The Anxiety/Panic Attack Journal

Has anyone ever accused you of being “too sensitive?”

Many people who experience anxiety also have a high degree of sensitivity. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Sensitive people tend to be more self reflective, and unfortunately, more self-critical. This critical inner voice and tendency toward inward focus can often contribute to anxiety problems.

But if you happen to be one of the “sensitive ones,” how can you turn down your obsessive inner dialogue?

Obsessively self-critical thinking is a habit. It’s a “thinking habit” that works in the same way as other, more conventional habits. You develop the behavior gradually over time (and often unknowingly). And you overcome this habit the same way – with time and persistence. In fact, the easiest way to overcome a habit like this is to refrain from dealing with it at all, and instead, develop a few new habits that can effectively block the old one.

The EasyCalm series is largely based on this concept of using new, more productive habits to replace old, unproductive habits, the kind that lead to anxiety and panic attacks.

There’s also a lot you can do on your own to use this method of overcoming anxiety and panic. The key is to begin “installing” new habits, especially “thinking habits,” that will more or less replace the old unproductive ones. And when I say “old, unproductive habits,” I’m primarily talking about three issues: a tendency to over-control situations, obsessive thinking, and excessive inward focus.

All these habits can be diminished or even eliminated by shaking up your routine, your day-to-day life, and establishing new habits that have nothing to do with the old ones, and are much less likely to “feed” the anxiety. You have to take a look at what you are doing, thinking, watching and reading in your day-to-day life; and then recognize that, whatever it is,  it’s not working for you. Seriously.

Anxiety problems are a clear indication that your life is out of balance; and often, one of the best ways to restore balance is to begin making changes (both big and small) in your everyday routine. Of course, it helps if you have a clear “map” to follow from where you are now to where you are going. Or perhaps I should say a clear GPS signal. =) That’s where EasyCalm comes in. It gives you the right focus, and keeps you on track as you begin the process of making changes in your life, and moving beyond anxiety.

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Have you ever considered that anxiety isn’t actually real?  I know, I know, it seems real.  It can even feel real. And its effects (anxiety symptoms) can certainly be real. But the anxiety itself is entirely imaginary — it is created in the mind and has no life outside of your imagination.

Perhaps more than any other “condition” that affects our physical and mental well-being, anxiety is a fictional projection of the mind.  We create worst-case scenarios and imagine a bleak future whenever our minds are consumed with anxiety.  It is a very creative act. Perhaps that’s why many anxiety sufferers also tend to be highly creative people — their minds are used to imagining situations and perspectives that don’t actually exist in the “real world.”

The only way you can experience anxiety is if you yourself create it.  In fact, I would dare to speculate that the less creative a person is, the less likely it is they would experience anxiety and/or panic attacks.  I don’t believe it is a coincidence that over 50% of my coaching clients with anxiety tend to be in creative fields such as design, music, art and writing.

But here’s the good news: because anxiety is a product of the imagination, we can learn to imagine something different, to create new scenarios in our mind that have nothing to do with anxiety or panic attacks.  And the more creative in individual is, the more potential power they have to do this.

I’ve heard it said that we all create our own little universe as we go along — that life is a creative act, and most of what we refer to as “reality” is the product of our own mind.  It is very easy to see the truth of this in anxiety sufferers.  They are clearly creating little “loops” of anxious and unproductive thought that spiral into full-blown anxiety attacks, or at the very least, a low level generalized anxiety that keeps them stressed out and not performing to the best of their ability.

But just as easily as we can create these “loops” of anxiety and panic.  We can also create loops of well-being, peace and optimism.  How do you do that?  The same way you develop any creative skill: practice.  Like any other learned behavior, optimism and a calm state of mind are developed through repetition.

For this reason, the EasyCalm series (www.easycalm.com) lays out a series of simple day-to-day exercises to begin developing this new pattern of thought. It’s not difficult — it only requires consistency.  Repetition is the mother of all skill, and learning to create a better state of mind is a simple as practicing these techniques on a daily basis until they begin to take hold in your unconscious mind.  Once that begins to happen, a calm demeanor becomes your normal operating system, and the imaginary anxiety you use to create, withers away from disuse and neglect.

To start this process is very helpful to realize right now: anxiety is imaginary.  There is NO question about it.  The effects of it can be very real, but the anxiety itself is anything but. You cannot touch it, smell it, see it or hear it.  It exists only within the confines of your creative imagination.  When you realize the truth of this, you will also realize the key to overcoming anxiety — begin using your creative imagination in a new way, and create patterns of thought that are more helpful to you.

