Claire Weekes approach - how do I 'accept and float?'

[Ellen70]

I have revisited Claire Weekes' books, mainly due to her approach receiving good feedback on here, and due to the desperation I am feeling in regard to panic and anxiety.

I really think Claire Weekes' understands panic and her books are way above all the other pop psychology on the market.

The thing is how exactly do you 'accept' and 'float' when that first wave of panic storms through you? How can you avoid the automatic tensing up of the body muscles and not add my own fear to the panic attack?

My panic attacks begin suddenly and without warning and I tense up to 'prepare' myself for the onslaught of fear that is to come? And how do I float through the panic without reacting negatively to it?

Any advice or thoughts on this will be appreciated.

Eibhlin

[Ellen70]

Surely someone had tried the Claire Weekes approach to panic!

[Panic1971]

Hi Eibhlin

Great post. I also have a very hard time accepting each panic when it comes and try my best not to fight it. I find it so hard to accept - what if this time it isnt a panic attack etc.......

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[mystics]

Hi Eibhlin ,
Have just started reading Claire Weekes myself and still trying to get my head around her methods and how to do the things she suggests :huh:

One book I have just finished reading that I found very useful is Embracing the Fear By Judith Bemis and Amr Barrada,found this book very enlightening and supportive at the same time.

If I manage to suss out the Claire Weekes Methods will get back to you.

Brightest Blessings
Mystics :flowers:

[Piglet]

When I feel the first wave of panicI sorta lean into it and let it wash over me by dropping my shoulders and slowing right down - if poss I say things like 'let go' and 'it won't harm me' etc etc.

You could imagine that you are floating on cloud through the waves of the panic attack???

Piglet :flowers:

[witherz]

i have read claire weeks book and i call self help for your nerves my bible. to float means when you feel the panic come over you, just let it come and i imagine walking on air making your body feel weightless if that makes any sense. or as she says in her book imagine you are sitting on a cloud and you are floating on the cloud wherever you are going. Another thing i have found useful is to imagine my body full of water and a realease valve on my feet where i visualise all the water pouring out of my feet, when i do this i can literally feel the pressure ease, try it , lol xxxx

[witherz]

accepting tho that is something i have loadz a trouble with. how can you accept something that is so blooming awful. i can accept the physical sensations but have real trouble accepting the awful thoughts i have, any comments gratefully recieved. x

[honeybee]

hello...

im half way through her book on agoraphobia and even though ive read loadsa books ive found this one to be the most helpful... perhaps because of where i am in my life at the moment... i'll let you know of a recent experiance of mine where i "floated" past my anxiety...

i was in tesco with my fella the other day, normally i cling by his side every second but he wanted me to go and get the greek yogart while he got the tomato puree (both on complete opposite sides of the shop)... i said i couldnt go on my own but he physically turned my trolley around and pushed me away so i thought f* it... i went and i instantly got all sweating, faint and panicy, i just wanted to run away but all i needed to do to get through it was say to myself "just float past it, accept it, DON'T ADD THE SECOND FEAR, dont be afraid of it" i made a concious effort to relax my body because i instantly go so tense i dont realise until i make an effort to actually relax... i told myself that "if the worst came to the worst i could always leave the trolley and go to the car.. after all whats the worst that can happen??? i'll have a panic attack??? ive had plenty before, so what if i have another..."...i did manage to get the yogart and i didnt panic, it was a bit scary but hopefully practise will make perfect... dunno if this helps in any way

[xBettyBoopx]

Hi there

I've had Dr Claire Weekes' books since the early 1980's. It's very difficult to accept and float, if it was easy we'd all be cured:yesyes:

We all think that breathlessness, pounding heart, sweating, feeling of fainting, wobbly legs is a bad thing so we panic even more. But if we really think about I mean really study it, these are the same symptoms we get when we're excited, so they are far from harmful. We have conditioned our minds to think that these symptoms are harmful so we had further panic and our symptoms get worse. What Dr Weekes is saying is that when that feeling of panic first hits, try to relax into it, don't shrink from it, so easy to say so hard to do:mad: Try to keep on with her books though read them re-read them, try to get what she is saying. Try out her method when ure not having a panic attack, keep doing it until it becomes automatic, then when a pa strikes you might be able to 'float' past these feelings.:yesyes: Tell yourself that panic is a learned behaviour, you weren't born with it, and so if you learnt that then you can learn the behaviour that stops pa's.

Note to self - must take my own advice when next facing a panic attack:D

When she says 'accept' she doesn't mean accept this situation and you're gonna be like it for the rest of your life, she means 'accpet' these feeling for the time being, also that they are ONLY feelings, you are not going to die, you are not going to pass out, you are not going to have a heart attack. You have an over-sensitized body, which is waiting to recover. Do you have the tapes/cd's? They are so good, I play them on my personal stereo when I panic, her voice is so calming and I know that she knows what she is talking about.

I wish you the best of luck.
Elspeth

[michellemumof4]

Hi there I am so glad you are reading claire weeks she is brilliant, her books were my bibles during my recovery , the floating is hard to master , what i did when i felt the first wave of panic was to say STOP in my mind - the drop my shoulders close my eyes concentrate on my breathing and imagine a floating feeling wash over me, and i would literally float over the panic -- as i got better at this i didnt find the need to close my eyes and can do it quite naturally now ( altho some days i struggle a bit ) its has almost become second nature now, I guess i reprogrammed myself to officially be a FLOATER lol

hope this helps feel free to pm me or talk in chat

Good luck and happy FLOATING LOL

[Ellen70]

I really want to get the audio cds but I have looked on ebay and amazon and they all seem to be on cassette - surely they are available on cd?

thanks again

Eibhlin

[Ellen70]

Well I gave the 'accept and float' method it's first trial today. I had to drive to a town 14 miles away by myself.

I felt really nervy and wound up beforehand and promised myself that I would turn around and come back home after 5 miles if I was panicking.

I found the journey long but kept reciting 'accept' and 'float' in my mind for the entire journey. I had a few flashes of panic but tried my best to let my body 'flop' to prevent tension building up. I arrived safe and sound and went to the appointment I had.
I was very tired when it came to driving home but I was ok for most of the journey and only had two flashes of panic.

Now I didn't have panic flashes that were that bad whilst out today but I think giving myself permission to return home if the going got too terrifying helped me. I also drove more slowly that usual as I felt I had more control of the car when I drove a bit mores slowly.

As I write this my body is full of tension and I feel pretty awful. It is very tempting to take a tranquillser to kill the anxiety but I won't.

Tomorrow is another day and I am already apprehensive about tomorrow's fear!

The test now will to see if I can 'accept'and 'float' through the really terrifying panic attacks. Time will tell.

Eibhlin

[Nibbles]

That's a great start buddy I'm really proud of you. :yesyes: Give yourself a big pat on the back because every journey starts with the first step. Hope you sleep well and feel better in the morning.

Take care,