When we panic or are anxious, we go completely out of balance. Our bodies, our minds -- we seize up, clench, obsess, involuntarily abandoning the cognitive and emotional perspective and physiological flexibility we need to make to make our way through the world with any semblance of peace or contentment.
No wonder, then, that the world's great spiritual practices all spend significant time instructing followers on how to better achieve the centeredness we need to experience life calmly and with the ability to make the best possible decisions. Prayer rituals, for instance -- I'm reminded of the way my grandmother, who in retrospect clearly suffered from panic and agoraphobia, was constantly working her rosary beads -- or meditation.
In my case, Buddhist meditation has been of immense help in achieving greater calm and at least some wisdom about and ability to manage my way through periods of anxiety and panic. This isn't to say I'm a practicing Buddhist, or that I've kicked panic's ass once and for all, but that I find enough peace through meditation to keep practicing it and enough wisdom in the Buddha's teachings to be interested in learning more about them.
If you're interested in hearing a great (and quite funny) talk about panic and anxiety that incorporates some Buddhist thought, I recommend giving a listen to this Dharmapunx podcast by Josh Korda. I especially enjoyed it because it gives a solid neurophysiological overview of the cause of anxiety and panic -- all that amygdala stuff that we've looked at in the past here on PANIC! -- in addition to discussing Buddhism-tinged (as well as common-sense) approaches to coping with anxiety and panic.
If you like that talk, on the same site you'll find various related podcasts, like "Anxiety relief" (which we've already discussed in in detail on PANIC!) and "How to live with anxiety and worry", as well as an excellent guided meditation called "Working with fear".
My advice? Give it a try. All you have to lose is your panic and anxiety.
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