In my previous article https://letpanicflow.com/a-weird-trick-for-ending-your-anxiety/ I spoke of accepting your feelings of anxiety. This time I go a step further in exploring the concept of flipping fear into excitement.
Fearing Anxiety
Before I started following the programs of Barry McDonagh, I never considered that I feared anxiety. I felt that I feared the situations that contributed to my anxiety. Lately however, I realised that I would obsess for hours over the anxious sensations and thoughts I could expect to feel once I began a specific activity. I spent hours trying to calm down, but even when I did, the sensations would later return.
The sensations and anxious thoughts, which are symptoms of anxiety, scared me. Those sensations and anxious thoughts lied to me. I would always think they were signs that something bad was going to happen. Yet, thankfully to the Panic Away and other programs, I learnt that I am safe despite those thoughts and sensations.
Fear into Excitement
One of the most useful tools I have learnt from Barry McDonagh’s programs is flipping fear into excitement. Fear had me trapped. But I now understand that how I view the sensations I experience transforms the feelings I have in turn. If I view the sensations as scary then my anxiety escalates. But if I view the sensations as excitement, then my brain shuts down the fear feeling. 
Sometimes the anxiety can make you feel like you are about to die or something horrible is about to happen to you.
But accepting those sensations, such as the pounding heartbeat, and telling yourself that what you feel is excitement, helps to strip away the fear. It took me a long time to accept this. I just wanted to feel calm. But there are days when even after taking a supplement I would continue to feel rapid heart beats during specific activities. So now, I am open to this new approach of accepting the uncomfortable sensations and telling myself that I am excited by the feeling. Scary thoughts still come of course, but my fear has significantly reduced.
I would encourage you to check out Barry McDonagh’s programs too, such as Panic Away, and see if it also helps you. But as always, none of this should take away from your medical doctor’s advice.
I wish you all the best in your journey for improved health and peace.
Best regards
Karlene
