Calming the Rush of Panic by Bob Stahl Read Free Book Online

region, legs, and feet.
Feelingthe body as a whole organism, being present.
Breathing in, feeling the whole body rising and expanding, and breathing out, feeling it falling and contracting, being mindful of whatever is arising physically, mentally, or emotionally and letting be—being present.
As you come to the end of the body scan, take a moment first to open your eyes, wiggle your fingers and toes, and just be here and now. In a few minutes you will get up and go on with your day. Congratulate yourself for taking this time to be present and for directly participating in your health and well-being.
“May all beings be at peace.”
    How to Practice the Body Scan
    The body scan is an important meditation to help you get in touch with your body and mind. This is great training for dealing with panic and to gradually begin to feel more acceptance and ease within yourself.
    As you practice the body scan, there may be at times a feeling that it’s counterintuitive at first to acknowledge what you’re feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally. In time, you’ll gradually come to know the skillfulness and efficiency of this. You’ll recognize that acknowledging your feelings becomes a powerful mechanism of emotional discharge and release. You’ll begin to gain confidence that the best way to straighten out is to turn in the direction of the skid. Perhaps you’ve noticed that the more you try to avoid your feelings, the more they return—again and again—just as when you turn away from a skid, the car spins out of control. The body scan teaches you to mindfully go with what’s happening rather than fighting it. See what happens when you do this in your own life.
    By doing the body scan once (or maybe even twice) a day, you’ll learn how to work with a whole range of sensations, thoughts, and feelings. Try to make time to do the body scan when you can; even a short period will benefit you as you get in touch with your body. Feel free to use an alarm clock or timer, but always try to find a quiet place where you can be uninterrupted for the duration of your practice. Some people like to do the body scan in the morning before getting out of bed, while others prefer mid-morning, the lunch hour, or before or after dinner. Some prefer to practice right before going to bed. There is no right time other than the time you pick to do it.
    Let this be a part of your practice of mindfulness you look forward to doing, a gift to yourself and a way to become more balanced within your being.
Marcos’s Story
Marcos had a regular job, but he dreaded leaving the house to go to work. His frequent panic attacks drained his confidence and trust in himself and left him feeling defeated.
Sometimes the panic attacks he experienced nearly every day seemed to make sense, like when he was driving in traffic, giving a speech, or talking at a meeting, but some attacks didn’t make any sense at all. They seemed to come for no apparent reason, just out of the blue. Sometimes just the thought of being in a difficult situation would make his heart pound, make his palms sweat, and leave him practically gasping for air. A doctor checked him out to see whether there was any physical condition underlying his panic, but the workup revealed nothing remarkable. The doctor told Marcos that he needed to learn how to live his life with less panic.
Marcos talked with his wife, Juanita, about this. Juanita did some research and found out about MBSR and that it had been shown to be helpful in treating panic. She told Marcos that MBSR was evidence-based, meaning scientifically proven. Marcos realized that he had to do something and decided to give it a shot. He felt as though he had nothing to lose.
In his first MBSR class, when the other attendees began to introduce themselves and share why they were there, cold sweat started to pour from Marcos’s palms. He wasn’t sure that he’d be able to talk, and when it was the person next to him’s turn to speak,