Hi @joanm65- Welcome to the group. Thank you for posting. Both my daughter and sister suffer from anxiety and panic attacks- it's so tough some days. We live in the moment during those attacks- one moment at a time- reminding ourselves that we need to get through the current second or minute then move to the hour and day. Then off to the next moment or day. Kudos to you for finding this group, please keep sharing your thoughts and what you have found to be helpful for your anxiety- you never know what you post will in turn help someone else.

@ladybugmg, I often use an image I experienced on a beach in Mexico 12 years ago when the sun was hitting my face, it was such a calm moment, I can still feel it and it's been stuck in my mind all these years. I also use an ap called Breathe which has taught me to meditate (@joanm65- you should check it out). I started with 5 seconds and have worked my way up to 15 minutes. It's helped me so much.

I don't remember where I found this suggestion but it said to "think like a poet" using images not words. My
husband and I were fortunate in having a motor home and we traveled to many almost isolated place where we could enjoy nature without being distracted by other people. I make it a point to have a "memory bank" with many images of sights and sounds accumulated in my brain over a long lifetime to ease anxiety and tension. I have read that some people use "sounds", such as that of a song bird or recalling a favorite melody that brings back a favorite memory. I hope this helps someone reading this post.

@ladybugmg, you are spot on about the sights and sounds we have fond memories of. When I have gone through hypnotism for smoking cessation, the pyschologist always suggested that to get relaxed that I go to my happy place, whether that be a beach, mountains, or wherever I have found relaxing. I did learn some relaxation techniques, but did not stop smoking until a few years later when I wanted to for myself and not someone else or some other motivation.
Gary

When you wrote that you stopped smoking "when I wanted to" it was a very profound statement. One of the life lessons I have learned since the death of my husband is how important self-motivation is overcoming the resulting panic of facing life and making decisions alone after being married sixty years. Each one of us needs to find their own way to that, sometimes using the suggestions of others.

Put on some lights, walk around a bit and if necessary, take anti anxiety med.

@joanm65 breathing and imagery helps me in a panic attack, besides repeating to myself “this is just temporary, I’m not dying …”.

The breathing exercise I do is imagine my lungs are a balloon and just as a balloon I fill the bottom of it with air first so in effect your diaphragm is expanded first. When breathing out I reverse the process by breathing out from the top of my lungs. Both breathing in and out done slowly.

This “5-4-3-2-1” imagery described in this article also helps me, although I rely mainly on my breathing exercise:
https://nutmegaspirin.com/tips-and-triumphs/show/stop-a-panic-attack-with-the-5-4-3-2-1-t

That's exactly what happened to me around 10PM one Sunday evening. I was reading a book I'd been enjoying when BAM out of the blue an intense panic attack. My heart was racing, so I took my blood pressure. It was 150/87 with an elevated pulse too. My solution was to go to bed, pull the covers over my head, and wait it out. It was dark and warm and I felt safe.