Without sounding too much like an infomercial (I hope!), training you to develop these new, more useful patterns of thought is exactly what the EasyCalm series is designed to do.  Check it out!

Jon

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I’ve heard about lots of tricks for stopping panic attacks; but using math? Yep, an EasyCalm user from Denmark named Tom recently sent me this tip for stopping panic attacks (Takk Tom!). It involves doing math in your head, and believe it or not, Tom wasn’t the first person to mention this trick to me.

I make no guarantees that this will work for everyone, but obviously, it has worked for some people. So give it a try for yourself and see how it goes.

The technique itself is as simple as they come. The idea is simply to start doing difficult math problems in your head whenever you feel a panic attack coming on. The trick is to make the math problems (or “maths” for my non-North American friends) difficult enough that you have to really focus on them, but not so difficult that you get frustrated and give up. Depending on your skill in math, this could range from simple multiplication to more complicated division, or even algebraic equations if you’re a whiz with the numeros.

I couldn’t try out this technique for stopping panic attacks properly, because, gratefully, I haven’t had a panic attack in a long, long time. But I did get a chance to try it when I was a little stressed about being stuck in traffic a few days ago. I just began doing multiplication problems like 13 X 13, and 21 X 11. My results were kind of mixed (but that could just be me). While I was doing the math problems I did notice that I was somewhat distracted from stressing about the traffic, and the fact that I was running late for an appointment.

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Have you ever watched the news and found yourself terrified of some new, hidden health threat or similar that could possibly be the end of you? I know I have. It seems that almost every day there’s a new threat out there; it’s often something hidden in your food or your genes, or our neighborhood, and it it’s almost always lethal. But wait…then the commercial break comes on, and there it is; the pill or shot or company that will make it all better. 

 Shannon Brownlee, author of the book “Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer”, calls the medical and pharmaceutical companies “The anxiety industry.” She talks about how these industries in combination with the media is constantly telling us to keep a lookout for illnesses and how this is causing real anxiety and possibly a lot of unnecessary medical costs.   

Why are we so obsessed with illness and death? And why are the people that are supposed to look after our health seemingly more concerned with prescribing expensive tests and medications than they are with inexpensive prevention and taking care of our overall health? No wonder we are scared; everywhere we look we are told to be careful and to take caution.  

The primary commodity of the news media is fear; George Gerbner, one of our time’s most important media researches put it this way:  

“People think of television as programs, but television is more than that; television is a mythology - highly organically connected, repeated every day so that the themes that run through all programming and news have the effect of cultivating conceptions of reality.[…] The programming reinforces the worst fears and apprehensions and paranoia of people.” 

Is it possible that the extremely high levels of anxiety we are collectively experiencing as a society has to do with what we are watching? Lewis Lapham, correspondent for Harper’s Magazine said this about it:

“First they give you the vision of hell, which is what scares the person, the audience and the viewer. This is what sets up the good news, which is the advertising, which is the way the game is played. So the idea that the media as a whole does bad news is just not true at all. It’s part of the pitch. It’s the freak show in order to sell the snow cones.” 

The next time you are watching TV, try to pay attention to the absurdity of it all; commercials tell us to ask our doctor about asthma medicines that could help us…or lead to an increased risk of asthma related death. A morning show will tell you how important it is for your health to eat lots of fruit and vegetables, and then the evening new will tell you to tune in at seven to “See what’s in your fruit and veg that could possibly kill you…”                                                                               

Instead of focusing on all the things that could possibly kill you, put your attention to what is actually hurting your life and causing you anxiety: your television.  Tonight, try turning off the evening news and going for a walk instead; you might find that your neighborhood isn’t so bad after all. 

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There is a book out by Bob Rosen called “Just Enough Anxiety: The Hidden Driver of Business Success.”  This is a book about business and different kinds of leadership, but reading about it made me think about the concept of “just enough anxiety” in everyday life. According to an article in the Chicago Tribune online edition, the author claims that anxiety leads to change, and that change is good. He thinks a leader should not lead by fear, or be controlling or anxious, but that “A leader who inspires through anxiety, on the other hand, sets bold targets to push employees to change, communicates honestly and is comfortable with ongoing conflict and turbulence.” 

