How to Teach Your Body It's Safe on Stage Again

Teach your brain and your body that you are safe when a panic attack happens.

Let's assume that you know that it is indeed a panic attack, that it is not a medical or physical issue. You go to therapy, or you go to hypnotherapy. And if you have not tried hypnotherapy, try hypnotherapy. But let's say you are taking action, you are addressing your mental health.

Will the old triggers fire again? They might

How do you make sure that the previous triggers, maybe talking on stage, talking with the board of directors, having an important meeting, having tough conversations, public transport, you name it, driving, prolonged driving, traveling, will not trigger a panic attack?

Well, the thing is that it might trigger panic attacks again. However, when you have done the work with therapy, with self-regulation, you know what it is. And sometimes it is just going through it, and understanding that you are safe.

Who I am, and what this playlist covers

By the way, if you are curious who I am and why I'm talking about panic attacks: my name is Eugene, I'm a registered hypnotherapist, and this is the playlist, The Panic Attack That You Didn't See Coming. We cover quite a bit in this series. We talk about how to recognize a panic attack. We talk about how they might feel. They often feel like a physical sensation. We talk about what to do with it, whether hypnotherapy specifically works with panic attacks, what to ask hypnotherapists, where to find hypnotherapists, and what aspects of anxiety and panic attacks in this mental spiral are actually specific to founders and business owners.

Today we're going to talk about maintenance. How to maintain that change.

The anticipation of a panic attack can cause one

One of the things with panic attacks that is quite fascinating: the anticipation of panic attacks can sometimes be anxiety-producing and can produce a panic attack. I mean, weird, right?

So the more you know that, okay, it might happen, and it's not pretty, and it feels awful, it feels like you can't breathe, you're dying, whatever, it's a heart attack, or you might experience physical issues like GI issues, right? Just understanding that it is not going to kill you. That you're going to be safe. That you are safe. That you are not broken. And that you are here, centering in the present moment. That can feel safe.

Grounding: five things you can see

A really quick exercise to center yourself is to notice five things that you can see in the room.

Four you can touch, three you can hear

Then after that, focus on four things that you can actually physically touch. Maybe you can also find an emotional support toy, I don't know, a fidget. If you have ADHD, fidgets are a lifesaver.

Then three things that you can hear.

Two you can smell, one you can taste

And two things that you can smell. If you can smell. I can't smell to save my life, so I have to get creative.

And one thing that you can taste. You can taste water. You can actually start to be really reflective. Do you have any taste in your mouth? What does your mouth taste like right now? It can be nothing. Some of my patients would say, oh, I still feel that pizza, I still feel that meal that I ate the last time. And it's really grounding. Like, it's really, really grounding.

Where I used this: high distress

This is something that I used with a lot of clients in high distress, especially when I worked in institutions or facilities, and people were having a dizzy spell, anxiety attacks, or rather panic attacks, or were in distress. That helped them to center themselves really, really well.

Breathing, and knowing you're okay

Breathing exercises can help. And the more you know that you're actually okay, the less intense it's got to be.

Don't be a prisoner of your panic attack

And also, understanding what activities can trigger that, and also not being a prisoner of your panic attack.

Exposure: teaching your body it's safe to speak, to present

So teaching a little bit of exposure therapy. Teaching your body that it's safe to speak, and safe to present, and safe to do certain activities, even if it is uncomfortable. Because discomfort, anxiety, feeling uneasy, it's not being in danger. It's just how your body reacts. And you can retrain your brain to tell your body that it is okay, that you are going to be okay.

To this day, I still feel it creeping in

Listen, to this day, sometimes when I travel, sometimes when I have a stressful day, sometimes when I drive, or I'm in the car, or I am on a panel, or I am presenting, I might feel that a panic attack is creeping in. And I'm perfectly okay with that. I know it's not going to overwhelm me. I know that if something happened, I can excuse myself. But ever since I learned that, it helps me to regulate myself really, really, really well.

Who I work with

So I really hope it helps, if you're looking for hypnotherapy for panic attacks. I work with a lot of executives, business owners, and a lot of my clients are gay and bisexual men. And listen, for us, we need mental health hygiene. We need self-regulation, 100 percent.

Request an appointment

You can go to goodhypnotherapy.org, and all the links are where the links are at. goodhypnotherapy.org, and you can request your appointment. After you request your appointment, I will send you a quick packet with the paperwork, where you can just tell me what's going on. If it is a good fit, I will send you the link to book your first session.

Next: why it came back

So, the next video. It's going to be the last video in this series, or at least before a little break. We're going to talk about why panic attacks sometimes can come back, and what to do about it. I really hope it doesn't, but if it does come back... I kind of shared a few spoilers in this video, how my panic attacks sometimes come back and what I do with that. But we're going to dive a little bit deeper in the next video: why it came back, and what to do differently this time. Because the body does what everybody's body is doing, and our mind is weird sometimes. But I got you.

I will see you in the next video. I love you so much, and I wish you a happy, peaceful and healthy rest of the day.

Part 6 of the series A panic attack out of nowhere. The episode arrives on YouTube on November 12, 2026; the written version is here first.