Imagine that you are sitting quietly, reading the newspaper and out of nowhere you start to feel a sensation as if you are going to faint, your heart speeds up, your legs tremble and your breathing is labored. If you have experienced this, then you are most likely suffering from panic attacks.
Although it doesn’t seem credible, there are people who suddenly and for no apparent reason, experience chest pains, feel that they will faint, their legs tremble to the point of thinking that their death is near.
And although these are symptoms similar to a heart attack, they are also typical of anyone who suffers from panic attacks.
It is important to treat panic attacks because otherwise they can lead to a number of very serious consequences, including the development of a panic disorder.
A panic attacks can even become an impediment for the person to carry out their daily activities normally. However, the good news is that panic attacks are completely curable and the sooner they are treated the better.
With certain treatments it is possible to reduce or even eliminate the characteristic symptoms of panic attacks and thus return to living in control.
A panic attack can be described as an episode of fear which is characterized by its intensity and is unexpected, weakening and paralyzing the person who suffers it.
Panic attacks usually occur without warning. Sometimes there is not even any reason for them to be generated, they simply occur in any circumstance in which you are, even if you are at rest or sleeping.
Causes of panic attacks
There is a theory that the body has an alarm system, which is actually a group of mechanisms at the mental and physical level that enable the human being to face a threat, sometimes this system is activated when there is no need for it or when there is no threat at all.
However, the specialists who study panic attacks have not been able to determine exactly why they occur and how they occur, nor is it known with certainty why some people are more likely to suffer from panic attacks than others.
There are indications that it is possible that it is congenital and therefore genetics greatly influence this in determining who will inherit it.
However, there are people who have no family history of panic attacks and still suffer from the symptoms that are characteristic of panic attacks.
Sometimes panic attacks are the result of another illness, strains on the emotions or because of medications that increase the brain activity in the area that controls the fear.
Panic attacks can occur only once in a person’s lifetime, but many people worldwide suffer from repeated panic attacks.
Sometimes the panic attacks that occur periodically are generated by certain situations, such as crossing a bridge, speaking publicly, especially when these circumstances have previously caused a panic attack.
In most cases, the circumstance that causes the panic attack is the one that makes the person feel threatened and cannot escape it.
Yoga for treating panic attacks
The main thing in treating panic with yoga is to determine what is the actual cause of the panic attacks.
But if you don’t know what the reason is, it’s not a problem either, in which case you should keep your breathing balanced both when you’re practicing yoga and throughout the day. Balancing the inhalation and exhalation is crucial.
You’ll need to breathe gently and slowly through your nose, as this will start each phase of your breathing and make each one even. Generally, inhalation and exhalation tend to occur more quickly and easily at the beginning than at the end.
When you are experiencing a panic, it is important to focus on the exhalation.
You should make your exhalation slower and deeper than your inhalation as this will help the nervous system to slow down your heart rate and blood pressure, which is very effective in calming you down.
Performing yoga postures that are more vigorous at the beginning of the session will cause the heart rate to gradually accelerate and then continue with the easier postures and proceed with the process that will allow you to relax while your mind is quiet.
The effectiveness of yoga in calming a panic attack
Yoga will help you to put aside the tensions that affect you deeply and restore your heart’s rhythms by balancing them, and it will also relieve your nervous system.
In the execution of the different postures, it is crucial that the muscles are kept consistent, that they are held tighter to the bones.
The reason why the emphasis is on the muscles is that this provides different benefits, such as an effect that isolates and relieves the nervous system.
Asanas allow the burning of the nervous energy that greatly influences panic, and undoubtedly breathing exercises that include abdominal breathing and prolonged exhalation rather than inhalation will help considerably to reduce the symptoms that characterize every panic attack.
Also, if you practice yoga with some frequency, you will be able to optimize the sensitivity of your interior and this is excellent for the early detection of panic attacks and thus be able to act as soon as possible to avoid them or decrease their intensity.
There is no doubt that the sooner you treat such an attack, the greater the efficiency.
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