Panic attack relief starts with one breath — and this ten-minute guided meditation gives you the fastest one there is. If your breathing has gone high and shallow, if you are trying to take a deep breath and it keeps stopping halfway, this session is built for exactly that moment.
The script
Transcribed from the audio, so the odd word may be off. Tap any line while it plays to keep the words in step with Martin's voice.
Your breathing has gone high and fast, right up into the top of your chest. You've noticed it now, and noticing has made it worse. You're trying to take a deep breath and it won't quite land. It stops halfway.
And somewhere underneath that, a quiet voice has started asking whether this is the start of a panic attack. I want you to hear something before we go one step further. You are not broken and you are not in danger. Your breathing has simply got ahead of you and a breath that has got ahead of you can be brought back.
That is all this is. So today, we're going to do the simplest and most powerful thing there is. Today is about mindful breathing and about the one particular breath that will take you down faster than any other. Welcome.
This is calming anxiety. I'm Martin, clinical hypnotherapist, former frontline paramedic and I'm so glad you've found this today. One quick word before we begin and then I'll leave you in peace. In two days time, on Thursday, anchored the app arrives on iOS.
It's what I've been building for you. Ever think you hear in here, in one calm place. So this is your heads up. Get ready to download it on Thursday.
And when you do, the very first thing I'd like you to find is the session called instant calm. It sits there permanently, always on, always in the same place. It's a focused panic attack session that you never have to look for. It works offline as many times as you need it.
No subscription needed for that. Because when you actually need it, you'll not be in a state to search for it. It's one tap and then we breathe. Now find somewhere company.
To sit or lie down, let your shoulders drop. If you're somewhere safe, allow your eyes to close. The breathing today is the physiological side. Two breaths in through the nose and one long, slow out breath.
Ready with me. Then two, three, four extra sip, hold and out.
Two, three, four, five, six. Relax. Let the space between your eyes, your forehead, unwind and soften. Let's do that again with me.
Ready? Breathe in. Two, three, four extra sip, hold.
Relax. Two, three, four, five, six.
Allow the belly to soften. Everyone, your chest, your rib cage on the in and the out breath and become aware of that sense of unwinding of truly letting go with every out breath. Not just now, but in the days and weeks to come. Let's do that once more.
Ready my friend? Breathe in. Two, three, four, sip, hold. Release.
Two, three, four, five, six.
Now let your breathing find its own rhythm. You do not have to manage it anymore. It knows what it's doing. It always did.
To release, unwind and allow yourself this moment of calm.
Now, as a clinical hypnotherapist, this next part is the peace I care about the most, as a settled body will accept a thought that a racing mind would have thrown straight back at you. You are settled now. So allow these words to land. You don't have to believe them.
Just let them be. Every breath out is stress leaving my body.
I do not have to fight a panic attack. I can breathe it out.
My out breath is longer than my worrying and it is stronger.
I let this exhale carry the whole day out of my shoulders.
A panic attack cannot outlast a long, slow breath out.
Just a moment longer, imagining warm and polite on water, the dust, the setting sun, the warmth surrounding you, the ripples and reflections on the lake. Just appreciate this moment within your own thoughts and bring calm to all that you are. And then once more, imagine and repeat. Every breath out is stress leaving my body.
I do not have to fight a panic attack. I can breathe it out. My out breath is longer than my worrying and it is stronger.
I let this exhale carry the whole day out of my shoulders.
A panic attack cannot outlast a long, slow breath out.
And take with you this new sense of clarity of control and understanding. Here are today's three daily caring tips. One practice the physiological side twice today while you are calm, once mid-morning, once mid-afternoon. So your body already knows the road before you ever need it in panic.
Two. Before you reply to any message that makes your stomach drop, put the phone down and take one long breath out first. Three. Tonight, before sleep.
First one hand on your lower ribs and count five slow breaths out, not in, just out.
Now slowly my friend, let's come back, starting to deepen the breath in your own time. Wiggle your fingers and now your toes. Feel the chair or the bed underneath you again. Roll your shoulders once.
And when you are ready, breathe in, hold and then as you breathe out, stretch out those muscles in your arms and legs. And when you are ready then, no rush at all. Let your eyes open, back into the space around you, carrying that steadiness with you. Remember Thursday.
Anchored lands on iOS, Android next month, download it, please and go straight and try out instant calm so that it's always there you know how to use it. And if you've enjoyed that, please do leave me a review. Everyone helps to spread the word and bring calm further around the world. If these ten minutes helps you today, please do.
Share this episode with one person who breathes away you are breathing at the start. It costs you nothing and it genuinely changes someone's day. I'll be right here with you again tomorrow and every day for as long as I can so in everything my friend, be kind.