Did you watch yesterday’s video?
It was called What to do in a panic attack and you may have been somewhat frustrated to learn that my ‘advice’ amounted to something along the lines of:
Do nothing
😑
Oh man, sometimes working with me as a coach is proper exasperating…
…for a mind, ha ha! 😉
So here you go. To make up for it, today I’m going to give you some…
[drum roll please] 🥁
…practical advice!!
😮
A typical scenario
Just the other day I was working with a client who was indeed a touch exasperated with it all (and who gave me permission to relate this tale).
She’s a doctor, there was a clinical decision, it wasn’t an easy one and after it had been made and the patient sent home, the problems started.
Was it the right one? What if they got worse? Could things have been done differently?
You know, all that sort of stuff.
Now, she knew deep down that the best had been done, in this imperfect, messy world we inhabit. Although not straightforward, the patient had got what they needed and was coming back for review soon, so outside of the random health uncertainty we all walk around in, day in, day out, all was well.
But not for the mind. That wouldn’t let it lie. It kept going there. Multiple times during the day. Disrupting her sleep, too. Harassing her constantly. It was bad.
And every time it surfaced in consciousness, she felt a sense of dread. She wanted to know:
What the hell do I do when it’s like this, Giles?! Please don’t just say “nothing”!
(She knows me well 😆)
The devil’s in the details
I do love a challenge, and after a bit of questioning we established that one of the worst aspects of it was the litany of consequences the mind was coming back with, however fantastical she knew they were: dead patient, being ‘found out’ as negligent, being struck off.
You know, all that sort of stuff.
And it was clear to me then, what the problem was:
“It’s the labels that are holding it all in place. The detailed ones. Drop those and it’ll go away.”
Huh?! How?
Layers of labels
Whenever we’re in a situation—especially one like this—what we’re most aware of is all the detail; all those consequences. The bit in the future. The inevitable conclusion to this drama.
(According to the mind, natch 🙄)
But the mind has to do a lot of work before it gets there, because this is quite a complex kind of label. It’s applied a whole load of more simple labels, closer to home; layering them all on top of one another.
(It’s all happening at light speed of course, and we don’t notice.)
So for instance here in this story I can count four layers of labels already ⓵⓶⓷⓸:
What we actually get, there in the moment, is the sensation of the situation (i.e. unlabelled reality) >>
- ⓵ …which is “Bad” >>
- ⓶ … causing a feeling of “Dread” >>
- ⓷ … because it’s likely that decisions made were “A mistake”
- ⓸ … and that means we’re going to be “Struck off.”
- ⓷ … because it’s likely that decisions made were “A mistake”
- ⓶ … causing a feeling of “Dread” >>
And it’s only natural for us humans, with the way we’re put together, to focus on the story’s end; on label layer #⓸.
(We all know ⓸ is not the end to this story, don’t we? ⓹ is living in a van down by the river, ⓺ is being actually homeless, ⓻ is catching pneumonia and ⓼ is death 💀 But you catch my drift.)
It’s another example of the mind doing its hop-skip-and-jump thing.
⏭️
Reeling it back in
But in these situations, you can use this knowledge to your advantage by applying the ONLY tool you have at your disposal:
So if you dismiss the furthest (⓸ and ⓷) as very obvious, mind-created judgements or labels, you can simplify things a bit, and instead turn your attention to the step it had to go through, to get there (i.e. ⓶)
Get curious. Become a detective in your own experience. Slow down and start asking some questions about this Level ⓶ label.
🤔
Because, oh, would you look at that – something like “Dread” … that’s just a word, too, isn’t it? Another mind-label.
Ha! I can let go of that one, too.
What’s next? Well, let’s bring it even closer to home, by turning our attention to the step the mind had to go through, to get to Label Level ⓶ … ah, that would be “Bad” (i.e. ⓵)
Now then, could “Bad” also be a mind-created label?
What d’you reckon?
🤔
The reality of THIS
Before you know it, you’re fully present to the sensations of NOW. To actual reality: THIS.
Of course the mind’s going to start up again, and it’s going to say things like:
- “My chest feels tight” (two labels… can be safely ignored)
- “My heart is racing” (another two labels, you can drop those, too)
- “This isn’t helping” (conceptual, better/worse, duality… more bloody labels!)
The more you see that it’s the labels that are holding the experience in place, the quicker these things pass.
Because there’s only ever THIS.
Presence is always and forever waiting for you, underneath all the labels.
And all it asks for, is your attention.
💟
Giles
There's a totally different experience of anxiety to be had; one that is outside of everything you already know about it. An understanding of anxiety and its opposite—peace of mind—that requires no digging around in the past, no rituals & techniques and no more having to avoid stuff.
In the Anxiety Video Masterclass we take a deep dive into that understanding; a process that will spark insights you've never had before and will change your relationship to anxiety forever.