There are moments when anxiety doesn’t just live in your mind — it takes over your whole body.

Your chest tightens.
Your gut twists.
Your skin flushes hot and cold, and your heart starts to sprint — desperate to escape the pain that feels like it’s about to collapse around you.
Your thoughts loop and collide, searching for an exit that doesn’t exist.

That was me a few weeks ago. One moment I was fine, and the next my body reacted before I could even name what was happening—my skin flushed bright red across my chest, arms, neck, and cheeks. My heart was racing. My mind was unraveling.

For me, this wave came during a season of deep hormonal change—what they now call perimenopause.
It hit harder than I ever expected. One day I could feel calm and centered, and the next, it was like my body had been hijacked. The anxiety, the heat, the panic, the tears that came out of nowhere.

But I know I’m not the only one who’s felt this kind of storm.
Maybe for you, it’s not hormones.
Maybe it’s heartbreak.
Maybe it’s grief, loss, or exhaustion from trying to hold everything together for too long.
Maybe it’s trauma resurfacing, or the weight of a life that doesn’t feel like it fits anymore.

Whatever the reason, the body reacts. And sometimes it speaks loudly.

That day, my body was screaming for safety—and my mind couldn’t find it.
So I did what I always seem to do when life gets too loud: I went to the closet.
And somewhere between instinct and grace, something new came through.
I didn’t read it in a book. No one taught me.
It just arrived — like a lifeline from my Higher Self.

I call it Counter Breathing.

Here’s how it works:
1️⃣ Lay down on your back.
2️⃣ Take a long inhale, and in your mind count 1.
3️⃣ On the exhale, count 99.
4️⃣ Then inhale 2, exhale 98—and keep going.

The breathing slows the body.
The counting gives the mind something to hold onto — because counting this way actually requires your attention.
You can’t drift off or spiral as easily when you’re focused on keeping the numbers straight.

Together, they pull you out of the panic pattern and back into presence.

If you lose track, start anywhere.
If peace finds you before the end, stay there.

Every time I’ve used this, it’s shifted me — from panic to presence.
From chaos to quiet.
From running away from myself to finally coming home.

Because sometimes healing isn’t about pushing through.
It’s about laying on the floor, breathing slowly, and letting your body remember safety again.

I’m Shelle Crow — author, meditation guide, and creator of The Method of Stillness.
Lately, I’ve been writing honestly about depression, anxiety, and the healing process — not from the outside looking in, but from the middle of it.

If you’ve been following along with these recent reflections, I hope this practice offers you something simple and steady to lean on.
If you try Counter Breathing, take a quiet moment afterward to notice what shifts — even if it’s subtle.

Sometimes, that’s where the healing begins.