

Transformational Coach and Wellbeing Consultant