I know that something many people have trouble with is speaking or performing in front of people.  Depending on your profession, it can be a tremendous and sometimes unavoidable source of stress and anxiety.  What we sometimes forget is that children can especially effected too…think about how often teachers and schools require “public performances”.  I know I can remember being called on by a teacher when I didn’t know the answer and how lousy I felt.  After that happens a few times to a child is it any wonder why it becomes stressful to get up and put your ego on the line even when you DO KNOW the answer?

Whether you’re the one who’s struggling with performance anxiety or your child is, if you want some good tools and advice to help, check out Janet Esposito’s website below:

www.PerformanceAnxiety.com

You can get some great stuff if you join her newsletter too!

You know, there’s a lot of myths and misinformation about anxiety and panic attacks floating around…

Last year I decided to embark on some in-depth research about the SCIENCE behind the TRUTH, expecting it would result in a couple weeks of effort and a nice blog post for my readers

Boy, was that a major lapse in judgment.

It’s almost a year later, and you wouldn’t believe how deep the rabbit hole I fell into went.

In my quest to find ANSWERS, I often ended up with more QUESTIONS.  Every time I would be able to close one door, another one opened up and I just couldn’t help myself from walking through it.

I ended up reading dozens of books on neuroscience and hundreds if not thousands of journal articles and published results of medical studies.  I interviewed a TON of experts…physicians, scientists, psychologists, and more.  I researched everything, and discovered something I knew I had to share with you, but it was FAR MORE than just a blog post.

See, while most everyone working in anxiety treatment is still trying to get the same old ineffective techniques to work, some of us are using cutting edge technology and advanced research to help people struggling with anxiety change their lives incredibly FAST and make the kinds of breakthroughs many therapists would call IMPOSSIBLE.

But they’re NOT impossible.

Not by a long shot.

I’m not going to get into the nitty-gritty here in my blog because like I said, what I learned during my research deserved it’s own report, it’s called “Your Anxious Brain” and it will probably take you about an hour or so to read, but it’s an hour that can CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

I decided NOT to sell it, the information inside it is too important, I want you to have it NOW and for FREE.

All I ask is that you help me get this information “out there”. Email it.  Post it to YOUR blog.  Put the link on a forum.  Whatever you want, just pass it along.  You can even just tell everyone you know to go check out www.AnxiousBrain.com and they’ll get their own copy.  Fair enough?

Don’t keep trying to grit your teeth through your anxiety, fear, and panic attacks. Stop using old, useless, and outdated strategies that haven’t done ANYTHING to help you feel better. You’re about to learn a completely different way of treating your anxiety, and this time, it’s going to change EVERYTHING…

Inside the report I’ll show you:

• How your anxiety and panic attacks REALLY work, and what you can do about it NOW

• How technological breakthroughs are completely changing our understanding of how your fear works, and what we can do to control it

• The one thing every treatment for anxiety MUST DO if it’s going to help you. Think you know everything there is about your anxiety? I bet this never even crossed your mind, but when you read it you’ll know I’m right and that it’s the missing piece you’ve needed all along

Just click below to get it FREE.   No email address, sign-up, or registration needed!

Get the “Your Anxious Brain” Report NOW for FREE!

Harnessing the Power of Military and Police Tactical Stress Control Strategies for Your Own Anxiety

When in high-pursuit of a dangerous criminal that may be carrying weapons and willing to do almost anything to evade capture, law enforcement and tactical teams such as SWAT can’t afford to let their stress response cloud their senses and functioning. The typical symptoms of stress we all occasionally feel to various degrees such as tunnel vision, shakiness or loss of fine motor skills, and the loss of ability to focus and process our surroundings quickly may be uncomfortable and frightening to the average civilian who may feel this way while driving, on an airplane, or standing in line at the grocery store, but are dramatically more costly in situations where they can be not only a deciding factor to the individuals safety and survival, but the safety of others, and even the suspect. In order to effectively and rapidly reduce physiological stress levels and maintain control even in the most extreme and anxiety provoking of circumstances, law enforcement and military training has adopted what is called “combat breathing”, an easy to remember and perform breathing technique for the reduction of both the physical and mental effects of anxiety that can be used with surprising effectiveness by anyone experiencing anxiety, stress, panic attacks or fear in everyday life.

As anyone who suffers with anxiety or panic attacks knows all too well, the burst of adrenaline into the body during high levels of stress can virtually instantly effect optimal functioning and be terribly frightening, the fear response itself sometimes being mistaken as a sign that the individual is about to lose control or “go crazy”. Once the reaction that unleashes the stress chemicals into the body has started, it is incredibly difficult to turn off, although there are specialized techniques and advanced skills that can be learned to both prevent and end anxiety such as those discussed in my programs. Combat breathing was developed to help police and military personnel in rapidly regaining control over their bodies reactions during intense and dangerous situations and is considered a high priority aspect of successful training.