Can we really be inspired by anxiety? Could it be that anxiety can have a positive effect on our lives? Maybe there is something to the idea that if we are too comfortable, we don’t act and make necessary changes in our lives. Obviously we are not talking about life limiting panic attacks or anxiety disorders here, but maybe some of the everyday anxiety that we feel about our lives, relationships and the future actually brings about something positive?  If I’m completely honest with myself, I have to admit that there are things I have done in life primarily because I was more scared of what would happen if I didn’t act. Think about situations like job interviews. As scary as they can be, we still go through with them because we are more afraid of staying in a job we don’t like, or not having a job at all. We ask people out, and go on first dates, even though most people will admit that they are terrified of  the idea of having to start a relationship from scratch again. Why do we do it? Maybe we are more afraid of being alone? I’m not trying to make anxiety sound like the best thing that ever happened to you, but I do believe it is important to look for the positive and to recognize that maybe there have been times where having a little bit of anxiety has helped you produce something good in your life.  Maybe it is important to not lump all anxious feelings in together and label them as a disorder. If you think about it, are there not situations where a little bit of anxiety has helped you take positive action? I know it has for me. ELR www.easycalm.com

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According to a newly released Canadian  study, reports that a lot of people experience a form of anxiety when they are not “connected” by the means of a wireless device like a cell phone or a laptop. As many as 59% say they experience some anxiety when disconnected and 26% report “significantly elevated levels of anxiety”. In addition, a CTV.ca article explains that another new phenomenon is people feeling their cell phones or blackberries vibrating in their pockets—when it’s not there.

EasyCalm — The Stop Anxiety Series!

Although it can be easy to laugh at the idea of being so addicted to you cell phone that you get stressed when you are without it, I think it’s important to pay attention to what is going on. If we are so afraid of not being able to be reached or reach people that we actually experience anxiety from it, is it not time to change out habits? What is it that is causing this new type of anxiety? Are we afraid of missing out or falling behind?  Has the rat race finally run us over?

I have definitely experienced some stress because I couldn’t get hold of someone or because my phone was shutting down on me. I check my email several times a day, even when I’m not working, and I can get really angry if my internet connection crashes. I even have to admit that I sometimes feel my phone vibrating when it’s not.

I have yet to experience bad anxiety when I’m not connected, but then again I’m pretty much always connected somehow—I even use my cell phone as my alarm clock. This new report has made me re-think how I’m using technology; I love new technology and I wish to continue using it, but I don’t want it to run my life.

EasyCalm — The Stop Anxiety Series!

From now on I will try to turn my computer off when I finish working, and enjoy some disconnected time every day. I even think I might go out and buy a good old fashioned alarm clock: the kind that only rings when I tell it to.

Test: are you at risk to experience disconnect anxiety? : http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=365555

Sources:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080310/disconnect_anxiety_080310/20080310?hub=World

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071010/phone_vibrations_071010?s_name=&no_ads=

Discover the EasyCalm Anxiety Video Series!

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A coaching client of mine e-mailed me recently and asked an unusual question.  He wanted to know if the principles discussed in the film “The Secret” were applicable to curing anxiety. 

I thought about this question for while, and although it might sound unusual in some ways, I believe that the concept of The Law of Attraction, which is discussed in the film, is very applicable to dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. 

I also don’t believe it is a coincidence that I first hit upon techniques to cure anxiety after reading a the works of Spinoza, Wallace Wattles, Emerson, and other writers who held beliefs very similar (or in some cases exactly the same) to the Law of Attraction (although they did not use that exact term).  Here’s why I think using “The Secret” is extremely beneficial for people with anxiety or panic attack issues: 

The Secret, or the Law of Attraction, holds that whatever it you give your focus and attention to on a regular basis is what you are actually attracting into your life.  We can see many common-sense examples of this all around us, and it explains the old proverb, “the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer,” because people are getting in life exactly what they are focusing the majority of their attention upon. 

So how does this “secret” apply to anxiety?  Think about it; if you give your attention and focus to things related to stress, anxiety, fear and unhappiness, what are you attracting into your life?  That’s right — you are attracting more of these things that you are focusing your attention upon. 

This is also a philosophy known as “assumed responsibility,” and this way of looking at the world, while sometimes difficult to adjust to at first, can improve many areas of your life, including anxiety problems.  When I first began practicing the philosophy of “assumed responsibility,” the first hurdle I had to cross was to accept that I (and I alone) was responsible for my anxiety. 

