Panic attacks: what to do?

It is estimated that 21 out of every 100 people will experience a panic attack at some point in their lives. It is therefore worthwhile, especially if you are a person who is highly exposed to stress, to be familiar with the sudden reaction that is a panic attack. It is the symptoms that accompany the attack that aggravate the fear and fuel the attack.

Give yourself a massage

Massages are known to be effective in reducing stress1,2. When you feel panic coming on, think about self-massage. If you are in public or don't want to draw attention to yourself, choose the hands:

To massage your hand, open it and massage the palm with your thumb in a circular motion. Start the massage in the palm of your hand and gradually work your way outwards, applying more and more pressure. Then smooth each finger, pressing gently and without cracking. Then move to the other hand.

At the same time you can repeat soothing phrases to yourself.

Try Autogenic Training

This is a closely related deep relaxation technique that uses suggestion and concentration to eliminate stress. To work at its best, it requires real training that demands regular and sustained practice. Here is the recommended exercise:

Sitting or lying down, close your eyes and repeat inwardly and slowly "my right arm is heavy" while visualizing the arm becoming heavy. Breathe deeply.

The more the body weighs, the more it spreads out and the more it relaxes the muscles.

Now repeat inwardly and slowly "my right arm is warm" while visualising the gentle warmth spreading. Breathe deeply.

This visualization allows a very slight vasodilation of the blood vessels, which promotes better oxygenation of the body.

Always keep your eyes closed and then repeat inwardly and slowly "my heart is beating gently" while paying attention to your heart rate.

This formula calms the heartbeat and leads to general relaxation.

Finally, focus on your breathing and your breathing alone. See how deep, calm and gentle it becomes as you pay attention to it.

Perform a visualisation (guided or not)

Visualisation or guided imagery is a very effective practice for responding to a panic attack, but it requires solid training. It consists of closing your eyes and picturing or constructing an image or scene that calms you.

Use your breath

The next time you feel very stressed, get into the habit of taking deep breaths.

Start by breathing in through your nose and then place one hand on your stomach, which should rise, and another on your chest, which should barely move.

Then breathe out through your mouth and push out as much air as you can, while contracting your abdominal muscles.

Continue to breathe in the same way, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.

You may also like to read / También te puede interesar leer

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The blues: What can you do to put a smile on your face?

What could be more human than to feel a drop in morale from time to time? Depending on the person, who is more or less sensitive to light, this can happen more often in winter than in summer. Whatever the case, there are several ways to regain our enthusiasm and joie de vivre, by following the following tips.

In this article, you will find all our tips on how to find a lasting smile.

A bout of the blues: temporary low spirits or depression

Depending on how you feel and how often you experience these blues, you will not react in the same way. A real depression is very different from the temporary blues.

The difference lies mainly in the duration of the attitudes: lasting loss of interest in any activity, change in weight and sleeping habits, intense sadness most of the time with changing moods, difficulty in concentrating, especially in working.

If these elements persist over time, it is advisable to consult a health professional quickly, without hesitating to mention all the symptoms. In this case of depression, your willpower alone or the good words of those around you are not enough, and this is normal.

If these symptoms are temporary, we speak of depression, which can be overcome alone, with the help of a few ideas.

How to react?

Physical activity

When the dark thoughts become more numerous, it is often a question of getting the body back on track first. Doing sport makes you feel better in your body and therefore in your head. The brain triggers the secretion of endorphins and serotonin (a natural antidepressant) during physical exertion, giving you that pleasant feeling of euphoria when you are in the middle of a sport. Sport also boosts confidence and self-esteem.

Exposure to daylight

It is no coincidence that we often feel more depressed in winter, when the days are shorter. Daylight is essential for a good mood. It is necessary to get more than one hour of exposure per day, otherwise the body functions as if it were night all the time, with its attendant lack of energy and slowed metabolism. Sunlight is more effective in the morning or at noon, and will recharge your batteries with vitamin D, keeping your spirits high.

Eating a balanced diet

Along with physical activity, eating well and taking care of yourself, without forgetting the pleasure of eating, is another essential aspect of keeping a positive state of mind. Give preference to fresh fruit, especially for your snacks, bearing in mind that you should prepare "triangular" plates for your meals, including proteins (fish, meat, eggs, etc.), vegetables and starchy foods. Certain foods are particularly recommended in the event of temporary depression, as they contain large quantities of important minerals for the brain.

Thus, if you are looking to alleviate great fatigue or irritability, make up for your lack of magnesium by eating nuts and dried fruit and chocolate in moderation.

Tryptophan, an amino acid that is largely responsible for our zest for life (because it produces serotonin), can be found in good quantities in bananas.

Oats, wholemeal cereals and legumes are also rich in tryptophan.

Finally, don't forget green vegetables, which are rich in vitamin B (correcting many disorders) and fatty fish oils, rich in omega 3, such as salmon and mackerel. But the main idea here is to enjoy eating in times of depression.

Talk, write and practice gratitude

If you can find a sympathetic and trusting ear, talking about the few worries that are weighing you down can go beyond resolving them to relieving a lot of nervous tension. Talking to a psychologist or other health professional is of course even better, in order to express the emotions that overwhelm us during moments of depression.

