On one of the last days, a woman came for a healing session with a very intense problem: She often has panic attacks. During these attacks her heart is racing, she feels as if she cannot breathe anymore and she always thinks she is going to die. She said ‘I don’t know when or if it is going to end. I lose control over my body functions and even my breath. I am afraid that someday it could just get too much for my body and I will die. This thought makes me afraid of having a panic attack!’ One fear makes the other one grow and the more she is afraid, the more often she gets those attacks.
You have to accept that you have to die. Be ready for dying at any time. What are you afraid of? You don’t know whether it is going to be bad or good. We have created this idea that dying is horrible but maybe it is not at all. Being dead could be more wonderful than anything you can imagine. So just be ready. When you are dead, you are dead. No problem.
The fact that you have these panic attacks however shows that you are afraid of dying. It is just a question of your mind. Your heart is healthy, your body does not have any problem, so it is your mind that creates this fear! This is good because with your mind you can work yourself. For your heart you would need a surgeon but this is now your job.
How many times did you think that you would die? How many times did you have an attack, sat in a chair and thought ‘Now it is over’? But you are still here! And why? Because you don’t die from these panic attacks! They make you nervous, they make your heart race and they make breathing difficult but you don’t die! Make yourself understand that it is unhealthy when you have panic attacks, control your mind and have a strong will!
Most of all you should not think that death is something horrible. It is a part of the game. Accept death as a part of life and live without the fear of dying.
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Tribute to the Ghazal King Jagjit Singh
Waiting for Death – Torture of Death Penalty a Human Rights Violation – 23 Sep 11
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I have a friend that get’s panic attacks too. There is no way to help someone while they are having one, it is painful to watch and I can’t imagine what it is like for the person who is experiencing them. I wonder where they actually come from. I’m really glad I don’t get them. I’m lucky that way because Emotionally nervous in just about every area. But thank God not panic attacks.
“Be ready for dieing at anytime.” This is important. Death, even as nothing more than a concept, can fill us with a sense of urgency that pulls us deep into the perfume of the flowers.
Death seems to bare some great weight but it isn’t really that big a deal. I think the only reason that we trust our seriousness so much is because it overwhelms us to a point that we can’t see beyond it. It’s okay! Your going to die. Your alive right now. Play! Create! Live!
But the pain and fear that people experience is a very big deal. For many people death is a terrible point of suffering.
When we do take things very seriously, because the world tells us this or that is very important (and it is hard not to believe it) it is helpful to recognize that the thoughts in your head are largely responsible for what you feel. A feeling is the body’s physical reaction to a thought. If you think of death in a positive light, if you think that it is something natural that there is no need to fear and if you look upon it softly, you will suffer less in it.
Panic attacks are probably scarier than death really is! It is important to remember that the body and mind have impermanence, but that is not all that you are! When people associate fully with their body, their mind, or their emotions, then they think that having a panic attack is truly a serious reality. But if you can detach from your body-mind and just witness the experience, you will realize that there is a consciousness beyond that of your body that is aware of your panic attack. Do your best to detach from your body-mind in these moments, and you will know the aspect of yourself that lives on after death. 🙂