Up until that point, I had been blaming my anxiety problems on a troubled childhood, family weirdness, or even bad genes.  In fact, I blamed everything and everyone except myself.   But by refusing to accept responsibility for my anxiety I remained in a “victim mentality,” where I felt powerless. 

The moment I began accepting responsibility for the anxiety, and even the vicious panic attacks, the situation began to improve.  And it only got better from there 

So in this sense, I absolutely believe that the Law of Attraction or “The Secret” is beneficial to those who want to overcome their anxiety and move on with their life.  Because just like the Law of Attraction, the secret to curing anxiety is accepting full responsibility for it, and never assuming that you are a victim of genetics, a poor childhood, bad luck or any other misfortune. 

You are not a victim. The secret is that your anxiety is something you create and something you can stop.

JM

Jon Mercer
Personal Development Coach
http://www.easycalm.com/
http://www.easycalm.com/social.htm
http://www.cafepress.com/socialskills.81169853
Managing Director, Youniverse LLC

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First, I must apologize for letting an entire month go by without updating the blog here.  I have been very busy with clients and a few new projects, and the next thing I knew it was Thanksgiving holidays… you know how it goes. But I want to wish everyone a belated happy Thanksgiving and I hope everyone will have a wonderful, and peaceful, holiday season this year. 

Now, even as I write this, I am well aware that many people find the holiday season to be stressful, and anxiety sufferers will often see an increase in their symptoms or panic attacks during this time of year. But the holidays do not have to be “the most anxious time of the year.”  There are things you can do to minimize the amount of holiday (and family-related) stress this year. In this post I’ll mention three of the most useful tips for making it through the holidays without having a meltdown. 

Tip 1. Set your limits early: unfortunately, the majority of people feel a certain amount of stress dealing with their families during the holiday season.  If things are all rosy and peaceful within your family, just ignore this tip and count yourself very lucky. But for the rest of us, we can often minimize the stress by limiting our holiday visit to begin with.

Think about it this way, you can certainly handle the stress of a family holiday dinner for a few hours — but if you put yourself in this position for a few days you might find your anxiety increases exponentially.  Save yourself the stress, and make it a short holiday visit this year.   After all, no one benefits by you visiting for one week and becoming stressed out and anxious after the second or third day. Put your own needs first; you’ll feel better, and your family will also benefit from this. Remember, a short happy visit is better than a longer stressful visit. 

Tip 2. Remember Gratitude: I know I go on a lot about the importance of gratitude, and how it subtly changes our mind set from anxiety to peace and acceptance, but I must mention it again here.  The more you concentrate on things you are grateful for, the less space you have available in your mind for worry or discontent (the seeds of anxiety). Personally, I make a gratitude list everyday.  I don’t always write it down, but sometimes just make it in my head while I’m driving or waiting somewhere.  During the holidays, I especially recommend making gratitude lists (several of them) everyday.  It will really take the edge off of the holiday anxiety and keep you focused on what is right, and what is good in your life. 

Tip 3. Don’t compete: often, when families get together there is a sense of competition among siblings or even with parents and children.  This competitive attitude very often comes out during the holidays, causing lots of friction, discontent, anxiety and even depression among family members. My biggest tip for you this holiday season is to REFUSE to compete.  Just do not play that game.  Allow other family members to say or think, anything they like about you or anyone else, but do not attempt to “fight fire with fire” by giving them back the same competitive attitude.   

Kill them with kindness, and ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to compete. 

Finally, it is my fondest wish for you that you have a great holiday, with a minimum of friction or stress, and emerge in the new year feeling stronger and more empowered than ever! All the best,

Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
Personal Development Coach
Stop Anxiety and Panic
Managing Director, Youniverse LLC 

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Change happens gradually for most people. This is certainly the case with me, and most of the people I coach. For example, a few days ago I found myself clinging to the side of a brick wall, more than 30′ in the air. It’s called ”urban rock climbing,” but personally, I call it a real breakthrough.

Not many years ago, the idea of climbing a vertical wall so high off the ground like some kind of spiderman “wannabe” would have been impossible for me. My former anxiety and panic attacks would have prevented it, plain and simple. And yet, there I was, ringing a bell with my right hand, while clinging to a small crack in the mortar with my left–waaaay up off the ground, and loving every minute of it!

 This story is not meant to impress you. It is meant to impress upon you that you can change, just as I have, one step at a time.