Alexis Artwohl, PhD., one of America’s most renowned police psychologists, considers it such techniques so critical to officer training, he was quoted as saying, “Police officers should be taught controlled breathing from DAY ONE in training to the point where it becomes so automatic they do it without thinking.” Additionally, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Grossman, a former special forces soldier who taught psychology at West Point and who created the widely used and praised training video “The Bullet-Proof Mind.” has taught the breathing exercise and its positive impact on performance during high-speed pursuits for years.

Sergeant Charles Humes explained the basics of combat breathing as follows, “The breathing is done in cycles. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four; hold your breath for a count of four; exhale through your mouth for a count of four; hold your breath for a count of four, and then restart the cycle. Breath deeply and methodically – completely filling and emptying your lungs during each cycle. This simple technique will lower your blood pressure and arousal/stress level, and minimize the overwhelming side effects of an adrenaline dump.”

When you’re feeling anxiety, fear, or a panic attack while driving to the grocery store, sitting in a meeting at work, getting a haircut, flying in a plane, or even sitting on your couch at home, follow the training given to police and military personnel whose lives hang in the balance of their ability to control their stress reaction and practice a few moments of combat breathing!

P.S. I’ve been asked if this type of breathing is appropriate for children who are experiencing anxiety or excessive fear, and the answer is a huge YES!  Teaching your child how to better control and navigate their emotions is a lifelong skill that will serve them well, and perhaps generations to come.  In fact, it is discussed in great detail in my program developed for children with anxiety at www.AnxietyFreeChildren.com.

Alright, time for me to clean something up…

I know sometimes it seems like I’m against “positive thinking”, but in reality, nothing could be further from the truth.

I’m a HUGE fan of thinking positive, in fact, I think it’s the critical first step in overcoming anxiety or fear.  Heck, it’s the first step to ANYTHING.

What I’m not so keen on is stopping with positive thinking and not following it up with ACTION.

Let me explain…

Before we could put a man on the moon, we first had to BELIEVE we could.  I mean if we can’t do it, what’s the point in trying?  That’s why you don’t see many professional alchemists anymore still trying to turn lead into gold…we just don’t believe we can anymore (and we’re probably right on that one).

But what if we would have just sat around thinking and pondering how great it would be to go to the moon?  What if we just believed it REAL HARD, but that was it?

We’d be no closer to moon than we were in 1900.

We had to believe and then DO SOMETHING.   We had to figure it out.  Build a shuttle.  Set a goal to do it in a certain timeframe.

Kennedy said,

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

ONLY THEN did we actually take the steps necessary to plant our flag on the moon.  Belief and positive thinking was a necessary first step, but not nearly enough.

It’s the same with overcoming fears and anxiety.

If you think you CAN’T be different, that you’re destined to a life of misery and anxious suffering, then you’ll never try and put in the effort required to change.  You’ll guarantee your own failure.  So thinking positive is critical, you HAVE to think positive and believe in the possibility of change just to start.

But if ALL you do is think positive, like some self-improvement wackos tell you to, that’s not much better than doing nothing.  You need to add ACTION to the mix and get things moving in the direction toward your goal.

What actions can you take that actually move you closer to the goal?

Things like figuring out what you do in life that causes you to get stressed, anxious, and sick, and do less of it.  How about figuring out what you do in life that makes you smile and feel at peace and doing more of that?  Starting a recovery program like on that I offer, or seeing a therapist if that’s more your speed, or deciding to confront what’s really at the core of your anxiety…

The options are limitless, but you have to start somewhere.  Thinking positive is a great place to start, but a terrible place to stop.

So what are YOU going to do today to move one step closer to who you want to be?  Shoot me a comment and let me know!

This is a pretty important day for me…

For awhile now, I’ve been getting emails and phone calls from a lot of you asking me for something geared toward children who are struggling with anxiety.

Like we all know, anxiety tends to run in families. Whether that’s because of genetics or environment is debatable, but the end result is the same – if a parent is having trouble with anxiety, it’s DRAMATICALLY more likely that their child will need help with their anxiety too.

Looking back at MY life, if an adult would have recognized that I needed help with my anxiety and done something about it, I can’t imagine how much different things would have turned out and how much easier life would have been. It’s tough being an adult with an anxiety problem or fear, no doubt, but if you’ve been a CHILD who’s suffered with anxiety like I did, you know that can be much worse.

Childhood is supposed to be when you’re carefree and focused on one thing – FUN. But when your child battles anxiety, you know that life can anything BUT fun for them. They struggle with their self-esteem, have social problems, poor school performance, or may even resort to dangerous behaviors or activities like cutting, drugs, alcohol, or sex to try and numb themselves or escape their overwhelming emotions.

Childhood isn’t supposed to be that way, and if you can treat your child’s anxiety while it’s early, you can quite literally change their ENTIRE LIFE for the better.

So I spent the past year with my head down, focused on one thing, assembling the single best resource for parents of children with anxiety that has ever been developed.

I’ll be honest, I’m really proud of it, and I know deep down in my gut how much it’s going to help parents and children who need it.

If you’re a parent of a child who you think may need help with their anxiety, go take a look and see if you think it’s something that’s right for you and your child:

www.AnxietyFreeChildren.com

Because there’s nothing more important you can do for your child than help free them from their anxiety and fear.

Just click below to learn more: