Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Keep exploring at brilliant.org/freedominthought. Get started for free, and hurry—the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription.
WISDOM WEDNESDAY. Every week, you’ll get five powerful quotes from timeless thinkers (combined with some original insight): freedominthought.com/newsletter
ABOUT THE VIDEO
_
In this video, I talk about how to cultivate inner calm using The Stronghold Method.
Anxiety & Panic controlled a large part of my life for the last decade. And over the last few years, they strengthened their hold over me. They manipulated me into acting the same way they do many of their victims: mistaking panic attacks for heart attacks, visiting emergency rooms when it was unnecessary, increasingly avoiding activities and locations, and depending on objects and rituals to feel safe.
But I recently made some breakthroughs that have allowed me to reverse the polarity of this power dynamic—to bring Anxiety and Panic under my control. I’d like to share these breakthroughs with you.
By combining a series of practices together into a singular method, which I call The Stronghold Method, I am cultivating an inner calm and reducing my anxiety and panic.
You might be wondering, “why would I take advice from a neurotic on achieving calm?” And that reminds me of something Niccolo Machiavelli wrote in *The Prince*,
“Just as artists who draw landscapes get down in the valley to study the mountains and up to the mountains to look down on the valley, so one has to be a prince to get to know the character of a people and a man of the people to know the character of a prince.”
I lived much of my life in the Valley of Anxiety, and it allowed me to see the Mountain of Calm in a way that someone who has always lived there can’t see it. Or to paraphrase Machiavelli, one must be calm to know the character of a neurotic and a neurotic to know the character of the calm. So without further ado, let’s explore the method.
The Stronghold Method consists of four steps.
Video by Dr. David Carbonell on breathing: youtube.com/watch?v=eRIV2R3jzaQ
OUR COURSES
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Coming soon. Sign up to my newsletter to be notified when they release.
OUR MERCH
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Coming soon. Sign up to my newsletter to be notified when they release.
OUR BOOKS
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Follow No One comes out December 2022. Sign up to my newsletter to receive an e-mail when it comes out and read exclusive essays from the book: bit.ly/3mu7VGM
OUR FAVOURITE TOOLS
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Shortform. The best non-fiction book summaries (unlimited access for 5 days and 20% off an annual subscription when you use my link): bit.ly/3bmSXwy
Adobe. The software I use to make my videos:
Epidemic Sound. Where I get my music: bit.ly/3FrStmh
RELATED VIDEOS
_
Practical Philosophy Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5faAYlGYYoF7rgKH4oo_B81n4wE1n2xP
CONNECT WITH US
_
Instagram: instagram.com/freedomintht
Twitter: twitter.com/freedomintht
CONNECT WITH ME
_
Instagram: instagram.com/justintht
Twitter: twitter.com/justintht
Personal Youtube: bit.ly/32rJ9QB
PODCAST
_
Freedom in Thought Podcast: bit.ly/3mS76YT
FURTHER READING
_
NOTES
_
(1) Videos are just my opinion, for entertainment and informational purposes. Just some things to think about—not advice.
(2) Some of the links in the description are affiliate links which I get a kickback from—at no extra cost to you.
Keep exploring at brilliant.org/freedominthought. Get started for free, and hurry—the first 200 people get 20% off an annual premium subscription.
WISDOM WEDNESDAY. Every week, you’ll get five powerful quotes from timeless thinkers (combined with some original insight): freedominthought.com/newsletter
ABOUT THE VIDEO
_
In this video, I talk about how to cultivate inner calm using The Stronghold Method.
Anxiety & Panic controlled a large part of my life for the last decade. And over the last few years, they strengthened their hold over me. They manipulated me into acting the same way they do many of their victims: mistaking panic attacks for heart attacks, visiting emergency rooms when it was unnecessary, increasingly avoiding activities and locations, and depending on objects and rituals to feel safe.
But I recently made some breakthroughs that have allowed me to reverse the polarity of this power dynamic—to bring Anxiety and Panic under my control. I’d like to share these breakthroughs with you.
By combining a series of practices together into a singular method, which I call The Stronghold Method, I am cultivating an inner calm and reducing my anxiety and panic.
You might be wondering, “why would I take advice from a neurotic on achieving calm?” And that reminds me of something Niccolo Machiavelli wrote in *The Prince*,
“Just as artists who draw landscapes get down in the valley to study the mountains and up to the mountains to look down on the valley, so one has to be a prince to get to know the character of a people and a man of the people to know the character of a prince.”
I lived much of my life in the Valley of Anxiety, and it allowed me to see the Mountain of Calm in a way that someone who has always lived there can’t see it. Or to paraphrase Machiavelli, one must be calm to know the character of a neurotic and a neurotic to know the character of the calm. So without further ado, let’s explore the method.
The Stronghold Method consists of four steps.
Video by Dr. David Carbonell on breathing: youtube.com/watch?v=eRIV2R3jzaQ
OUR COURSES
_
Coming soon. Sign up to my newsletter to be notified when they release.
OUR MERCH
_
Coming soon. Sign up to my newsletter to be notified when they release.
OUR BOOKS
_
Follow No One comes out December 2022. Sign up to my newsletter to receive an e-mail when it comes out and read exclusive essays from the book: bit.ly/3mu7VGM
OUR FAVOURITE TOOLS
_
Shortform. The best non-fiction book summaries (unlimited access for 5 days and 20% off an annual subscription when you use my link): bit.ly/3bmSXwy
Adobe. The software I use to make my videos:
Epidemic Sound. Where I get my music: bit.ly/3FrStmh
RELATED VIDEOS
_
Practical Philosophy Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5faAYlGYYoF7rgKH4oo_B81n4wE1n2xP
CONNECT WITH US
_
Instagram: instagram.com/freedomintht
Twitter: twitter.com/freedomintht
CONNECT WITH ME
_
Instagram: instagram.com/justintht
Twitter: twitter.com/justintht
Personal Youtube: bit.ly/32rJ9QB
PODCAST
_
Freedom in Thought Podcast: bit.ly/3mS76YT
FURTHER READING
_
NOTES
_
(1) Videos are just my opinion, for entertainment and informational purposes. Just some things to think about—not advice.
(2) Some of the links in the description are affiliate links which I get a kickback from—at no extra cost to you.