You see, I didn’t go from A to Z in one fell swoop, and I certainly didn’t start out by climbing the side of buildings. No, I began tackling much smaller challenges–tiny in fact. But every little victory paved the way for a (slightly) bigger victory, and so on, and so on. In other words, it was a slow and methodical process. And this is how real and lasting change happens: one little victory at a time.

That’s why the EasyCalm Anxiety Program uses the steady, gradual approach. When it comes to anxiety and panic attacks, quick fixes don’t last, but slow and steady wins the race every time.

A good example of this is the “Speed Merchant” strategy outlined in the EasyCalm Videos. You can find out more about the “Speed Merchant” in this video. It is a very gradual approach that requires a bit of patience, but has a fantastic success rate. And in the end, isn’t that what matters?

Be well,

Jon

Jon Mercer
Personal Development Coach
http://www.easycalm.com/
http://www.attractanything.com/
http://www.ultraconfidence.com/
Managing Director, Youniverse LLC

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Think back. Remember a time in the past when you were really “in the flow” of life, when you felt great and had success coming your way–all kinds of success: a great relationship, excelling at work, winning a competition, or just feeling good about “you,” without stress and anxiety.

 All of us have had times when things just seemed to be working out right for us, and if you think about these times, you can see that you were in a certain state of mind.  You were doing things in a particular way, that may be quite different from your “norm” today. Especially if your “norm” today is anxiety.

If you’ve been going through anxiety or fear/stress-based problems lately, the chances are you have not always had these problems. There was certainly a time when you seemed ready to take on the world, with very little fear or anxiety. So consider, what were you doing differently then that you are not doing now?

One way to get back into that mental state, is to analyze how you felt and what you did back then, and then, dwell on those feelings–meditate on it, and let those feeling from your past “infect” your current state on mind. The more you can recreate those feelings and state of mind from the past, the more they will become a part of who you are today.

And don’t overlook the little things! Life is all about the details, so surround yourself with things that remind you of that time: the music, the sights and sounds, the books, or even TV shows that “take you back” to that time.

You can re-create your past peace of mind and happiness by immersing yourself in the same things you did back then. Take a few minutes to visually re-create those feelings internally, and then…make that state of mind “real” again, but doing many of the same things you used to.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from coaching people it’s this: we can create our world almost anyway we want. Our current circumstances are NOT the deciding factor–it’s how we choose the respond to them.

Who says you can’t go back to the way things were? You can re-create those feelings and begin taking the same actions whatever you decide to. This will result in the same results you were getting back then. Same actions = same results.

Take Care,
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
Personal Development Coach
http://www.attractanything.com/
http://www.easycalm.com/
http://www.ultraconfidence.com/
Managing Director, Youniverse LLC

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 Just a reminder today: when you are working on overcoming a problem (anxiety/panic attacks for example), it’s important not too become too obsessive about it. And just like any other “work” you do, you sometimes need a day off.

Take a day now and then without working on yourself in any way–just “be.” You’ll make far more progress on the days you DO work, if you have a break from it sometimes–and for at least 24 hours (no cheating!).

As in all things, too much can worse than not enough. So take a day off and just go with the flow–you deserve it!

Enjoy a cold one (or whatever works for you),
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
www.easycalm.com

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Some of us tend to be mental “pack rats.” We find it really hard to let go of anything, so we just keep accumulating more and more “baggage” in our lives. We may hold on to childhood disappointments or injustices from 20 years ago, or a rude comment by a  co-worker from last week. 

But you know, over time the baggage we carry around begins to get heavy, weighing us down and reducing our efficiency at dealing with the normal ups and downs of life. Sometimes our “baggage” is even toxic: old resentments, guilt, anger or fear can continue to poison our state of mind long after the moment is gone.

But why do we do it? Why would we knowingly hold on to old hurts and allow them to continue hurting us today? The answer, I believe, is “security.” With time, our old baggage becomes comfortable to us, like an old worn out security blanket that we just can’t seem to let go of. It may be ugly, smelly and impractical,  but it is “ours.”

Sometimes we’ve just never considered the negative impact our baggage is having, or the up-side of letting it go. Holding on to past hurts is a major cause of anxiety and stress, and the strain eventually takes it’s toll on both our body and mind. None of us can afford the high price of carrying this stuff around.

