I suffer from anxiety attacks, and someone told me that this stems from past life experiences. I can just be sitting there when all of a sudden things start coming to a head, and I feel overwhelmed and exhausted. Is it possible that this stems from a past life? If so, what do I need to do in this life to heal this issue? (I'm a Pisces.)
- Marilyn
Dreamchaser:
Your panic attacks very well could be coming up from repressed past life memories, but even if that's true, it doesn't really matter, because you still have to deal with them in THIS life.
For the sake of our readers who aren't familiar, I'd like to present some background information on panic attacks. A panic attack is a blast of overwhelming fear that comes without warning and without any clear reason. It is far more powerful than the feeling of being "stressed out" that most of us deal with in our daily lives.
Symptoms of a panic attack can include:
* raging heartbeat
* difficulty breathing, or feeling as though you 'can't get enough air'
* terror that is almost paralyzing
* dizziness, lightheadedness or nausea
* trembling, sweating, shaking
* choking, chest pains
* hot flashes or sudden chills
* tingling in the fingers or toes ('pins and needles')
* fear that you're going to go crazy or are about to die
In addition to the above listed symptoms:
* the attack occurs suddenly, without any warning and without any way to stop it
* the level of fear is way out of proportion to the actual situation; often, in fact, it's completely unrelated
* it passes in a few minutes; the body cannot sustain the 'fight or flight' response for longer than that - however, repeated attacks can continue to go away and come back for hours
Panic attacks are not dangerous; you cannot die from having a panic attack. However, a recent study showed that people who suffer from panic disorder often:
* are more prone to alcohol and other drug abuse
* are at greater risk of attempting suicide
* spend more time in hospital emergency rooms
* spend less time on hobbies, sports and other satisfying activities
* tend to be financially dependent on others
* report feeling emotionally and physically less healthy than non-sufferers
* are afraid of driving more than a few miles away from home
I want you to head immediately to your regular doctor and ask for help with this matter. If you do not have a regular doctor, go to ANY general practitioner. You have to start somewhere in your current life to begin to heal this issue, regardless of when or how it began.
You probably won't be able to make these go away without some type of medical attention. This is not residual karma that can be cleared up instantly with some ritual. There are all kinds of different ways to treat this pattern, so you will have a lot of flexibility in your approach, and lots of options for treatment. Please don't be afraid to go and get help.
I wish you deep calm.
*****
Astrea:
As Pisces is the most sensitive sign, it's easy for you to get knocked off your "center." Since you probably were a DIFFERENT sign in your prior incarnations (most of us with many past lives have been all 12 signs - 24 if you count both male and female incarnations), most likely what you're experiencing now is a result of your current life situation as opposed to past life issues.
To discover WHY you have all these fearful thoughts, I recommend you work with a qualified psychotherapist ñ hopefully someone who can help you with some meditation techniques that you can use to calm yourself when this happens to you. There are also many new wonderful medications that can help with anxiety, as well as other medications that could be making these attacks worse.
Be sure you know your doctor well enough to tell her if you're taking any of these medications and things aren't going as they are supposed to. As I'm not a physician myself; I urge you to find a well qualified therapist who is trained to help you find the KEY to why this is happening. Something in your childhood or recent adulthood triggered these feelings, so look for answers in your current life experiences.
Beware of people who tell you that this is a result of something from a past life, as this seems to be one of the new and more popular scams for separating you from your money, Honey! I've had several recent letters from close friends who were suckered by some fake psychic who told them they needed charts, graphs and reports to clear up their Karma! These charts and graphs may cost THOUSANDS of dollars, but the creeps assure them that once they're through, they will know what is causing their anxiety attacks/bad luck/unhappiness, etc., and they'll be "cured" of the problem!
No matter how intelligent or educated a person may be, they can still be vulnerable to scam artists. This "past life" scam seems to be the latest evolution of the old "cursed money" scam, in which folks were told to bury cursed money somewhere, which the scam artist would then go dig up. By telling someone it's something from a past life, the fake psychic can charge people for both the past life reading and for whatever service they say will lift this "curse."
Anxiety attacks usually stem from experiences in this lifetime. While karma from our past lives CAN follow us into our current incarnation, guilt, worry, and doubt generally don't. Get with a counselor who can actually help you deal with the REAL problem. Of all twelve signs, you Pisces folks benefit the most from therapy, because you are the most likely to take it SERIOUSLY!
Astrea:
Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.
Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!
While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!
I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!
As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.
I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.
You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!
Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.
A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.
You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.