What in the world does that mean In our crazy busy world, I think we are all guilty at times of “getting through the day”. Chugging along at top speed to get everything done, and not taking the time to truly live our OWN lives. We are so busy getting kids here and there, doing the work our bosses need done, running to the grocery store, the post office and taking the dog to the vet. We are getting dinner on the table, throwing laundry in, checking homework, running to the soccer game, leaving half way through to get to the other kids baseball game. Finally, the day is almost over. We have not stopped moving since 6:10 a.m., yet we have a sort of empty feeling inside. Grateful to lay our head on the pillow, a moment to think, to go through what will need to be accomplished tomorrow…

This doesn’t sound real healthy does it Where is the moment to daydream, the moment to have a walk and ponder the magnificence of the flowers that have begun to bloom, to play with the neighbors “puppy” that got to be a full grown dog without you noticing These are the simple things that we need to do for ourselves.

Our society is seeing a tremendous increase in the number of people suffering with anxiety and panic. Why do you think that is Some of it is due to true mental health issues, and some is due to the fact that we do not take care of our mental health. It is probably the last thing we think about in regards to our health. It you have a rash, you go to the dermatologist, allergies, the allergist, broken bone, orthopedic surgeon. When we are feeling overwhelmed, having anxiety which lead to panic attacks, we as a society generally do nothing. We push it to the side until it gets really, really bad. This is more than a little silly. Take the time to de-stress. It is really important to you and your family.

What is your favorite thing to do Is it grabbing a few friends and heading to the coffee shop How about riding you bike on the lakefront Curling up in your favorite chair in the middle of the afternoon with a good book Skiing, skydiving, painting that new picture that has been in your head for three years Starting a new business Whatever it is, it is your life after all. You can do anything you choose to do. You just have to be a little creative.

Once you decide that “I can’t, I don’t have time” will no longer be part of your vocabulary, you will be amazed at what you can do. If you take one half-hour each day, to “live your own life”, you will be amazed at the transformation in every other aspect of your life. You will be more energized, more creative, you will be more organized and actually begin to enjoy some of those mundane tasks that you rush through each day. You will begin to realize what is important and what can wait.

When my kids were little we were out after the rain going on a “worm hunt”. My neighbor poked her head over the fence and said, “You know, this is the important stuff in life. The “worm walk”. I, of course, was feeling that little bit of guilt of having my house in moderate disarray. (O.K., it was an actual wreck at that point) But my wise neighbor told me, “You know, your kids are only little for so long. You have your whole life to clean your house.” That was probably the most profound thing anyone has ever told me. I am not kidding. That small piece of wisdom gave me the freedom to live my own life. To turn up the radio and dance in the middle of dinner, to grab the flashlights an go ghost hunting way past bedtime, to spend that precious half hour sketching.

From this came fresh new ideas, two businesses, a much happier family, and a feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day, rather than the anxiety that used to build thinking about the next day.

How am I going to live my life today I am going to go to work and put a gorgeous faux finish on my clients ceiling, I am going to help my mother train her deaf dog, I am going to visit my 87 year old neighbor, and I am going to take a walk with my wonderful husband. If he is busy, I am going to go by myself. Thinking time. We all need it. We all deserve it. It is a critical component in “living your own life”. After all, If you never give yourself time to think, let your mind wander, listen to great music, or take a “worm walk”, how will you ever get anything done

From a Former Sufferer of Panic and Anxiety, this new way of thinking has changed every aspect of my life. I am free “To Live My Own Life”

Agoraphobia sufferers have several choices when it comes to deciding what kind of therapy they wish to receive to help with their phobia. There are conventional methods such as medication and psychotherapy and there are also complementary and self help therapies.

The most effective form of psychotherapy for agoraphobia treatment is CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy). The reason CBT works for treating phobias is because it helps to reduce the negative thoughts and behaviours that trigger the anxiety.

There are some great self help panic attack guides available online that have been used successfully by thousands of people to overcome agoraphobia. They will help show you how to reduce your anxiety so that you don’t experience any more panic attacks. With repeated exposure to anxious situations and using these techniques you will overcome your agoraphobia. You can learn more about the best self help guides by clicking the link at the end of this article.

Another form of self help therapy that can help with agoraphobia treatment is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique). This is rather like acupuncture but works on the emotions by tapping certain points of the body with your fingertips. The theory behind EFT is that the tapping helps release emotional stresses that are causing the phobia.

Exposure Therapy can be used to treat agoraphobia. It works by teaching the sufferer relaxation techniques and then gets them to imagine that they are in a situation in which they have previously experienced panic. When they feel anxious they can then apply the relaxation techniques to control their feelings of anxiety. They will then need to apply the same techniques by exposing themselves to real life situations.

People with agoraphobia have also been helped with hypnosis. With hypnosis you either have the option of visiting a professional hypnotherapist or you can listen to recorded hypnotherapy sessions either on CD, DVD or MP3 downloads. These are available for all types of anxiety and phobias including agoraphobia.

