A book and tips by Sophie Rose Peters 

I’d like to introduce myself and my book to the No-Panic community.  My pen-name is Sophie Rose Peters which I have devised to keep my privacy as well as the full freedom to write from the heart and to share what I know from deep personal experience.  The photos I include aim to show that one of my favourite ways of tuning out anxiety and focusing on beauty is through photography.  

Empaths are people who can easily feel what others feel.  This can create stress and inner turmoil.  Creative work, like art, writing or photography can be fun and great anxiety relievers.

As I write at the back of the book many empaths struggle with anxiety.  This is nothing to be ashamed of.  Being people who are naturally sensitive to the energy of other people and their environment, empaths can quickly take on strong vibes that set off their nervous system.

This is where my book comes in handy.  I know anxiety well personally.  I’ve struggled with it since I was sixteen years old, when I had my first panic attack in a summer school where I had to read my philosophy essay out loud to the rest of the class.  It was my first episode and it was scary, it shook me deeply and in many ways would come to define the rest of my life as I sought to understand it and ‘get rid of it.’  

I am some decades on and I still experience anxiety in certain situations.  If I had to face the same conditions, that is being in the spotlight and having to read or speak, I’d be feeling it full force.  All this, despite therapy and much more awareness of myself and my personal history.

So what is it about anxiety that can have such a grip on many of us as empaths?  Maybe that answer is unique and personal to each one of us.  I know that I really don’t like to be the centre of attention.  My days of loving the spotlight and seeking out the popularity of my teenage years is long gone.  In some ways I miss the more ‘extroverted’ side of myself that played its part in my early years but now that I know that I am an introvert I am okay with being more behind the scenes.

It helped me tremendously to learn that I am an empath and I’ve read many books on the topic.  Getting to know one’s self is super fun and also seriously enlightening.  Learning to help one’s self feel better is wise.

Many of us may have grown up feeling different and/or criticised for being too sensitive, too intense or too ‘whatever.’  Well, we are sensitive and many of us are intense.  We feel things deeply, how can we not be these things?

What we really need is to understand ourselves, have compassion and empathy with who we are and all that we can become.  Empaths are very special people.  We are typically kind, loving and benevolent.  While we have shared traits and characteristics we are unique as snow flakes with differing gifts and talents to offer to ourselves and others.  We were born to enjoy life and to appreciate who we are. 

But this doesn’t always come easily for us.  Many of us need to heal ourselves to feel like our authentic selves.  Healing our anxiety may not ‘cure’ it but we can become more secure as we seek ways to soften our experience of it.

Without being prescriptive, this book aims to offer hope and practical guidance.  Personal and friendly, it is written with a helpful approach.  The chapters in the book  explore creativity, nature, exercise, sleep, work, relationships, mental health, success, faith and spirituality, as related to empaths.  All take into consideration how they can be used to ease anxiety.  

I share something of myself in the book but it is written to help you, the reader to better understand yourself and your individual nature and circumstances.  It is an empowering book that holds empaths in high esteem and acknowledges our strength, resilience and resourcefulness.  We deserve to love and be loved, it is true love that ultimately heals our anxiety and sets us free on the path to a joyful, balanced and good life. 

By discovering what lights you up, anxiety can ease greatly.  I hope that you will take this journey with me as you enjoy the book!  And if you decide to try photography, I hope it brings you the same joy that it does for me.

How can No Panic help?
No Panic specialises in self-help recovery and our services include:
Providing people with the skills they need to manage their condition and work towards recovery.
Our aim is to give you all of the necessary advice, tools and support that you will need to recover and carry out this journey. No Panic Recovery Programs