Somatic Experiencing Tips for Panic Attacks
Pressure on chest, rapid heart rate, insomnia — all signals that are pointing to something — I’m not broken.
Developing somatic awareness is a relationship between our awareness and our physical body.
Interoception: where awareness meets sensations.
I was having panic attacks, didn’t know, and I didn’t talk about it. I was ashamed.
Chronic stress and suppressed emotions were contributing to it.
Somatic Tips for Panic Attacks (keep Reading)
Circa Halloween 2008. My peak “pretending” years.
Before I knew what panic attacks were, I was having them.
In the late 2000s, during my 3rd, 4th, and 5th year of college, I started to really notice my mental health decline. I was working as a wedding DJ on weekends and selling high-end hiking gear at The North Face. Because I felt behind my peers at school, I started loading up my semesters with 18 units of classes. And the most pressing thing: I was pretending to be heterosexual.
The first time I had a panic attack, I was so scared I thought I was going to die. Ashamed and unskilled, I didn’t want to reach out for help. I remember it being around Christmas. Two layers of blankets added warmth to the three layers of sweatshirts I already had on. My mom refused to use the heater in the winter.
As I prayed for my body to relax, something inside of me revolted. The more I tried to relax, the more I tensed up. I always found myself in this precarious situation: bedtime approaches, and the thought demons would come out. There was an internal battle between my authentic truth and perceived safety—aka “who I thought everyone wanted me to be.”
But tonight something started to happen that I couldn’t control. The more I resisted these thoughts, the more my body tensed up. Pressure on my chest increased from 5 lbs of weight to a giant elephant in minutes. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. As I gasped for air like a fish out of water, I truly thought this was the end. Cardiovascular disease isn’t uncommon amongst my Filipino brethren, and all four of my grandparents died from it.
Something inside of me said to breathe deep and hold. Breathe deeper and hold longer. Breathe deep, sip more air, and hold even longer.
It was in these breath holds that I could literally feel the tension in my body relax.
The innate wisdom of using my breath to regulate came naturally to me. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was starting to practice emotional regulation and presence.
The healing process took years. But my last panic attack happened in 2017. And today, that kind of pressure or tightness in my chest is rare.
My Journey With Panic Attacks and the Need for Male Anxiety Treatment
Somatic awareness is the mindful ability to notice, feel, and interpret the sensations, emotions, and subtle cues within your body. It’s the practice of tuning into your internal experience—like your breath, heart rate, tension, temperature, or ease. This is the practice of understanding how these sensations influence your emotions, reactions, and relationships.
Through cultivating somatic awareness, you reconnect to your body's inherent wisdom, empowering yourself to heal from stress, trauma, and disconnection—and reclaiming a grounded presence in your life.
The chaos and pressures of my external environment were influencing my internal environment. The systems of my body were mirroring what was happening to me on the outside.
Our modern age of technology, blue screens, desk jobs, sedentary lifestyles, and unhealthy foods have hijacked our presence. The attention economy manipulates our amygdala into believing we are always being preyed on by perceived threats. And when we add in the already mucky, insecure thoughts and beliefs to our mindscape, the pressures to survive compound into mental and physical health problems.
Somatic Therapy: A Natural Path to Trauma and Anxiety Relief
I firmly believe that if I had visited a healthcare professional back in 2009, they would have prescribed something like Xanax or the recently meme-ified, White Lotus’d Lorazepam.
But there’s another way—and it doesn’t cost anything or do damage to our nervous system.
And it’s the breath and somatic practices.
I wish that before healthcare professionals prescribe drugs, they would teach patients how to breathe, feel emotions, and regulate their nervous system.
The true path to healing is through sustainable practices that are already innately built into our bodies.
Somatic Tips for Navigating Panic Attacks
If panic has ever taken you hostage, I want you to know: You’re not alone—and there is something you can do.
Here are a few practices that helped me (and still help my clients today):
Notice your breath – Without changing it, simply observe.
Lengthen your exhale – A longer exhale helps signal safety to your nervous system.
Press your feet into the ground – Reconnect to the earth and to the moment.
Name what’s happening – “This is panic. This is not permanent.”
Breathe deep, hold gently – Sip in a little more air. Hold it softly. Exhale slowly.
Final Thought: Are You Ready to Come Home to Yourself?
Healing isn't just about managing symptoms. It's about reclaiming your life.
It's about remembering that your body — and your spirit — were made for so much more than just survival.
This Labor Day weekend, I'm hosting SHIFT Men's Retreat - a 6-day somatic retreat for men in Baja California, designed for men who are ready to step out of anxiety, stress, and disconnection — and into embodied leadership, presence, and trust.
If you've been feeling the call to go deeper... to finally give yourself the space to heal... to learn the practices that will sustain you for life...
Now is the time.
Spots are limited, and they’re filling quickly.
Visit www.mikesagun.com/shift to learn more and reserve your place.
You don't have to carry it all alone anymore.
SHIFT is your invitation to come back to yourself — fully, powerfully, unapologetically.
Your body knows how to come back.
It’s waiting for your attention, not your judgment.
PS Download the SHIFT Men’s Retreat Brochure here:
