Q: Matt, are panic attacks real or are they a figment of the imagination?

A: Dr. Wayne Dyer was famous for saying, “Panic doesn’t attack.” And here’s a story a Tai Chi friend told me that illustrates it.

My friend was staying at another friend’s house for the weekend, when a drunken and unfriendly man entered the kitchen. The drunk was yelling and screaming as he moved toward my friend with a knife in hand.

The unfriendly man’s knife was not a steak knife, mind you. It was something much more threatening.

Anyway, as the drunken man approached, my friend did the only logical thing. He remained Tai Chi calm, grabbed a heavy metal frying pan and held it aloft in the White Crane Spreads its Wings posture.

This caused the drunken man to envision having a pan attack. He put his switchblade away and left.

My friend said, “I’m glad he was only drunk. If he’d been smoking pot, it would have been a pot and pan attack.”

Moral of the story: Tai Chi curbs anxiety. It teaches you to remain calm. It shows you that even though “panic doesn’t attack,” a pot or pan may come in handy if someone else attacks.

Matt Furey

Stay calm. Click panic away with Badass Tai Chi.