Flower essences and herbal remedies can provide support during situations that cause anxiety. There are ready made herbal products specifically created for aiding panic and anxiety. These will usually contain Valerian, Lavender or Passion Flower. Most health stores sell a Bach Flower Essence called “Rescue Remedy” which is great for restoring calm if you start to feel anxious.

The alternative to natural therapies is medication. Anxiety and panic disorder such as agoraphobia are treated with sedatives and anti-depressants. Unfortunately these are likely to cause unpleasant side effects such as drowsiness. Prescription drugs only suppress symptoms of anxiety and do not heal the cause of the problem. Unless the root cause of the problem is treated then there is not going to be a long term cure.

It may be difficult for an agoraphobia sufferer to seek help if it’s not possible for them to leave their home; but there is much that can be done. Thanks to the internet all of the information needed to learn to overcome agoraphobia can be found online. Self help programs and hypnosis recordings are all available to download directly to your computer.

Anxiety is a learned response, and as such it can be “un-learned”. The symptoms of anxiety are indeed very physical, but the causes are generally psychological. They are the result of the wiring in the circuitry of your mind and somehow, in some way, some wires have become crossed. It’s actually very easy for this to happen and so it is unsurprising that so many people these days suffer from anxiety disorders, be it social anxiety, panic attacks or stress in general.

The human mind is an amazing work of art. It is like the most complex painting and sometimes what one sees on the surface is very different from what you may see as you take a closer look. If you were to look at an oil painting by Charles Becker you might very well see a silver chalice, filled with juicy fruit that are so clear to you that you want to reach out and touch them. You may also see a reflection of the fruit in that silver goblet. All of this is seen very clearly…and yet there is no such thing as silver paint. This is an illusion which is created by the artist, and the effect is very real, very true.

Our minds can work in a similar manner. We may be aware of something on the surface of our minds, and it takes all of our attention and focus, but until we look deeper, we do not know what has created the overall picture which we see. In fact, we really do SEE pictures. When afraid of something we have the ability to run full movies in our mind, not just an ability to create still pictures. As we focus on those “things” which are on the surface, we are ever further distracted away from what is going on underneath.

And anxiety comes from within. Yes, there will be an external trigger; it is only a trigger because of a pattern match with something in your inner mind, something which may even be in the dim and distant past or hidden within your subconscious. When Charles Becker paints his silver goblets he mixes together a myriad of colors to create that effect. Our minds mix and blend information and perceptions as a normal day to day task.

Let’s take a simple example. As a child you learned that a door was a door. At first you thought that the door which was being pointed to was a door, and then this pattern generalized to encompass all doors. Every time you come across another door your subconscious mind alerts you (in a split second) to the fact that this is a door. A pattern match is found.

This is all well and good. But let’s say now that you were bitten by a dog. Now the information which is stored is a pattern which runs along the lines of “dog = getting bitten = that hurts - I don’t want to get hurt again”; in this case your subconscious is put on high alert so as to protect you from being hurt. You may consciously think that you know that all dogs don’t bite, that it was just that one dog…but your subconscious may still be on high alert, and whenever a dog is perceived a rush of adrenalin is experienced; anxiety ensues.

In such a simple case, you can consciously connect the source of the anxiety which you experience and make sense of it. But often there are a myriad of pattern matches which come together and then it can be very difficult to unhook those tangled wires, just as it is difficult to see how Charles Becker blends different colors to create the effect of silver paint.

Hypnosis is in itself a state of relaxation, and in learning to use this natural art, you learn how to relax whenever you want to or whenever you need to. With hypnosis you can learn to change state in an instant. This is not the only way on which hypnosis can help. Hypnosis allows access to your subconscious mind, allows you to see beneath the surface, and so you can then straighten up those wires and reconnect them in a more orderly fashion. It is like taking a magnifying glass to Charle’s Becker’s silver goblet and seeing each individual component color.

Hypnosis downloads can be used to retrain your subconscious expectations, reactions and behaviors. You can learn to respond to situations and to triggers in new and more comfortable ways. Simply by listening to and following the suggestions made on hypnosis downloads you can learn to stop worrying, you can retrain your brain to stop thinking about what other people might think, overcome your shyness and feel comfortable in your own skin no matter where you are, who you are with or what you are doing. There’s no need to feel embarrassed, to blush or to have sweaty palms. Whatever the anxiety is that you experience, whatever it is that you have until now found stressful, you can learn to deal with in a different way.

Hypnosis downloads can provide you with a tool-kit of mental skills for you to use to treat your anxiety, to show you how to think differently. You really can learn how to see the world in a new light, to look at situations in a different way, to take control of your thoughts and, therefore, your feelings and ultimately overcome your anxiety naturally, easily and quickly. With this basic structure you can find your own unique way of applying these mental skills and fine-tune them to suit your own needs.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads for health and well-being.