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Reflections on Anxiety, Panic, and Emotional Dysregulation


Panic, anxiety and emotional dysregulaton isn't a response--it's a reaction, reflexive, 'unmindful' and shallow, narrowing and limiting our ability to meet our circumstances rooted and in CONSCIOUS CONTACT with our Values. Reactions skim the surface of experience, driven by the immediacy of fear and the mind's reflexive grasping. Responses, on the other hand, arise from depth... rooted in Awareness rather than entangled in the surface-level noise of thought. A response has the weight of wisdom because it draws from the spaciousness of BEingness, rather than being bound to the narrowness of reactivity.


When someone in panic is told to "get a hold of themselves," what is it they are meant to hold? The phrase points toward a split, an inward division. From the Zen view, this separation isn't real or accurate... it's a form of delusion... a lack of clarity, a result of Attention being pulled into mind's thoughts spirals - rather than resting in the clarity of wide Awareness. Panic, anxiety and emotional dysregulation exaggerates and expands this misalignment, entangling Attention in the survival-driven reactions of the limbic system, hippocampus, and amygdala, cutting off access to the integrative wisdom of the neocortex and higher brain function able to see the entire field of experience, realizes we never truly cornered.


Practices such as meditation... Yoga... even sitting in 'recovery meetings' where people are connecting with our authentic sense of self demonstrates to us that this misalignment can be met... not by force, but by gentleness. Panic, anxiety and emotional dysregulation contracts and limits, while Awareness expands and allows for discovery. Reactions keep us spinning-out on the surface, while responses flow from the depths... or give what I sometimes refer to as 'rooted mountain presence' that has a sense of being immovable and indestructible. The difference lies in where Attention rests: is it ensnared in the mind's fearful narratives, or grounded in the fullness of the moment?


Through practice, we cultivate the capacity to shift Attention from content to context.. from the choppiness and turbulence of the mind (obsessive need for control AKA dukkha) to the stillness of BEingness. This redirection allows the attention to loosen its grip on survival mind's reactiveness, making room for the natural integration of higher brain functions. Panic, anxiety and emotional dysregulation isn't an enemy to be subdued but an opportunity to reorient--to pause, breathe, and remember the vastness of Awareness beyond minds thought-storm craving a sense of safety or control.


Responses have depth because they arise from this wholeness. They are not impulsive but spacious, infused with insight. To respond rather than react is to move beyond the superficial into the profound, where clarity and compassion guide action. This is not something to "get a hold of" as if it is outside oneself--it is a realignment: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually... a realizing that we've always been home, and have never left ourselves... home to what has always been present: the wisdom of BEingness, unshaken by the mind's contractions.


The practice, then, is simple yet not always easy for us to access: to pause, to notice, to return. To intervene inwardly... not with force... but with the soft strength of 360° panoramic Awareness... as Buddha rather than 'bumpkin.' Panic may narrow, but wide Awareness restores. Responses arise from this openness, where wisdom flows naturally, beyond the shallow grip of reaction.


一We Are the Practice Itself

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