If we can't talk, writing down what is bothering us inside often has the same effect, because writing allows us to distance ourselves from our problems. We can even try to write down three things each day for which we feel grateful. If practised regularly, gratitude can help us to feel more joyful and satisfied with our lives.

Do something that makes us feel good

... whether it's reading a good book, watching a series or a film that makes you laugh, having a drink with a friend, taking a hot bubble bath, getting a massage, gardening, drawing or colouring: all ideas to escape and pamper yourself are welcome! It's all about being kind to yourself.

Meditation and yoga

Known for their positive effects on the mind and positivity, meditation and yoga can quickly become an asset in your fight against depression. If you don't have a friend or club nearby, there are many applications on the internet that make it easy to practice, even for beginners.

You may also like to read / También te puede interesar leer

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The Apparition - Halloween Poems

Poesías en inglés Halloween - Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Poems in English

The Apparition

When by thy scorn, O murd’ress, I am dead
And that thou think’st thee free
From all solicitation from me,
Then shall my ghost come to thy bed,
And thee, feign’d vestal, in worse arms shall see;
Then thy sick taper will begin to wink,
And he, whose thou art then, being tir’d before,
Will, if thou stir, or pinch to wake him, think
Thou call’st for more,
And in false sleep will from thee shrink;
And then, poor aspen wretch, neglected thou
Bath’d in a cold quicksilver sweat wilt lie
A verier ghost than I.
What I will say, I will not tell thee now,
Lest that preserve thee; and since my love is spent,
I’had rather thou shouldst painfully repent,
Than by my threat’nings rest still innocent.

By John Donne 1572 - 1631

👻🎃 Recursos educativos en inglés para halloween

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Halloween: 5 Poems for Kids 🎃

Poesías en inglés Halloween - Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Poems in English

Happy Halloween

It's late and we are sleepy,
The air is cold and still.
Our jack-o-lantern grins at us
Upon the window sill.
We're stuffed with cake and candy
And we've had a lot of fun,
But now it's time to go to bed
And dream of all we've done.
We'll dream of ghosts and goblins
And of witches that we've seen,
And we'll dream of trick-or-treating
On this happy Halloween.

Halloween Wishes

Since this is the time for goblins and bats,
Halloween spirits, ghosts and cats,
Weird-happenings and witches brew,
These are the things I wish for you.

May the only spirit you chance to meet,
Be the spirit of love and warm friends sweet.
May the tricks that you are asked to do,
Be a trick to help you gain a friend or two.

So, by tomorrow, pick three friends sweet,
And give them all a Halloween treat.
You only have one day, so hurry!
Leave a treat on the doorstep, then flee in a hurry!

Halloween

It was down in the woodland on last Hallowe'en,
Where silence and darkness had built them a lair,
That I felt the dim presence of her, the unseen,
And heard her still step on the hush-haunted air.

It was last Hallowe'en in the glimmer and swoon
Of mist and of moonlight, where once we had sinned,
That I saw the gray gleam of her eyes in the moon,
And hair, like a raven, blown wild on the wind.

It was last Hallowe'en where starlight and dew
Made mystical marriage on flower and leaf,
That she led me with looks of a love, that I knew
Was dead, and the voice of a passion too brief.

It was last Hallowe'en in the forest of dreams,
Where trees are eidolons and flowers have eyes,
That I saw her pale face like the foam of far streams,
And heard, like the night-wind, her tears and her sighs.

It was last Hallowe'en, the haunted, the dread,
In the wind-tattered wood, by the storm-twisted pine,
That I, who am living, kept tryst with the dead,
And clasped her a moment who once had been mine.

Madison Julius Cawein

It's Halloween

It's Halloween! It's Halloween!
The moon is full and bright
And we shall see what can't be seen
On any other night.

Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,
Grinning goblins fighting duels,
Werewolves rising from their tombs,
Witches on their magic brooms.

In masks and gowns
we haunt the street
And knock on doors
for trick or treat.

Tonight we are the king and queen,
For oh tonight it's Halloween!

by Jack Prelutsky

The Witch

She comes by night, in fearsome flight,
In garments black as pitch,
the queen of doom upon her broom,
the wild and wicked witch,

a crackling crone with brittle bones
and dessicated limbs,
two evil eyes with warts and sties
and bags about the rims,

a dangling nose, ten twisted toes
and fold of shriveled skin,
cracked and chipped and crackled lips
that frame a toothless grin.

She hurtles by, she sweeps the sky
and hurls a piercing screech.
As she swoops past, a spell is cast
on all her curses reach.

Take care to hide when the wild witch rides
to shriek her evil spell.
What she may do with a word or two
is much too grim to tell.

by Jack Prelutsky

👻🎃 Recursos educativos en inglés para halloween

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The Samain, ancestor of Halloween and All Saints' Day

Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Stories in English

Lecturas en inglés

The Halloween and All Saints' Day celebrations have their origins partly in the Feast of the Samain. This festival, the ancestor of Halloween, was timeless as it belonged neither to the old nor the new year.