The Monkey and the Jar

Have you ever seen a wildlife documentary about how they trap monkeys in Africa? Basically, they lay out dozens of  glass jars with narrow necks along the ground and fill them with ripe bananas. The monkeys spot the jar and reach inside to  grab the bananas. The trick is, the monkeys can only remove their arm from the jar by letting go of the bananas, which they flatly refuse to do! In other words, they trap themselves because of their unwillingness to let go. Does any of this sound familiar?

The past is gone. Are you holding on to the ”bananas,” while keeping yourself trapped in a world of pain or resentment that no longer exists? I know that I did for many years, and it poisoned many of my relationships, and created great anxiety and disappointment in my life. And you know what? I did it all to myself–just like the monkeys who refuse to let go of the bananas in the jars.

What can you let go of today? What no longer serves you in your life? I’ll leave you with a true nugget of wisdom from reknown psychologist and author Elliot Aronson:

“Our problem in life is NOT that we can’t remember, or get to the core of old issues. Our real problem is that we cannot forget.”

 Amen to that…

Take Care,
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
Personal Development Coach
www.easycalm.com

Personal Coaching Enqueries? Email: coaching@easycalm.com

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 I was recently invited to try two of the most popular ”brainwave entrainment” programs on the market: Neuroprogrammer 2, and Quantum Mind Power, so I’m writing this post as a kind of mini-review to describe my feelings and results with each of them.

The technology at work behind both of these programs is called “brainwave entrainment.” The aim is to actually change the frequency of the electronic impulses in the brain, creating a relaxed, positive state of mind with a healthy feeling of “well being.” 

The ”entrainment” effect is created with the use of sound, so the user sits comfortably using  headphones and simply listens (no meditation or visualization is necessary). The sound produced varies, but is often a type of low frequency “swooshing” sound, also known as ”binaural beats,” These sounds create the alpha and delta wave patterns associated with relaxation and general feelings of “well being.”

The research is very clear that brainwave entrainment technology does have an affect, so that’s not really the issue. The real question is, how well do these two programs utilize this technology and what are their practical results. In other words, “what difference will they make in your life?” Let’s find out…

The first program I tried was Quantum Mind Power. My first reaction was that QMP was a bit expensive and I wasn’t thrilled about their (seriously too long) sales page, so unfortunately, I probably already had a negative view of it before I even got started.

But I strapped on the headphones to give it a try anyway (remember to ALWAYS use headphones with these programs!). In just a few minutes, one thing became very clear:  this thing definitely has an effect.  There was a noticeable shift in my thought processes and the way I “felt” that is difficult to explain. I tried describing it to a friend, and the only word I could come up with was “clear.”

But it was an oddly enjoyable sensation, and it made me want to continue listening to it.  I felt relaxed, but alert and somehow “healthier” than normal (I don’t quite understand this feeling, as I’m really healthy guy anyway, but it’s the only word that comes to mind).

Overall verdict: weird, unusual, but extremely relaxing and enjoyable.

The second program tried was Neuroprogrammer 2. I had heard pretty good things about it beforehand, so I was expecting I would enjoy this one as well, but surprisingly, it didn’t go as well as I expected.

At first I noticed nothing at all. But after about 7-8 minutes I began to feel a bit anxious…uneasy. A few minutes later I began feeling dizzy and slightly nauseous. After 11 minutes or so I couldn’t take it any more and had to take off the headphones. Once I stopped, the dizziness and nausea faded away very quickly, and in less that two minutes I was back to normal.

Now, I want to state for the record that my results with NP2 could have been unique, and other people may have far greater luck using it. But after my experience,  I personally wouldn’t try it again.

Overall verdict:I couldn’t honestly recommend Neuroprogrammer. Perhaps it was just too “intense” for me?

Summary:

I would recommend trying the free demo of Quantum Mind Power. I’m not wild about their sales page (kinda cheesy) but QMP did have an incredibly positive impact on me. TIP: if you scroll all the way to the bottom of their sales page (which is waaaay too long ), there’s a link to sign up and get a free demo. The demo is not nearly as effective as the actual program, but it does give you some of the same feelings I mentioned earlier.

Make sure you use headphones!!

Take Care,
Jon

Jon Mercer, MA
Personal Development Coach
www.easycalm.com

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Here’s a really common question I get asked: Is anxiety a disease?

Now here’s my really common answer: No, it’s not.

 Those of you who have read my articles before or are familiar with The EasyCalm Series will not be surprised by my answer. But in truth, it’s not only my answer–or my opinion. Hundreds of experts feel the same way. Consider:

 “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy does not pretend to “cure” anxiety…because anxiety is not a disease.”

