PANIC.
A panic attack is a sudden surge of overwhelming anxiety and fear. Your heart pounds and you can’t breathe. The mind does not function at its regular capacity. Surroundings look different, they sound different. This leaves the mind overwhelmed and limits its decision-making capacity. The panic I would like to write about is the one caused by experiencing an unexpected violent action. A physical attack made upon us by the outside world - a car accident, a natural disaster, or a terror attack.
Common panic reactions can be one or more of the below symptoms:
- Heart Palpitations (or racing heart)
- Trembling or shaking
- Chest pain
- Tunnel vision
- Sweating
- Dizziness, feeling faint or light-headed
- Loss of control and overwhelming fear of harm or death
Can it be avoided?
To some degree, yes.
One way to deal with panic is to realize that we must first be aware of its existence. No matter who we are or the image we have of ourselves, everyone can fall into panic mode…so we must prepare ourselves to deal with it when it happens.
One of the most common things affected during a panic state is a person’s breathing. We breathe less and lose our breath faster. This is why we need to expand our breathing ability. Focusing on our breath through meditation is one way. At Tactica, we like to focus on breathing through training - or what we call “active meditation”. For example, you can use any of the drills we run (push ups, heavy bag work, sparring) and choose to focus on breathing while you train.
Training under stress.
If you do not have any access to a training facility or school, you can still train and prepare on your own. Understand that training on your own will not bring the same results that you may desire from a training facility, but something is better than nothing.
One type of training available to all, regardless of whereabouts, is visualization work. Create a stressful situation to visualize and start exploring it in your mind. Ask yourself to visualize:
- My worst reaction and the behaviors that are a part of it.
- When I am able to react, but don't react well.
- In that case, why didn't I react well, and how can I improve?
- When I'm doing it right and able to prevail, but with some injury.
- When I’m reacting correctly and able to prevail with no injuries.
- When I’m reacting, prevailing with no injuries, and now I’m trying to help others.
There are always more drills available, especially when you have a group of practitioners.
Be safe, train hard, and train smart.
Danny Zelig