I don’t know about you, but I’ve had mild panic attacks throughout my life.Whether it’s stressing about the future or a test, or if I was making the right choice in selling everything I own to take a chance on myself (and this specific instance, didn’t work out…).
I’m not new to racing thoughts, negative self talk, fear and doubt for the future. But having all of these during a workout, not ideal!
Now, I’m just a personal trainer with a lot of certifications and continued education because I find it fascinating and I’m also trying to help myself through this as well.
So PLEASE contact your doctor or therapist for actual real help and next steps.
This blog post is more to share what my personal experience was, what has helped me work through it in the moment and work to prevent it from happening again.
I hope this gives you some comfort if anything that you aren’t broken, it isn’t over for you and things can change.
So here’s my story…
Panic attack experience
The biggest panick attacks I’ve ever had were at the gym. When my mind was spiraling, I was working hard, heart rate up and heavy breathing, I started spiraling.
I couldn’t catch my breathe, felt darkness around my vision and my thoughts just kept racing.
It’s these experiences as to why I’m very specific with my workouts, because I can still get in my head.
CrossFit workouts haven’t always been great for me when they’re longer workouts and I can get stuck in my head. It can be a great time to work through things or use it in a beneficial way, but it can also be difficult if you keep replaying the same old narrative and negative things over and over.
The first time was a CrossFit class when life was literally falling apart. I had sold my house, moved, tried to become a firefighter, it wasn’t working out, decided I needed a change because where I was renting wasn’t working (ac broke and no wifi when I’m trying to build something online) put my notice in and realized I didn’t have anywhere to go but they had already found someone to take over the lease for me, I was falling apart.
I had taken a chance on myself and questioning if I could do it, I let outside perspective eat away at me. Not a great spot to go into a HIIT workout with.
I knew it wasn’t good because people were side eyeing me, not sure what to do. I was falling apart, struggling with a workout I SHOULD be able to do, and ended up barely finishing it only to walk outside and sit there for a few minutes trying not to pass out.
Typical woman…
The second time, you guessed it, another CrossFit workout but this was years later and I THOUGHT I had worked through it. I was frustrated with myself not being as strong as I would’ve liked, comparing myself to others and then it spiraled from there.
What am I doing with my life?
Why do I keep failing?
I should be better, stronger, faster, thinner than this.
I’m such a fraud, why would anyone come to me for help and support?
Who would listen to ME!?
We had just finished a max out workout and then went into a biking portion. Max calories for a certain time, rest and do that for 3 rounds. I was starting to spiral during it, caught myself and then went hard the last round.
Only to get done, walk off the bike and go to a corner as I started to panic again.
I couldn’t catch my breathe, started seeing stars, felt super light headed and didn’t want anyone to see me.
I was embarrassed that my failure and breakdown was public. That only happens when no one is around!
But I don’t want that for you.
So, if you find yourself in a panic attack like this during a workout, here’s how I was able to make the second one A LOT better and stop future ones from happening.
How to calm an active panic attack
Breath. Breath is the single thing that can actively help you in this moment. I wish I had someone to talk me through this, but I also didn’t want anyone to see me struggling.
So use this for yourself and those around you that might need the help.
The only way that has helped me is focusing on a big 5 second breath in and a big 5 second breath out. It’ll be shaky and hard at first, and may take a few tries to get to the full 5 seconds of each, but just keep doing it.
Once you’ve get to 5 seconds, try going to 6 or 7. But only focus on the counting. Don’t let any other thoughts in.
This is also great when it comes to general stress and spiraling with negative thoughts. Focusing just on the breath number and counting will make the panic attack calm down. The less other thoughts you have, the better you’ll be.
And if you’re helping someone else through it, focus on the counting and walk them through it. Have them mimic your breath and how slow you’re going.
Tell them that they’re ok and safe, to just focus on breathing and let go of everything else.
Once the panic attack is done, just keeping focusing on the breathing but start walking a little bit now. I’d say about 3-5 minutes total.
