“Anxiety isn’t you. It’s something that’s moving around inside you. It can go out the same door it came in.” ~James Clear
Many years ago, I had a panic attack while crossing a bridge and I thought I might die that day.
Suddenly my heart started beating. My breathing became shallow and tight. My chest constricted, and a wave of dizziness washed over me.
I was driving sixty miles an hour, and there was no place to stop. The bridge, spanning miles, hung over open water and I was alone in the car.
A terrible thought crossed my mind:
Something is seriously wrong.
I grabbed the steering wheel and tried to drive, believing I might pass out before reaching the other side.
At that moment, it felt as if my body had completely betrayed me.
For a long time after that, I was afraid to drive and lay low in fear of that feeling returning again.
I started avoiding certain activities and situations. I constantly kept an eye on my body in case another attack could start. Even when I looked calm on the outside, a part of me was always on high alert.
If you’ve experienced a panic attack, you know this feeling well.
Racing heart. Dizziness. A sudden feeling that something terrible is about to happen.
This is not only inconvenient, but also scary.
And most people who experience panic believe the same thing I did:
There is definitely something wrong with my body.
But what I finally learned changed everything.
the body is not the enemy
The first thought that really changed things for me was this: Feelings of Panic feel Dangerous, but they are not.
They’re making your nervous system sound the alarm.
When we feel threatened, the body activates a natural survival response called fight-or-flight. Adrenaline fills the bloodstream, the heart beats faster, breathing becomes faster and the muscles prepare to respond.
This response evolved to keep humans alive.
If our ancestors faced danger, such as running away from a predator, their bodies needed to react quickly. When the nervous system is regulated, the rest and digestion responses cause the body to naturally return to a state of rest after the threat has passed.
However, if the nervous system is under stress for a long time, it becomes unbalanced. The fight-or-flight response is working on overdrive, and the rest and digest responses no longer function properly. The body does not rest.
Result: The nervous system sometimes sounds this alarm even when no real threat is present.
This was certainly true for me. I was a single parent, lived in San Francisco, ran a wedding photography business (hello, super-stressful career).
I spent hours every day braving extreme traffic in the car: a two-hour roundtrip trip to and from my daughter’s school, client meetings, evening engagement photoshoots…
I photographed weddings most weekends, taking photos three to four hours ahead of time because wedding photographers are not allowed to arrive late. Sometimes.
The rest was something I dreamed about. I was constantly tired, exhausted, and on edge, with no end in sight. So yes, my nervous system was basically screwed, which meant my panic attacks were becoming more frequent.
I was living in fear of the next attack.
When the body releases adrenaline unexpectedly, the sensations can feel overwhelming.
Many people interpret these sensations as signs of adversity.
Am I having a heart attack?
Am I going to faint?
Am I losing control?
Those thoughts create even more fear, causing the body to release more adrenaline.
And just like that, a circle is formed:
Sensation → fear → more adrenaline → intense sensations.
It may feel as if you are trapped in a web of terror from which you cannot escape.
the change that changed everything
My treatment didn’t begin with trying to control anxiety.
It started with understanding it.
For the first time, I noticed that my body was not deteriorating. It was responding exactly the way it was designed to respond.
My nervous system had simply learned to be on high alert.
Once this understanding was established, something subtle but powerful changed.
The feelings of panic were still uncomfortable, but they no longer seemed like evidence that something catastrophic was happening.
They became signals from a nervous system that had been experiencing too much stress for too long.
And the nervous system can learn new patterns.
relearning safety
I realized that overcoming nervousness doesn’t mean forcing the body to calm down.
In fact, fighting the sensations often makes them stronger.
Instead, the process involves helping the nervous system re-learn what safety feels like.
Sometimes it feels like slowing down the breathing. I practice a simple breathing technique I call “four-six breaths.” You close your eyes, then inhale for a count of four, then exhale for a count of six.
The long exhale slows your heart rate and sends a message to the nervous system: “We’re OK.” This activates the rest-and-digest response, and the body relaxes.
Sometimes this means letting the sensations pass without resisting them. The sensations of a panic attack may be uncomfortable or intense, but they are not dangerous. Once I understood this simple truth, it became easier to live with the sensations, knowing that they come and go like an ocean wave.
Sometimes it just takes learning to trust that the body knows how to return to balance. Healing was not a one-time event but a gradual process. As my panic attacks became less and less intense, I felt more confident, because I knew exactly what I needed to do to take care of myself.
Eventually, they left and never returned.
Some people believe that panic attacks cannot be cured, but I have found that to be not true.
With practice, the nervous system learns a new pattern and begins to recognize that the alarm is no longer necessary.
The reaction becomes less intense.
Episodes become shorter.
Eventually, many people find that the panic cycle has ended completely.
a different relationship with the body
My panic attacks were once so severe that I was afraid to drive for years. Today I drive without any fear. Road trips have become a favorite hobby and a meditative experience. Last summer I drove more than 3,500 miles across the country alone.
I travel around the world with a sense of confidence in my body that once seemed impossible.
What I discovered during my healing journey ultimately became the foundation for a new way of life:
Listening to your body’s signals instead of trying to control them.
Prioritizing rest as it is a key component of health.
Unearthing your deepest intelligence and potential to maintain your energy, vitality and well-being.
Gathering tools and practices that allow me to remain peaceful and grounded no matter what is going on in my life.
I wanted to be a calm, confident, happy person.
Because the truth is:
If you experience a panic attack, your body is not broken.
It is trying to protect you.
Sometimes healing begins not with fighting what we feel, but with understanding it – and in that understanding, the body slowly remembers how to feel safe again.
About Grier Cooper
Grier Cooper is a trauma-informed anxiety coach and creator of The Panic-Free Formula. She helps high-functioning women retrain the neural system patterns behind anxiety and panic so they can feel safe, stable, and fully present. A former professional ballet dancer, she brings a body-based, compassionate approach to treatment. Her work focuses on transforming fear into safety and helping women regain inner peace and confidence. Download her free 3-minute panic reset here GrierCooper.com.