– Vancouver Coastal Health Anxiety Disorders Clinic
http://www.vch.ca/psychiatry/adc_treatments.htm

Some may be thinking, “So what? Does it really matter if we call anxiety a disease or not? A rose by any other name, right?” Well In my experience, it absolutely does matter how we label anxiety. In fact, the labels we assign to things determine how we deal with them.

If my doctor says I have a cased of the ”sniffles” I will react to that information in a certain way. But if my doctor says I have an “upper respiratory infection,” I’m going to react to this information in a very different way, even though my situation may be exactly the same. The words we use definitely count.

No where is this more evident than in dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. If we use words like “disease” or “disorder” to describe these things, we tend to start looking at them as something that happens to us, something that we have no control over. This kind of “victim” thinking can keep us paralyzed with fear and panic; it makes it easy to develop a belief that the whole anxiety/panic situation is completely out of our hands. Wrong!
 
No matter how you go about it, recovery from anxiety requires the individual to accept his/her role in creating the issue to begin with. It has been my experience that “Until you accept responsibility for your anxiety situation, you’re not going to overcome it.”
 
You also need a method/program that YOU can believe in, one that makes sense to YOU. Of course I recommend The Easycalm Anxiety Coaching Videos, but if you want to use another program, or a therapist, or doctor, that’s fine too. Just as long as YOU feel strongly about it and it motivates and encourages and even inspires YOU to ’see’ yourself living a different life, free of anxiety and panic attacks..

So is anxiety a disease? Nope. Not even close.
 
Wishing you increasing peace, 
Jon Mercer, MA

Personal Development Trainer
www.easycalm.com
Managing Director, Youniverse LLC

PS: For free anxiety tips and resources, don’t forget to sign up for our free newsletter: http://www.easycalm.com/newsletter.htm

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“Anxiety and Panic Attack sufferers tend to live lives of quiet desperation.”

As a personal development trainer specializing in anxiety issues, and a former sufferer of extreme anxiety and panic attacks, I can assure you the above statement is true–I’ve been there. I spent years of my life searching in desperation for an anxiety cure that was effective and would last.

Like many people, I tried the medical route: I was prescribed anti-anxiety medications that doctors assured me would provide a “real” anxiety cure with no severe side-effects…at least that’s what I was told…

Fast forward two years: I had gained 50 pounds, had chronic heartburn, fatigue, memory loss (my friends began calling me “Mr Short-Term Memory”) and sexual “dysfunction” (don’t even ask!). My relationship was in ruins and I was barely able to function at my job.

And the worst part? My anxiety and panic attacks were still there!

Here’s what the medical community and drug manufacturers don’t really want you to know: anti-anxiety medications are completely ineffective for most people as an anxiety cure. The best anti-anxiety medications available have success rates that are only slightly higher than a placebo–and when you factor in the severe, soul-destroying side effects, it’s easy to see how dangerous and harmful these medications usually are.

 I’m not saying there’s a conspiracy going on (exactly), but I am saying that there is a ton of money to be made by keeping this information quiet. And that’s exactly what the big corporations do. Which is great news if you are a stock holder, but terrible news if you are desperately seeking an anxiety cure, as I was for so many years.

 So if medication is not the answer, what is?

A “real” anxiety cure must be sustainable, not a quick fix that makes your life progressively worse over time, creating a type of addiction that keeps sufferers feeling like helpless victims. A “real” anxiety cure is all about empowerment–taking back control over your life.

The method  I used to cure my anxiety problems has been well-documented both online and off: The EasyCalm System for Anxiety and Panic Attacks.

The EasyCalm System is the only proven anxiety cure presented in video format, for a one-on-one training experience, and it’s all natural–no weight gain, memory loss, or other weird side effects. And best of all–no more feeling like a helpless “victim,” watching your life slip away from you, and feeling powerless to do anything about it.

The cure for anxiety is not to be found in a pill. A real and lasting anxiety cure can only come from proper training and and the knowledge of what is causing your anxiety situation in the first place. Watch the free EasyCalm introduction video (27 minutes) and find out for yourself. And then take YOUR life back.

Don’t believe the hype folks–There IS a real, drug-free anxiety cure. I cured my anxiety and panic attacks years ago by following this method. I truly hope YOU won’t you wait years to get this information. The sooner you take action–the sooner you take back control of your life.

 Jon Mercer, MA,
Personal Development Trainer
www.easycalm.com

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