Then, once your heart rate is back down and you feel better, the next steps need to happen.
Understanding why the panic attack happened
Once you can, I want you to start journaling and working through some questions while everything is still fresh in your mind.
Here’s a few that I typically work through:
Why did it happen/what caused this to come up?
What can I do to prevent this from happening again?
Is the cause of this something I can fix now, yes or no?
If yes, what steps are needed to change this now?
If no, what do I need to be aware of for next time so it’s different?
How can I better take care of myself now?
With these questions, I want you to be as open as possible. Don’t attach yourself personally or read too much into the answers. You’ll most likely be dealing with life stress, negative self talk, fear and doubt. Don’t spiral again with the answers, we’re just looking for information here.
The other thing you’ll want to address and take note from all of this is how to talk to and think about yourself. The more negative and often it is, the more likely this will happen again.
Check out How to Avoid Burnout for more suggestions on how to prevent the spiral from happening.
And the final thing to remember and be aware of, is our body doesn’t understand the stress of “I didn’t lift or perform how I expected to or wanted to” and I’m going to die if I don’t address and get away from this now.
Before, there would be an up and down. Address the stress or fear, get away from it, come down from those emotions, be supported and feel safe.
If you can’t actually get away from the stress, then there’s never going to be a way to come down from it. And if you don’t allow others in, you’ll never be able to fully heal and recover as well.
I know this can be scary. When my ex and I broke up, he said my depression was really affecting him as well. Now, I didn’t end that relationship well, but hearing that made me never want to tell anyone anything ever again.
It’s taken a lot of effort, but with my current partner, it might take a few tries but I share everything now. He listens, gives advice when I need it and just fully supports me.
My mom too. We’ve had our rough patches, but both of our willingness to work through things and want to be better, has allowed us to support each other fully too. It’s a process and can take years to heal and change old patterns, but a lifetime of support is well worth the effort.
It can be scary, but let people in.
Where to go from here
Experimenting is HUGE with this. The more you do it in different scenarios, the better and more options you’ll have when those different and new situations come up.
Because with an experiment, there is no success or failure, there’s just an outcome. And with that outcome, you get to decide what it is you want to do with it. Do you want to keep it, do you want to toss it, do you want to try something new? But ultimately it puts YOU back in control of your life.
Find what makes you feel good and happy. What makes you feel alive and escape your stress and fears for a bit? Do more of that!
Resting and napping is good, and especially hard if you aren’t used to it or see it as being lazy.
Being vulnerable with people you can trust. Letting yourself cry and work through the hard things. Whether you have people in your life or not, allow people to support and hold space for you.
Do nothing, watch a movie, let your mind go blank, journal, etc.
Check out How to Start Hobbies Again as an Adult for more ideas and to work through why you’re struggling with this so much.
And finally…
Let me do a quick call out for who this is all for. Because if you had any doubt this is for you or if I truly know what you’re going through, let me guess…
You’re the busy, overworked, too much on her plate woman.
You hyperfocus on health with food, fitness and body image in order to have some sense of control when your life has just gotten out of hand.
To the point where it has taken over your life to a detrimental point and you’re beyond done. You’re ready to make this change now, to stop waiting for life to get easier, for your schedule to open up, for the dream body to finally come in order to take a break and allow rest to actually happen.
This healing your health stuff when you know too much takes time. Feelings are valid and there for a reason, so it’s time to dissect them and take a look at it. Just like with Cutting Cravings.
This work, when done on your own, will take years of trial and error, but we can fast track it together.
Old habits and beliefs come up, not because you haven’t done the work to heal, but new situations you aren’t prepared for need to be addressed.
So, if you’d like a way to create your first steps in healing your unhealthy relationship with food and fitness, address how you view yourself, and finally feel like the capable and relaxed woman you want to be, book a 1:1 call with me.
We’ll address where you’re at, where you want to go, and come up with a simple plan to start taking steps in order to get you there in just 30 minutes. If you’re done trying to figure it out on your own, I’d love to help you create a simple plan to get started.
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