According to tradition, this night belonged to the dead who dressed up as monsters and came to visit the living. We find in this festival the origin of Halloween costumes!

The Samain is a Celtic and therefore Gallic festival (since the Gauls were one of the Celtic peoples) which corresponds to the night of 31 October to the first of November in our Julian calendar. This day marked the end of summer and the beginning of the dark season.

La Samain: a Gallic festival

The Samain festival dates back more than 2500 years. The Saman festival is also called Saman, Samhna, Samhain or Samonios. To give you an idea of what this festival is all about, you should know that the year of the Celts was marked by 4 major events and each of these events was linked to the 4 seasons.

• IMBOLC celebrated Spring and took place at the beginning of February.
• BELTANE celebrated Summer and took place at the beginning of May.
• LUGNASAD celebrated Autumn and took place at the beginning of August.
• SAMAIN celebrated Winter and took place at the beginning of November.

The Samain was the day when the God of Death informed the dead of the year of their new destination or "reincarnation". The feast therefore had a cultural and religious dimension. This feast marked the beginning of the New Year and its celebration was obligatory! The feast of the Samain lasted 3 days, but the festivities could continue for 15 days:

• Day 1: the first day was dedicated to the memory of the great missing men.
• Day 2: This day was the feast of all the dead.
• Day 3: The last day was the day of revelry and celebration.

when the Samain became All Saints' Day

Traditions and beliefs travel through time and civilisations, they change, transform, evolve and are no longer quite the same. In the 11th century, the Samain, like the majority of pagan festivities, was banned. The church established the Feast of All Saints (All Saints), the date of which corresponds to the first day of the Samain, and the Feast of the Dead, which corresponds to the second day of the Samain.

While most historians agree that the Samain is the ancestor of Halloween, some believe that the Halloween festival practised today bears no resemblance to the Celtic Samain in either form or symbolism.

For historians, All Saints' Day is the real extension of the Samain and not Halloween. What is certain is that Celtic beliefs and practices are at the source of these two celebrations, but it is not certain that either one is the modern extension of the other.

The Irish Legend of the Samain

Another legend, Irish this time, gave birth to Halloween: Jack O Lantern! A very old legend that gave birth to the traditional Halloween pumpkin. It tells the story of a drunken and stingy young man who makes a pact with the devil in the hope of escaping from hell. Unable to go to heaven because of his lifelong attitude, he was turned into embers and trapped forever in a hollowed-out turnip. Do you want to know more about this story?

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The Halloween costume, a thousand-year-old tradition

Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Stories in English

Cuentos cortos en inglés

The Halloween costume, a thousand-year-old tradition

We all have in mind the famous scene from E.T. where the main character is hidden under a sheet for Halloween, in the middle of the whole little family, dressed up for the occasion. Since then, this celebration of Anglo-Saxon tradition has swept through our lands. But by the way, what is this celebration all about, and why do we have to dress up?

Basically, it is a Celtic festival to celebrate the living dead, on a date in October or November. Then, when the feast of All Saints' Day was fixed in 1048, the eve of the holy night ("all hallow's eve", which gave rise to Halloween), taking up this concept, was set for 30 October. Initially Irish, this festival soon became a great success in Anglo-Saxon countries, particularly the United States, before being celebrated in other countries, such as Spain.

So much for the origins. And the disguise in all this? If nowadays we don't believe so much in the existence of ghosts, the tradition has lasted, and also evolved a little: children dressed in their Halloween costumes (monsters, ghosts, witches, vampires...) ring the doors to ask for sweets. It is therefore above all an opportunity for our children to have fun, or even to scare themselves, with sweets that will make them happy! So, as every year, get ready to find some unexpected visitors at your door this Halloween.

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Recipe for the halloween spider cupcakes

Recetas para Halloween - Halloween recipes

Recipe halloween spider cupcakes

Among the most feared beasts, spiders hold a special place. Terrorise your blond heads and their friends by making these hairy tarantulas more real than life.

Degree of difficulty: Easy

Type of dish : Dessert

Number of people: 6

Preparation time : 40 min

Cooking time: 20 min

Ingredients of the Halloween recipe to make with the kids: Spider cupcakes

• 40 g soft butter
• 50 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 75 g flour
• 1 teaspoon of yeast
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

For the decor

• 6 tablespoons of chocolate spread (homemade is even better)
• A packet of dark chocolate chips
• 6 Dragibus sweets
• 6 rolls of liquorice

Steps of the Halloween recipe to do with the children: Spider cupcakes

Prepare the cupcakes: beat the softened butter with the sugar until the mixture becomes creamy. Add the egg and mix well before adding the flour, baking powder and cocoa. Place the mixture in cupcake trays and bake for approx. 20 minutes at 180°C.

Allow the cupcakes to cool completely before decorating. Unroll the liquorice rolls and cut them into 8 pieces of equal length, which will form the legs of the spider. Cut the Dragibus in half.

Cover each cupcake with a spoonful of spread. Stick the spider's hairs in dark chocolate chips all over the surface of the spider. Then hang the 8 legs of each tarantula on the sides. Finish with the eyes, by placing 2 half Dragibus at the front of the bug.

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