• obsessive thinking -- persistent unwanted thoughts you can't get rid of no matter how hard you try


• racing thoughts


• what-if thoughts


• assuming the worst


• negative thinking


• racing heartbeat


• disturbing or persistent thoughts that you cannot control


• trembling


• panic attacks


• shortness of breath


• spinning sensations


• insomnia


• numbness in the face, arms, and legs


• feeling detached from your body, feelings of unreality


• nausea, constipation, or stomach upset


• headaches


• fear of feeling anxious


• muscle tension and body aches


• avoiding doing things, going places, or seeing people that trigger an anxiety attack


• fear of people, places, or things


• feeling like you are dying


• feeling like you are going crazy


• terrifying flashbacks of traumatic events

Being okay with who we are is a tall order. How can we even begin to think about reaching this level of comfort and confidence?

To take our first step, let's learn how to create a space between 'who' we are and 'what' we feel, between 'who' we are and the anxiety we experience.

Take a look at the following three sentences. And as you read each one, notice how the energy inside of you (basically how you feel) changes.

#1 I am anxious.
#2 I am experiencing anxiety.
#3 Something is causing me anxiety.

Sentence #1: We are saying that I AM anxious. The 'who' in this case is anxious. This suggests that who you are is anxious. Who we are, at our highest, highest nature, at the core of our being, is anxious!? This touches us deeply. It sounds permanent. And seems to be addressing our very identity as a human being. As who we think we are.

Sentence #2: I am experiencing anxiety now. We are not anxious, as in sentence #1. But we are HAVING an EXPERIENCE of anxiety. There seems to be a person separate from the experience that is taking place. A deeper or larger presence of who we are is separate from the anxiety.

Sentence #3: Something is causing me anxiety. Here there is even more distance between the 'who' that we are and the anxiety that we feel. In this case, the anxiety is about something else. It's not about us. It is about something else that is going on.

I am not saying that any one statement is more true than another when it comes to anxiety. These are just three perspectives used to loosen the hold that anxiety has on us. You need to SENSE the 'who' at the core your being. Use this distinction to carve a gap between 'who' you are and 'what' you are capable of experiencing. Between you and 'what' happens outside of you, in your thoughts and in your body. USE this sense of the 'who' at the core of your being to watch the experience of anxiety as separate and distinct. This is a first step. Seeing yourself as having a separate identity from all that you can experience - YES, including anxiety!

The next challenge is to learn to completely dissolve our anxiety, fear and panic attacks. We can do that with anxiety disorder treatment and panic attack cure.